Homeland Insecurity

I swear I was going to cut down on the political posts, but this one was too important to put aside. A few days ago, when Bernard Kerik (the man who was the NYC Police Commissioner on 9-11-01) was named as the new Secretary of Homeland Security (replacing Tom Ridge), I was a little uneasy. I had a gut feeling the Mr. Kerik was really not the best choice for this job. I was also a little surprised - isn't there a major politico who wants this job? I had heard names like Asa Hutchinson (current assistant Sec.) or Jim Gilmore (former Va. governor who chaired a major terrorism task force a few years ago). I also read on one of the blogs (can't find the source) that Rudy Guiliani used his clout with Bush to get Bernie the job - this is even more surprising.

Nope, Kerik is the guy. So why did I have this unexplained uneasiness about this appoinment? Well, Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo helps me find my inner 'scared out of his wits' child:

In an article in the New York Daily News on May 16th 2003, Kerik confirmed that he'd been tapped to be the American in charge of the Iraqi Interior Ministry (formally, he'd be the chief 'advisor'). Principally, that meant he'd be in charge of domestic security and specifically in charge of standing up a new Iraqi police force.

.......

But little more than two months into his tour, just as Iraq was slipping the first few rungs down the ladder into chaos, something happened -- something that I've never seen explained. Remember that on August 7th, the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad was bombed -- the first high-profile terrorist act since the war. Then on August 19th a truck bomb
destroyed the UN compound in the Iraqi capital killing seventeen, including the head of the UN mission, Sérgio Vieira de Mello.

Then, only a few days later, a few press reports noted for the first time -- in most cases just in passing -- that Kerik was preparing to leave the country. The earliest of these that I'm aware of came in a Times article by Dexter Filkins in which he notes in passing that Kerik was "wrapping up his tour in Iraq" and later that Kerik's "time here is to end in a week."

[ed.note: If there are earlier references to the timing of Kerik's departure I'm not aware of them. But if you are, I'd be obliged if you could let me know.]

Then just a few days later, on August 29th, a bomb exploded outside the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf killing upwards of a hundred people including Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, head of SCIRI.

So Kerik goes over for the long term job of rebuilding the Iraqi police force (which has gone splendidly, wouldn't you say?) and comes back after a series of major terrorist attacks in the region, carried out presumably by outlaws in Iraq!

Now he's going to be in charge of US Homeland Security? Anyone seeing a pattern here?

• September 2001, heads NYC police when WTC attacked.
• Summer 2003, heads Iraqi security when insurgency erupts
• 2005 - heads US Dept. of Homeland Security.........

Are you frightened? Not nearly frightened enough! - Aragorn to Frodo, LOTR-Fellowship of the Ring.