Homeland Security open
Instead of seeing the Homeland Security Deparment's leadership, now vacated by Tom Ridge, as somebody's future stepping stone to the presidency, how 'bout wondering about the qualifications needed to be successful in that job.
It seems to me there are several:
- A familiarity with inter-agency and inter-governmental federalism issues
- A history in counter-terrorism, and a strategic understanding of terrorism
- A depoliticized, managerial personality that is results-oriented
- Imagination
Hands down, the nominee should be John P. Sullivan, an L.A. County Sheriff's sergeant who thought up LA's Terrorism Early Warning Group (TEWG). Bush should nominate him, give him the resources he needs, and then leave him alone. The job will get done.
An LATimes article from early November profiled Sullivan; it is mirrored here and here.
At a time when most Americans might have confused Al Qaeda with a capital somewhere in the Middle East, Sullivan was the driving force behind the creation of a local interagency analysis center that has since become a model for the rest of the country.
Today, no official in Los Angeles knows more about how the county would respond with law enforcement personnel, health professionals and the latest in chemical, biological and radiological decontamination technology. Sullivan's mantra: Combating an agile terrorist network requires an equally agile network of government agencies."We are here," Sullivan said last week, "to examine what the future may hold." His idea for Los Angeles' Terrorism Early Warning Group — more than two dozen county, state and federal agencies gathered under one roof five miles east of downtown — began to form eight years ago.
Okay, so maybe Bush won't put Sullivan in the top post itself, but a high-level appointive position would not only send a tremendous political signal about achieving results, it would be the smart thing to do.
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