Obama lays out counterterrorism strategy

Obama lays out counterterrorism strategy

Obama

   The Obama administration on Wednesday released its National Strategy for Counterterrorism, which formalizes the approach it has taken the past 30 months to prevent terrorist attacks and destroy al-Qaeda.
   It is the first such strategy to focus efforts on the domestic front. Just as he has for other initiatives, President Obama has made counterterrorism a government effort instead of leaving responsibility for it to a couple of agencies.
   One of the guiding principles of the counterterrorism strategy is the determination to build a culture of resilience in the United States. Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano has spent a lot of time developing response and recovery plans, and collaborative ties with state and local governments to coordinate response to a natural or manmade disaster.
   'We are doing everything in our power to prevent another terrorist attack on our soil,' said John Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, in speech Wednesday at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. 'At the same time, a responsible, effective counterterrorism strategy recognizes that no nation, no matter how powerful — including a free and open society of 300 million Americans — can prevent every single threat from every single individual who wishes to do us harm.    It's not enough to simply be prepared for attacks, we have to be resilient and recover quickly should an attack occur.
   'So, as a resilient nation, we are constantly improving our ability to withstand any attack — especially our critical infrastructure, including cyber — thereby denying al-Qaeda the economic damage and disruption it seeks. As a resilient government, we're strengthening the partnerships that help states and localities recover quickly. And as a resilient people, we must remember that every one of us can help deprive al-Qaeda of the success it seeks. Al-Qaeda wants to terrorize us, so we must not give in to fear. They want to change us, so we must stay true to who we are.'
   The National Strategy for Counterterrorism can be found here.

Turtles tie up JFK traffic
   Some turtles in New York can move faster than a speeding plane — when they have the right of way.
   About 150 to 200 Eastern Diamondback Terrapin turtles held up traffic for up to 30 minutes at John F. Kennedy International Airport as they slowly crossed the runway to a beach to nest in the sand.
   The turtles have been moving across JFK's Runway 4L all week as they've done for several years now, but there were so many turtles Wednesday that air traffic controls had to temporarily shut the runway. JetBlue was one of the airlines impacted by the delay.
   'We hope for faster animals next time,' it said in a statement.
   Port of New York-New Jersey officials were dispatched to round up the turtles and get them safely to their sandy destination.
   There could be further delays because the turtles are expected to continue their migration through July.
   The Federal Aviation Administration said some turtles are run over each year at JFK.
   The situation reminds me of the rabbits and vultures I wrote about in 2003 at Miami International Airport ('Bunnies on the runway,' June 2003 American Shipper). The jackrabbits found a home safe home at the airport, but sometimes they would get hit. The dead bodies would attract vultures, which caused a problem for aircraft. From 2001 to 2003 at least two-dozen vultures were struck by aircraft. The loss of green space with the construction of an additional runway exacerbated the problem.
   Birds being sucked into engines is a big concern for airlines and aviation safety officials, as the US Airways flight that landed in the Hudson River a couple of years ago demonstrated.
   There were so many bunnies on the runway in Miami that officials gave up trying to relocate all of them. Animal rights activists and the public vigorously opposed eradication. But the airport authority won a court battle and proceeded to hire a firm to relocate more than 60 percent of the rabbits to Texas at a cost of more than $50,000. The cost of live capture and transfer was at least $166 per rabbit versus $114 to shoot the remainder, according to a summary of the effort by airport and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials. ' Eric Kulisch