Terrorists may target transition

As the Bush administration reaches its final days the U.S. will be faced with its first presidential transition since Sept. 11. This period will come with a supposed great deal of risk.

“History– including the February 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and the October 2000 attack on the U.S.S. Cole, as well as more recent attacks in Madrid, London, and Glasgow– suggests that terrorists may target the times shortly before and after governmental transitions,” said Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) during a hearing on the Department of Homeland Security’s post-election plans.

There has been concerns over whether DHS is ready to meet these risks. DHS has been marred with a high turnover rates and numerous vacancies in executive positions and have faced numerous accusations of mismanagement.

However DHS has taken a series of steps to prepare, including a the security clearances for members of the next administration, performing a number of training exercises, and hiring more executive staff.

“We have been able to reduce our vacancy rate from about 20 percent…to about 13 percent. We have another 35 selections pending so with that…we’ll have our vacancy rate under 10 percent for the first time,” said DHS Undersecretary for Management Elaine C. Duke.

Specialist in Terrorism and National Security Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division John Rollins explained that the proximity of the transitional period may have already sparked a terrorist attack.

“Some national security observers suggest that the attacks that took place in Yemen yesterday may have been taken with the desire to seize the U.S. embassy, thus creating a protracted situation that could influence the U.S. election.”