An official for the State Department made it official, "The War on Terror is over."
It would seem that Barack Obama would have wanted to make the rather significant announcement himself, but instead the proclamation was made by an unnamed State Department official to Michael Hirsch of the National Journal.
Whew! That's good news for sure.
I wonder if the Obama Administration also sent a memo to the 50 Foreign Terrorist Organizations identified by the State Department that the clock has run out – the game is over – take your suicide bomber vest and go home?
We've all come to know their names: Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Palestinian Islamic Jihad , Al-Shabaab, etc.
Now that the War on Terror has come to an end, look for an announcement that the Department of Homeland Security will be eliminated. DHS should no longer be necessary since fighting the War on Terror was the stated reason for creating the new agency in the first place.
In defining the Mission for DHS, Sec. 101 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 says "The primary mission of the Department is to…prevent terrorist attacks within the United States." The short mission statement uses the word "terrorist" or "terrorism" six times. (See below)
No more War on Terror, no more DHS, no more Janet Napolitano…would that also mean we could go back to the good old days of airport security when we could keep most of our clothes on before boarding a plane?
One can hope, but don't hold your breath.
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As reported on these pages yesterday, DHS has moved on to a new mission – Environmental Justice – no kidding! That is yet another fascinating pivot in the land of Hope-and-Change from protecting Americans from terrorists who want to kill us, to protecting ferns, mice, and insects from….well, us.
SEC. 101. EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT; MISSION.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Department of Homeland Security, as an executive department of the United States within the meaning of title 5, United States Code.
(b) MISSION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The primary mission of the Department is to—
(A) prevent terrorist attacks within the United States;
(B) reduce the vulnerability of the United States to terrorism;
(C) minimize the damage, and assist in the recovery, from terrorist attacks that do occur within the United States;
(D) carry out all functions of entities transferred to the Department, including by acting as a focal point regarding natural and manmade crises and emergency planning;
(E) ensure that the functions of the agencies and sub- divisions within the Department that are not related directly to securing the homeland are not diminished or neglected except by a specific explicit Act of Congress;
(F) ensure that the overall economic security of the United States is not diminished by efforts, activities, and programs aimed at securing the homeland; and
(G) monitor connections between illegal drug trafficking and terrorism, coordinate efforts to sever such connections, and otherwise contribute to efforts to interdict illegal drug trafficking.
(2) RESPONSIBILITY FOR INVESTIGATING AND PROSECUTING TERRORISM.—Except as specifically provided by law with respect to entities transferred to the Department under this Act, pri- mary responsibility for investigating and prosecuting acts of terrorism shall be vested not in the Department, but rather in Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction over the acts in question.
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