The US homeland security secretary speaks to Channel 4 News about al-Qaida, closing Guantanamo and her fears of Somali Americans carrying out terrorist attacks inside the US.Janet Napolitano said that Somalia was an "area of concern" as a certain number of Americans could have travelled to the country to train in jihad. "Right now we are talking about people going to Somalia, but anytime you have individuals who are being trained so if they were to return they would have operational skills necessary to carry out a (terrorist) attack - that is an area that we need to pay attention to," she said. Napolitano said that one of the criticisms after the September 11 attacks in 2001 was that there was a "failure of imagination - the contemplation that something on that scale could actually occur." "It is my job to make sure we do not have such a failure as that again", she said.While refusing to say how many terror attack plots had been foiled in the US in the last six months she added, "I think (the United States) is always at risk, as is the UK."Closing Guantanamo Bay The security secretary said that she thought the controversy surrounding the Guantanamo prison had been used as a recruitment sergeant and "radicalisation tool box" for terrorists. Napolitano said that she felt that the process of closing Guantanamo Bay was well on the way but that there were certainly difficulties ahead. "I prefer not to talk about particular populations except to say that we are operating under the assumption that we are going to be able to meet the president's executive order that would get the prison side of Guantanamo closed by January."I am not underestimating the difficulties…it may be one of the most difficult problems that the president inherited from the prior administration. "The good to be served from Guantanamo, if there ever was, is now outweighed by the bad so it needs to be closed and we are working on that assumption," she said.
Battling al-QaidaIn response to questions regarding the current threat from al-Qaida Napolitano said, "The challenge is to know that the threat is never at zero. "It can change on a moments notice so what you have to have in place is the ability to collect information, to share information, analyse information and to take action accordingly and very, very, quickly. "That is what we have been working to do and will continue to do."But the security secretary acknowledged that threats from a "lone wolf", or individuals planning attacks with individual motives, could pose a greater threat to the US than al-Qaida itself. "It is certainly true that the "lone wolf" - the person who acts independently - is very difficult and indeed we have seen several lone wolf attacks on the past months. "From a law enforcement perspective it is just about the most difficult thing to stop," she said.Jonathan Rugman blogs about his interview with Janet Napolitano here. Article
Napolitano’s fears over Somali and other terrorists
Perhaps the most interesting line in the US homeland security secretary’s interview with me this morning concerns her fears over Somali Americans carrying out terrorist attacks inside the United States.
Background
Battling al-QaidaIn response to questions regarding the current threat from al-Qaida Napolitano said, "The challenge is to know that the threat is never at zero. "It can change on a moments notice so what you have to have in place is the ability to collect information, to share information, analyse information and to take action accordingly and very, very, quickly. "That is what we have been working to do and will continue to do."But the security secretary acknowledged that threats from a "lone wolf", or individuals planning attacks with individual motives, could pose a greater threat to the US than al-Qaida itself. "It is certainly true that the "lone wolf" - the person who acts independently - is very difficult and indeed we have seen several lone wolf attacks on the past months. "From a law enforcement perspective it is just about the most difficult thing to stop," she said.Jonathan Rugman blogs about his interview with Janet Napolitano here. Article
Napolitano’s fears over Somali and other terrorists
Perhaps the most interesting line in the US homeland security secretary’s interview with me this morning concerns her fears over Somali Americans carrying out terrorist attacks inside the United States.
Background
This of course mirrors concerns in the UK, after Channel 4 News reported in an exclusive investigation back in February that a Somali from Ealing had blown himself up as a suicide bomber in Somalia.
Janet Ann Napolitano is the third United States secretary of homeland security and is the first woman to serve in that office.An American politician from the Democratic Party, Napolitano was serving as governor of the state of Arizona when designated by then President-elect Barack Obama to be his secretary of homeland security. She was confirmed by the Senate and sworn in one day after Obama's inauguration. Prior to the governorship, she served as Arizona attorney-general from 1999 to 2002.
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