There is another former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary with a book coming out on September 1st.
Just as news was hitting the web (and my Blackberry) about Tom Ridge’s blockbuster charges on political pressure to raise the color terror alert in his new book “The Test of Our Times: America Under Siege … And How We Can Be Safe Again,” I was walking down Vermont Avenue in Washington on my way to an interview with Michael Chertoff whose new book, Homeland Security: Assessing The First Five Years, coincidentally is also being released on September 1st. I wrote about the content of Chertoff’s book contents in June.
So, when I got to Chertoff’s office I showed him the initial story by Paul Bedard at USNews.com. He had not seen the news nor has read the Ridge book yet. I had planned to ask him about how he would recommend changing the color alert system and what he told the task force looking into that question. But of course now I had to inquire whether he had received any political pressure on the alerts. He said he “never” was. During Chertoff’s tenure, DHS raised the alert twice: in 2005, after the transit bombings in London, and again in 2007, after the announcement of a plot to bomb airliners going from England to the U.S.
I will be writing up my interview with Chertoff next week when his book is released. I also expect to speak to Ridge about his book as well.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Dueling books by former DHS secretaries | Security Debrief - a blog of homeland security news and analysis // Aug 21, 2009 at 1:16 pm
[...] This Blog Gets ‘Exclusive Interview’ Yesterday With Former DHS Secretary Whose New Book Is Comin… There is another former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary with a book coming out on September 1st. [...]
2 Richard Cooper // Aug 21, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Both books could not occur at a better time. With National Preparedness Month in September, the 9/11 Anniversary, etc. it’s healthy for America to be talking about this stuff and I look forward to the vibrant debate and discussion. I just wish I was a s lucky as you John to get an advance copy of the book!
3 In Interview, Chertoff Recommends Condensing Color Alerts (“Because We’re Not Going To Get Below Yellowâ€); Suggests School Preparedness Course (Incl. First Aid, CPR, Mechanics, Firearms Training); Acknowledges He “Would Have Liked To Have Done // Aug 31, 2009 at 1:54 pm
[...] As excerpts from a new book from Chertoff’s predecessor Tom Ridge had been released just a few minutes before our interview indicating that politics may have been a part of terror color alerts decisionmaking, I first asked Chertoff whether he had ever felt any political pressure. He said he “never” had. [...]
4 In New Book, Ridge Points Out Public’s “Homeland Helplessness”; Outlines Citizen Communications Goals He Hoped To Achieve — Which May Well Be Taken Up By Napolitano; Shares “Complacency” Concerns Expressed By Chertoff I // Sep 3, 2009 at 12:35 pm
[...] how similar the themes and emphasis are — particularly when it comes to the public — to another book by a former DHS Secretary that was released Tuesday, Michael Chertoff’s Homeland Security The First Five Years. Chertoff also devotes a good deal [...]
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