President Obama and the War on Terrorism

Terry Turchie and Kathleen Puckett, former FBI agents and co-authors of HOMELAND INSECURITY: How Washington Politicians Have Made America Less Safe (History Publishing), were guests on KGO's Ronn Owens Show, one of the top talk shows in the San Francisco area on Tuesday, January 6th.

Terry and Kathleen gave their assessment of the latest developments in the war on terror and President-elect Obama's decisions to date regarding national security issues, including the announcement of former Clinton administration bigwig Leon Pancetta's nomination as head of the Central Intelligence Agency.

How safe is America today? What does the future hold for our national security? What has the incoming President already done to keep America safe? What will he have to do when he assumes office this month?

To find the answers, listen to the podcast of Ronn Owen's probing interview with Terry and Kathleen by clicking here.

WHAT MUST PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA DO TO KEEP AMERICA SAFE?

Now that we have just witnessed a historical Presidential election, one question still lingers:

Are we safer today than we were before 9/11?

In their new book, HOMELAND INSECURITY: HOW WASHINGTON POLITICIANS HAVE MADE AMERICA LESS SAFE, two top former FBI agents, Terry D. Turchie and Kathleen Puckett, explain the threats to our national security and to our civil liberties, and why the United States faces an uncertain future as a result of the very steps Republican and Democratic politicians have taken in responding to the 9/11 attacks and in politicizing the "war on terror." The result, the authors contend, is that the risk of international and domestic terrorism directed against the United States and her citizens has not lessened but instead increased.

Even worse, the next successful attack on America will move the country further from the rule of law and trigger a government response that will endanger civil liberties, handing the terrorists a major victory in their quest to instill fear and change in the way we live our lives.

President-elect Obama can change the course, but only if he acts decisively to reverse the tide of bad decisions made hitherto and does what it takes to make America safe again. Turchie and Puckett outline how the next president can defeat terrorism while still preserving and protecting the greatness of American law and liberty. Among the many topics they discuss include:

• What Obama must do to reverse the war on terror
  
  
• How the political agendas of both parties are primarily responsible for virtually inviting the 9/11 terrorist attacks, not the failure of American law-enforcement or intelligence agencies.
  
  
• How the incoming President can make certain that America's Number One national security issue must be the elimination of the al-Qaeda terror network.
  
  
• How Obama can build a more trusting relationship with the new government of Pakistan.
  
  
• Why the next administration must be aware that building new alliances throughout the world to fight terror may ignite the old sparks of the Cold War with former adversaries.
  
  
• Why it is urgent that we find a way to repair and rebuild the relationship between American and Russia if we are to find alternatives to a confrontation with Iran, the world's premiere sponsor of terrorism.

Publisher's Weekly says Homeland Insecurity offers "fascinating insights...full of intriguing sidelights from inside the bureau." As we begin a new chapter in American history, HOMELAND INSECURITY challenges us to rethink our understanding of national security and our civil liberties.

Terry Turchie and Kathleen Puckett, PhD, are acknowledged experts in the field of terrorism and counterterrorism. Turchie was the driving force behind the capture of the two most elusive and solitary domestic terrorists in US history, including domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph. He is a former Deputy Assistant Director of Counterterrorism Division of the FBI. As an author and a principal of TK Associates, LLC, he speaks to hundreds of corporate and law-enforcement groups regarding how to solve complex terrorism cases.

Dr. Kathleen Puckett spent 23 years as a FBI Special Agent, where she was primarily involved in the investigation and analysis of cases involving foreign counterintelligence as well as domestic and international terrorism. Together with Turchie, she was instrumental in the apprehension of Eric Rudolph. She provides behavioral threat assessment consultation to international corporations and governmental security agencies, and is a law enforcement consultant to the Program of Psychiatry and the Law at the University of California at San Francisco. She is a frequent presenter at law-enforcement and mental-health community forums on the psychology of terrorism.

You can learn more about Terry Turchie and Kathleen Puckett at their website, www.tkassociatesllc.com. Or read their recent article in the The Huffington Post.

HOMELAND INSECURITY is published by History Publishing Co, LLC.

HOMELAND INSECURITY

Why is America’s national security more vulnerable than ever before? Why have politicians from both parties betrayed our national security for the sake of partisan politics and personal advantage? And who are they?

HOMELAND INSECURITY: How Washington Politicians Have Made America Less Safe (September 2008, History Publishing Company, Hardcover, $24.95) by former FBI agents Terry D. Turchie and Kathleen M. Puckett give readers a disturbing insider’s look into how politicians’ devastating partisan political attacks have crippled the only government agency with the authority and capability to conduct investigations in the interests of both national security and domestic security: The FBI.

Turchie and Puckett pull no punches. This is the first book of its kind to name names and connect all the dots. Readers will be shocked as they discover politicians and bureaucrats who have:

• Fraternized with America’s enemies, more to enhance their own power than to protect the national security.

• Leaked classified information to the media with impunity--at the risk of the America’s security!

• Looked the other way in the face of massive political corruption and bad behavior only to the detriment of the American people.

• Abused their oversight authority to dictate political direction to the Bureau and make it their own personal fiefdom.

• The nearly invisible behind-the-scenes operator who virtually ensured that the 9/11 Commission would never get at the whole truth.

When it comes to national security few know better than Terry D. Turchie and Kathleen M. Puckett as to what it takes to keep America’s enemies at bay. As FBI agents, they were pivotal in tracking down home-grown terrorists such as Theodore Kaczynski (otherwise known as the infamous Unabomber) and the Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph, and each played crucial roles in disrupting Soviet intelligence during the Cold War.

After 9/11, argue the authors, neither political party could afford to be labeled as the one that allowed that tragedy to happen. For a brief time, politicians of all stripes united in what appeared to be in the best interests of America’s national security. In reality, however, the real reason the politicians rallied was to protect the exposure of the shortsightedness and complacency they had all exhibited for years regarding the growing danger of terrorism.

HOMELAND INSECURITY promises readers a first-hand look at how over thirty years of reckless actions by both Republicans and Democrats in the service of their own political ambitions and addiction to power have crippled the ability of the FBI to protect America’s national security under the laws of the land. From Watergate to the current War on Terror, Turchie and Puckett present a clear case that the alleged ineptitude politicians have continually ascribed to the FBI is instead the direct result of their own self-serving agendas to promote their careers and advance their own political power. As a result, these politicians have critically endangered the American way of life in the 21^st century.

HOMELAND INSECURITY shows that the FBI is the only government agency with the authority to conduct investigations in the interest of national security as well as violations of federal crimes. The FBI’s culture of independence from political pressures and interference is the only guarantee to all Americans that its work will be thorough and impartial, regardless of the party or individuals in power. It must never be allowed to be a political pawn for elected officials. Not if America is to remain the home of the free.

About the Authors:

Terry D. Turchie is a former Deputy Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division of the FBI. His leadership was the driving force behind the capture of the two most elusive and solitary domestic terrorists in U.S. history. Turchie is a recipient of the FBI Director’s Award as well as the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service. From 2001 to 2007 he was the Director for Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism for the University of California at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In his capacity as an author and a principal of TK Associates, LLC, he speaks to hundreds of corporate and law enforcement groups based on his knowledge of how to solve complex terrorism cases.

Dr. Kathleen M. Puckett spent 23 years as an FBI Special Agent, where she was primarily involved in the investigation and analysis of cases involving foreign counterintelligence and domestic and international terrorism. Dr. Puckett provides behavioral threat assessment consultation to international corporations and governmental security agencies, and is a law enforcement consultant to the Program of Psychiatry and the Law at the University of California at San Francisco. She is a frequent presenter at law enforcement and mental health community forums on the psychology of terrorism, as well as her own unique findings on what makes America’s most complicated adversaries tick.