May 14, 2009

In Case You Missed It … Former U.S. Security Aide: Efforts on Southwest Border Not Enough

To: NATIONAL EDITORS

Contact: Bradley Schreiber of Homeland Security Solutions, LLC, +1-202-683-2005

Former Homeland Security official says efforts are like “putting a band aid on a head wound”

WASHINGTON, May 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – A former U.S. Homeland Security advisor, appearing Tuesday night on The Tom Rompel Show (Tucson's “The Jolt” 1330 AM), criticized U.S. efforts along the Southwest Border, calling them “a missed opportunity.”

“We are, once again, taking a piecemeal approach to securing our borders,” said Bradley Schreiber, who served as a senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and now is president of Homeland Security Solutions. “Our efforts to put up a fence or put UAV's in the air are like putting a small band aid on a hemorrhaging head wound.”

“We have an opportunity to take a look at the root cause of the violence in Mexico and we are failing,” Schreiber said. “The violence leading to the deaths of thousands of men, women and children is a result of the U.S.-bound drug trade and the southbound flow of money.”

Schreiber cited a U.S. Department of Homeland Security report that estimated that $10 to $12 billion flow to Mexico each year and that the government doesn't know where most of it goes. “If we take away the money, the drugs are worth nothing. The cartels become impudent,” he noted.

Schreiber added that the United States needs to restart its past efforts to enforce current U.S. strategy. “The U.S. needs to, once again, begin to play offense in the drug war. We cannot wait until it hits our borders.”

Bradley Schreiber's firm, Homeland Security Solutions, LLC, provides government relations and consulting services to public and private sector clients with homeland and national security concerns.

SOURCE: Homeland Security Solutions, LLC

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