NYT- Big Changes Seen in Choice for Homeland Security

[maddezmom]

~snip~
As a result, his selection to replace Tom Ridge brought a mixture of enthusiasm and some trepidation from officials at the Department of Homeland Security and elsewhere in the federal government.

Few expect Mr. Kerik's arrival at homeland security to produce the kind of upheaval seen in recent weeks at the C.I.A., where Porter J. Goss's two months as director have led to internal dissension and resignations. But Mr. Kerik's selection caused no shortage of nervousness at the Department of Homeland Security, a department created last year out of 22 separate agencies in what amounted to the biggest government reorganization in a half-century.

~snip~

Mr. Kerik has proved himself a Republican loyalist and he earned the secretary's job in part through the staunch support of his old boss, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, now his partner in a consulting firm. The White House gave Mr. Kerik a speaking role at last summer's Republican convention, and he angered Democrats by saying in one interview before the election that he feared another terrorist attack and that "if you put Senator Kerry in the White House, I think you are going to see that happen."

~snip~

The departure of Mr. Hutchinson, who oversees 110,000 employees working on border and transportation security issues, would leave a large void for Mr. Kerik to fill. But Mr. Hutchinson said, "I'm not leaving any time soon and don't want to leave any gaps." Some officials questioned whether Mr. Kerik, with relatively brief stints as New York police commissioner and in leading the creation of a police force in Iraq, had the breadth of experience needed.


more: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/04/politics/04home.html?pagewanted=2

[saigon68]

1. Another SLIME-BAG bootlick Turkey

Another little NeoCon Puppet to take orders from Rove ---Pearle ET AL

With his low ranking IQ and police mentality his employees will really enjoy the upcoming Anal Cavity searches the public (sheep) will soon have to endure. AL.

[teryang]

2. It's hard to go lower than Hutchinson

The king of protecting the illegal drug trade during the CIA Mena operation in support of Iran Contra.

[teryang]

3. It's hard to go lower than Hutchinson

The king of protecting the illegal drug trade during the CIA Mena operation in support of Iran Contra. Hutchinson at Homeland security was the proverbial fox in the henhouse. The guy can cover up anything.

[maddezmom]

4. Despite serious flaws in his bid to rebuild Iraq's police force,

~snip~
Under Kerik, and the advisers who came after him, a great emphasis was put on getting large numbers of policemen back on the streets. That policy produced attractive headline figures - around 90,000 bobbies back on the beat - suggesting that real progress towards security and stability was being made. Large areas of the country were expected to be under the control of Iraqi police and National Guard units by now.

But the reality has proved quite different. The obsession with figures disguised a poorly thought-out retraining programme and significant shortfalls in the most basic equipment, including radios, guns, flak jackets and cars. Fewer than half the police had been retrained. Most worryingly, at least a third were deemed so incompetent or reliable that this summer US commanders decided they should simply be sacked and handed a pay-off worth a total of $60m. Recruitment has begun again, much more slowly and this time with longer retraining programmes.

The reason behind the drastic overhaul of the police was all too clear. During a wave of uprisings in the Sunni city of Falluja and across Shia towns in the south in April and May, thousands of policemen simply deserted their posts or turned to fight alongside insurgents. It was certainly not the case for all policemen - in fact some have proved extremely brave, risking their lives simply going to work each day. More than 700 have been killed in a series of horrific suicide car bombs and shootings since the war. But desertions remain a serious problem.

In Falluja, before the latest US assault, the Iraqi police were working in cooperation with the insurgents who ran the city. In the northern city of Mosul, gunmen overran at least nine police stations in a wave of violence last month. Around three-quarters of the 4,000-strong police force in the city deserted or joined the insurgents. The police chief was fired and then arrested on suspicion of helping the rebels. After the fighting subsided, the US commander in Mosul admitted he was now facing a colossal job repairing the damage with elections less than two months away. "We have the daunting task of rebuilding a legitimate and loyal police force in the city, and that's going to take a long time - and we don't have a long time," said Brigadier General Carter Ham.

~snip~
more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1365914,00.html

[RedCheckShirt]

5. Is it true that Kerik's mother was a crack whore???

[Straight Shooter]

She was an alcoholic

She was murdered, but kerik had already been adopted by then.

______________

As for the article, I disagree with the term "Republican loyalist." I think "Republican lackey" is infinitely more apropos.

[Nordic]

6. he's doomed

Ridge got outta there, knowing Bushco needs another terrorist attack in order to get a draft going.

This guy has no idea what he's in for.

[IllegalCombatant]

7. will he bring the same failed policies he put in place in iraq here?

probably. warn your neighbors!

Online NewsHour: Securing Iraq -- Sept. 17, 2003
... While in Iraq Kerik served as interim minister of the interior and as a senior adviser to Paul Bremer, the top American in Iraq. ...
www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/middle_east/ july-dec03/iraq_09-17.html - 30k - Dec 5, 2004