PRESS BOX
MORATORIUM ON OFFSHORE WELLS SHOULD BE LIFTED
Beaumont Enterprise
The ghastly oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will change the offshore drilling industry forever.
Clearly, there must be a greater emphasis on safety and better ways to stop leaks. But President
Obama's six-month moratorium on other deepwater drilling in the Gulf is an overreaction. The
ban would shut down 33 exploratory wells. It would eliminate 3,000 to 6,000 jobs in the short
term and up to 10,000 later on.
This is not just the view of some greedy oil company executives. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal,
whose state has been harmed by this spill more than any other, wants the moratorium lifted. So
do family members of the 11 men killed when the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig exploded on April
20.
The moratorium is not needed to motivate the oil industry. That can be accomplished by other
methods, such as ordering safety overviews on all existing wells, requiring better training for
crews and scheduling periodic tests of safety equipment.
NEW DIRECTOR MUST BRING ACCOUNTABILITY TO POSITION
Tyler Morning Telegraph
As a nominee for director of national intelligence, James Clapper prepares for Senate confirmation hearings.
Lawmakers must probe his ability to bring an important trait to the intelligence community: accountability.
Recent procedural lapses by America's spy agencies did not lead to casualties on U.S. soil only because
those attempting mass murder have been
incompetent.
Whenever an attack -- or near hit -- occurs in the United States, the same pattern emerges: An agency that
should have passed crucial information to another did not; an individual who should have been flagged for
scrutiny was not; a lead on a potential attack that should have been quickly investigated was not. In the tragic
event -- God forbid -- that a large-scale attack on American civilians is successful, journalists and lawmakers
are likely to seek answers regarding what went wrong within the intelligence network to allow such an event
to take place.
But the flaws that exist within U.S. intelligence gathering, sharing and appropriating mechanisms already are
on full display. The next director of national intelligence should utilize lessons gleaned from recent intelligence
failures -- e.g. the bombing attempt in Times Square and that of a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day --
to correct deficiencies in the system before those flaws become deadly.
The greatest flaw in the nation's intelligence community is the lack of accountability. Even in professional
football, if a team generally is well-run but has a substandard defense, the defensive coordinator is likely to be
fired. If the weak link is the offensive side of the ball, the coach of that unit usually loses his job. If the entire
team is underachieving, the head coach is shown the door. It is shameful that football coaches are held to
more stringent accountability standards than are America's intelligence officials.
It should be clear which department within each spy agency is responsible for a given task. If a department
fails to effectively carry out its duties, its leader should be held responsible. Perhaps, then, intelligence officials
will be motivated by a desire to maintain their careers -- if not by an imperative to keep Americans safe.
The fault-finding expeditions that naturally take place after high-profile intelligence failures always elicit a
defensive posture from agency officials. The officials always fall back on the refrain that pointing fingers "isn't
going to help us find out what went wrong." But seeking the negligent party in such circumstances isn't
motivated by a churlish desire to humiliate anyone. Rather, it is to make sure that the most competent people
possible are keeping watch over the country.
Clapper must demonstrate he'd be willing as intelligence director to examine the communications breakdowns
that caused recent spy-agency debacles, hold accountable those who dropped the ball and replace such
people with conscientious and capable individuals.
Robust intelligence agencies have never been more needed than now. Anti-American radicals increasingly are
recruiting and inspiring sophisticated individuals to launch attacks here. Americans cannot count on
terrorists to be incompetent to guarantee their safety. The country needs a sophisticated -- and accountable
-- intelligence community to help defend against its enemies.
Beaumont Enterprise
The ghastly oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will change the offshore drilling industry forever.
Clearly, there must be a greater emphasis on safety and better ways to stop leaks. But President
Obama's six-month moratorium on other deepwater drilling in the Gulf is an overreaction. The
ban would shut down 33 exploratory wells. It would eliminate 3,000 to 6,000 jobs in the short
term and up to 10,000 later on.
This is not just the view of some greedy oil company executives. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal,
whose state has been harmed by this spill more than any other, wants the moratorium lifted. So
do family members of the 11 men killed when the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig exploded on April
20.
The moratorium is not needed to motivate the oil industry. That can be accomplished by other
methods, such as ordering safety overviews on all existing wells, requiring better training for
crews and scheduling periodic tests of safety equipment.
NEW DIRECTOR MUST BRING ACCOUNTABILITY TO POSITION
Tyler Morning Telegraph
As a nominee for director of national intelligence, James Clapper prepares for Senate confirmation hearings.
Lawmakers must probe his ability to bring an important trait to the intelligence community: accountability.
Recent procedural lapses by America's spy agencies did not lead to casualties on U.S. soil only because
those attempting mass murder have been
incompetent.
Whenever an attack -- or near hit -- occurs in the United States, the same pattern emerges: An agency that
should have passed crucial information to another did not; an individual who should have been flagged for
scrutiny was not; a lead on a potential attack that should have been quickly investigated was not. In the tragic
event -- God forbid -- that a large-scale attack on American civilians is successful, journalists and lawmakers
are likely to seek answers regarding what went wrong within the intelligence network to allow such an event
to take place.
But the flaws that exist within U.S. intelligence gathering, sharing and appropriating mechanisms already are
on full display. The next director of national intelligence should utilize lessons gleaned from recent intelligence
failures -- e.g. the bombing attempt in Times Square and that of a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day --
to correct deficiencies in the system before those flaws become deadly.
The greatest flaw in the nation's intelligence community is the lack of accountability. Even in professional
football, if a team generally is well-run but has a substandard defense, the defensive coordinator is likely to be
fired. If the weak link is the offensive side of the ball, the coach of that unit usually loses his job. If the entire
team is underachieving, the head coach is shown the door. It is shameful that football coaches are held to
more stringent accountability standards than are America's intelligence officials.
It should be clear which department within each spy agency is responsible for a given task. If a department
fails to effectively carry out its duties, its leader should be held responsible. Perhaps, then, intelligence officials
will be motivated by a desire to maintain their careers -- if not by an imperative to keep Americans safe.
The fault-finding expeditions that naturally take place after high-profile intelligence failures always elicit a
defensive posture from agency officials. The officials always fall back on the refrain that pointing fingers "isn't
going to help us find out what went wrong." But seeking the negligent party in such circumstances isn't
motivated by a churlish desire to humiliate anyone. Rather, it is to make sure that the most competent people
possible are keeping watch over the country.
Clapper must demonstrate he'd be willing as intelligence director to examine the communications breakdowns
that caused recent spy-agency debacles, hold accountable those who dropped the ball and replace such
people with conscientious and capable individuals.
Robust intelligence agencies have never been more needed than now. Anti-American radicals increasingly are
recruiting and inspiring sophisticated individuals to launch attacks here. Americans cannot count on
terrorists to be incompetent to guarantee their safety. The country needs a sophisticated -- and accountable
-- intelligence community to help defend against its enemies.