Usually a warning will be displayed.
Before Hurricane Katrina, multiple reports It warned that New Orleans was at risk of major flooding.
Before the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, CIA warned President Bill Clinton has said al-Qaeda plans to hijack commercial planes to target the United States.
Prior to the US defeat in Afghanistan, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) (my former boss) General Mark Milley warned It was a foolish idea for the United States to abandon Bagram Airfield.
And three months before what was shaping up to be the costliest disaster in American history, former President Donald Trump appeared on Joe Rogan’s show for seven minutes. Warning about danger California water and forest management.
Unfortunately, there seems to be little warning. In fact, very few people like prophets, especially when they are right. Since the days of mythology cassandra Despite prophesying the fall of Troy, human nature has ignored the prophets and their warnings about the future.
The U.S. military also falls prey to similar hatred. The Pentagon specializes in what commanders call “hot washes” – after-action debriefing. What often fails is pre-wargaming, reinforcing the old idea that armies are always preparing to win the last war they fought.
It doesn’t help that our intelligence agencies make frequent mistakes. In the Biden administration alone, they spouted outrageous things like: The Afghan government will likely be able to withstand the Taliban for six to nine months even after the U.S. military withdraws. Ukraine would fall to Russia within days of the invasion. And just two weeks before October 7th, it was all over. quiet In the Middle East. Swing batter batter.
The main problem with American intelligence and leadership at this time is a lack of imagination. Imagination is driven by intuition and creativity. It’s not the first trait that comes to mind when most people hear the word “civil servant.”
But we need creative leaders who ask themselves, “How would we respond if a similar event occurred?” “What is the next crisis most likely to hit my area?”
This is a reflexive mode for President Trump. Perhaps it’s the mindset he developed as a developer, an ability that helps him identify the most likely risks and benefits that could arise in the future. The 45th and soon-to-be 47th president is similarly drawn to other imaginative figures like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who are currently rethinking the scope and breadth of the federal government. It seems like it is.
Analytical thinking can also be helpful. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis can’t predict the next disaster to hit Florida, but clearly take time to plan This is the administration’s response to the most likely hurricane. More than 500 tropical storms and hurricanes have hit Florida, so there’s no doubt that one will hit again someday.
Similarly, California is burdened with many burdens. wildfire Every year. Los Angeles is enduring the following: worst drought 130 years later. In addition to these conditions, Santa Ana winds regularly plague the City of Angels at this time of year. It doesn’t take an analytical or creative genius to predict that the two disasters most likely to threaten America’s second city are fires and earthquakes.
But instead of anticipating and preparing for deadly fires, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass not only cut LAFD’s $17.6 million in the last budget, but just last week gave the fire department an additional $49 million. He proposed a reduction. Memo leaked to the Daily Mail. After those decisions, where was the mayor while the city burned? She was 7,500 miles away in Ghana, Africa, filling in for out-of-office President Joe Biden.
Yes, this is the very same Karen Bass who shot Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during the 2021 freak Texas Ice Storm. claim He said he had fled the state “in the midst of a deadly crisis” and that this was “part of a larger pattern of Republicans abandoning the people.”
Karen, are you planning a lot?
Let’s hope that mayors and leaders across the country take note of this and prepare to do better for their communities.
Morgan Murphy is a military thought leader.Former Secretary of Defense Spokesperson, U.S. Senate National Security Advisor.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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