Open Target

by Clark Kent Ervin

Book Overview

Based on his first-hand experiences and observations of how the Department of Homeland Security is failing to make America safe, Ervin shows the real threats we face--from nuclear attack to homegrown... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1403978948
• ISBN13: 9781403978943
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Take me to your leader!

Clark Kent Ervin was a member of the Texas entourage that President George W Bush brought to Washington D.C. with him in 2001. As a Bush loyalist, he obtained a political appointment as Inspector General for Collin Powell's State Department. Before he could properly enter into this job, he was asked to become the Inspector General for the newly created Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that came into being following the tragedy of 9/11. Although nominated to the job by the President, his conformation was put on hold by the U.S. Senate for reasons not made clear in this book and he ended up with a recess appointment. Now the position of Inspector General (IG) in any government agency is a very important one because it is the IG office that ensures the agency is doing the job it was charted to do and obeying the regulations and procedures it created as guidelines for doing that job. Although an unconfirmed political appointee, Ervin clearly took a conscientious and proactive approach as DHS IG. This book chronicles what he found wrong at DHS and explains why this means that the U.S. is vulnerable not only to terrorist attacks, but to other manmade or natural disasters as well. Of course this book is self serving, as are most Washington D.C. memoirs, but on the whole it appears an accurate appraisal of the ineptitude and incompetence that has plagued DHS since its creation. As such it makes alarming reading. Much of the problem as Ervin points out is that creating a new government organization to solve what is seen as a problem is an easy, but not necessarily a good solution. President Bush, to his credit, did not want to create a cabinet level organization at all and, to his discredit, did nothing to provide the leadership needed to get DHS up and running after he was forced to create it. Tom Ridge, the first DHS Secretary he appointed, clearly shared the President's views and did little to make DHS a viable organization. Michael Chertoff who succeeded Ridge as DHS Secretary appears to be a competent administrator, but an incompetent manager. And most of the problems that Ervin identifies in this book as DHS potholes apparently remain unfilled. Assuming this book to be accurate, the senior management at DHS appears remarkably passive in their execution of their responsibilities and, in many cases, ignorant of and indifferent to those responsibilities. Ervin did his best to move DHS in a more positive direction, but he himself was scarcely an expert on national security issues and structural efficiency. As is often the case in Washington, an inability or unwillingness on the part of DHS senior leadership to dirty their hands with the details of day-to-day operations or to reflect on the concepts they were charged with implementing doomed DHS from the start.

Homeland Security is MIA

This book has a 206/24 combination: The first 206 pages is like an undercover sting operation where we learn, in detail, exactly what the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Government is doing to `make us safe' from various terrorist threats and how they are doing it. The last 24 pages lays out exactly what the DHS and the Government SHOULD be doing to combat domestic terrorism. I must forewarn you, reading this book will make you angry, sad, appalled, dumbfounded, and scrambling to your favorite vice for relief. But it is time for us to really know what terrorists already know: American has a long way to protecting its people the best we can. I highly recommend this disturbing and illuminating book. PS I had the brilliant idea of sending a copy of "Open Target" to every Senator and Congressman to ensure they `get the message'. If I just knew they would (or could) all read it.

Open Target

I admire the courage of this author and thank him. He has clearly informed his readers of the dangers that US citizens still face after 911. This very important information needs to become action and this book explains how.

An insider topples the house of cards known as 'homeland security'

"Homeland security" is now permanently part of the American government vocabulary. This phrase ideally means protecting the country from internal and international attack. However, Clark Kent Ervin's scathing book documents numerous failings within the newly created Department of Homeland Security itself. Under funded and disorganized, DHS issues propaganda intentionally designed to make the American people feel 'safe' as opposed to taking real measures which would actually protect the country against another terrorist attack. As was being practiced while he served as Inspector General, homeland security largely is a ploy to play on people's emotions. Truly effective policies require substantially more money, resources, and time than what the government itself invested. We kid ourselves believing America is any safer today. Ervin meticulously documented how the government did just enough to keep people complacent (the airport security) but selectively 'forgot' other public areas where large groups of people are vulnerable to attack. He does have the insider perspective, but I am also wondering if some of the harsh accounts of incompetence contained inside this book partially stem from unresolved inter-office politics. Plus, other authors already suggested that DHS and affiliated agencies (ahem..FEMA!) were a political dumping ground for administration buddies as opposed to a source for bureaucratic expertise. Still, this is an overall excellent account of the very important differences between the government assuring people that we are safe and actually being safe. It is required reading for any American because we need to know the truth about the 'effectiveness' of homeland security policies.