Napolitano: Technology backed by intelligence is best weapon agains threats
- 12 years ago
Janet Napolitano, the head of U.S. Homeland Security, tells Reuters Television in Paris that strong intelligence can outweigh detection technology in the fight against new terror tactics.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY JANET NAPOLITANO SAYING:
"If we have good intelligence, a lot of safety operations can spring from that. We actually look at safety in the aviation environment as being multi-layered: Good intelligence; good targeting; looking at things like travel patterns and things like that; looking at particular behavior or other indicators once somebody actually gets to an airport; looking at other kinds of indicia that you have a passenger who is intent on blowing up the plane. For that you don't necessarily need an AIT or so-called body scanner; the body scanners of course are extraordinarily helpful for non-metallic devices; but they are not the only thing that can help us with detection."
Napolitano says the foiling of a bomb plot last month in Yemen is evidence of how effective intelligence operations can be.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters
(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY JANET NAPOLITANO SAYING:
"If we have good intelligence, a lot of safety operations can spring from that. We actually look at safety in the aviation environment as being multi-layered: Good intelligence; good targeting; looking at things like travel patterns and things like that; looking at particular behavior or other indicators once somebody actually gets to an airport; looking at other kinds of indicia that you have a passenger who is intent on blowing up the plane. For that you don't necessarily need an AIT or so-called body scanner; the body scanners of course are extraordinarily helpful for non-metallic devices; but they are not the only thing that can help us with detection."
Napolitano says the foiling of a bomb plot last month in Yemen is evidence of how effective intelligence operations can be.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters