America, the “Land of the Free,” the world leader in wars that cost trillions and kill millions which has not won a war since World War II, lost again when it couldn’t stop un-armed rioters from storming the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on 6 January.
Steven Sund, the former head of the U.S. Capitol Police who received the brunt of the criticism over security failures, told a congressional panel last week that faulty intelligence led to the lack of security infrastructure on the day of the breach.
“A clear lack of accurate and complete intelligence across several federal agencies contributed to this event, and not poor planning by the United States Capitol Police,” he told a joint bipartisan committee of senators, according to the Wall Street Journal. ”Based on the intelligence that we received, we planned for an increased level of violence at the Capitol and that some participants may be armed. But none of the intelligence we received predicted what actually occurred.”
Sund resigned shortly after the riot when officials such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for his resignation, saying, “There was a failure at the top.”
Sund said he regretted his decision to step down due to new information about the security breach that emerged. He told the panel he never received an FBI report issued a day before the riot warning about the threats, and he said there were no additional warnings during a phone call the night before the protest.
The Failure Clubs
The WSJ pointed out the FBI defended itself and said it followed standard procedures.
The riot at the Capitol stunned the nation and has serious political implications that have yet to be sorted out. Former President Trump was impeached by the House, but not convicted in the Senate, and the severity of the riot seems to vary on what are the facts, what the videos and photos show, and the political parties’ perspectives.
Granted, the clips show Capitol police letting rioters in, standing by, fully armed and armored in military drag, allowing the mob to smash windows and doing nothing to stop them.
Democrats have been accused by Republicans of trying to capitalize politically on the event and paint the GOP as a party of anarchists who refuse to accept an election result. Republicans also want to know who knew what and when. They questioned if Pelosi was aware of the threat but downplayed it for the riot to occur and end all debate on alleged election interference.
TRENDPOST: We note this report to again illustrate America’s oxymoron named “intelligence” agencies.
With unblemished track records of failure of intelligence strategies – from long before 9/11 to the recent riots – they double up on robbing citizens of their privacy, rights, and freedom by imposing strict measures in the name of “security.” Indeed, security fences now surround the White House and Capitol building, and legislators are forced to walk through metal detectors and get frisked before entering… measures completely unrelated to the riots.
