Our Own Worst Enemy: Asking the Right Questions About Security to Protect You, Your Family, and America - Hardcover

by Randall J. Larsen (Author)

OUR OWN WORST ENEMY provides a solid, practical, logical approach to personal security for all Americans and explains why the government is not prepared to help us in a time of crisis (Katrina, 9/11, etc.). Leading homeland security expert Randall J. Larsen details what we must do as citizens to protect ourselves, our families and our assets. The key, Larsen argues, is finally asking the right questions about homeland security, such as: -"How do we prevent a terrorist organization from becoming a nuclear power?" The media frequently poses the question: "What can we do to ensure that al Qaeda does not smuggle a nuclear weapon into the U.S. through one of our ports?" But the right question should focus on prevention -- and the answer is far different from the discussion that dominates the debate and the spending priorities of the Bush Administration and Congress. -"Who should be in charge of logistics during a major disaster?" Larsen says that it's not the military. The fact is, no one is better at logistics than American businesses such as FedEx, UPS, and Target. OUR OWN WORST ENEMY states that the government should encourage citizens and businesses to be active and learn to "posse up" while looking to the private sector to provide food, water, shelter, and transportation during a natural or man-made crisis. Larsen offers a strong combination of practical advice (Did you know a $1 mask can save your life in the event of a dirty bomb?) and wise examination of such key issues as the economy, borders and immigration, national health care, personal security, and more.

Author Biography

Randall J. Larsen is a leading advisor to the White House, the military and Fortune 500 companies on homeland security as well as the CBS News resident expert on matters relating to disaster, terrorism, and our national preparedness. He is the Director of the Institute for Homeland Security, a nonprofit/nonpartisan research group. He previously served as chairman of the Department of Military Strategy and Operations at the National War College. For more information, you can visit www.tihls.org. He has written op-eds for the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and USA Today.