National security gearing for new adjustments in a post-COVID-19 society
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- We are all wondering when things might start to open back up again here in the Tar Heel state. So many agencies are putting out differing models predicting the virus spread and offering a time table. The problem is nobody knows the accuracy of those models in this is a new game of darts.
"I'd be very skeptical of any model that comes out and is pushed as a political tool or an advertising tool than an actual scientific model that can be used for constructive purposes," says former military intelligence officer Erik Kleinsmith.
The Theodore Roosevelt is a shining example of what we don't know. More than 500 sailors on the aircraft carrier have contracted the coronavirus. Sixty percent showing no symptoms. Our nation and its military are fighting a stealth enemy.
Kleinsmith, who recently released a book about intelligence principals, says our adversaries are equally impacted.
"What's called freedom of movement, their ability to raise funds, their ability to pass supplies, anything to do with operations - everything has been shut down. It's bad for us but it's bad for everybody else."
With everything at a standstill, the world's military exercises have stopped as well. Kleinsmith says this pandemic will forever change how the intelligence community views a biochemical threat.
"You'll see new programs pop up within the Department of Defense, within homeland security new screening measures coming in through immigrant sites or through customs. You'll see a retooling of all of that so we can handle this more efficiently going forward."
Kleinsmith doesn't believe COVID-19 itself makes the United States more vulnerable, but throw in some other factors...
"Combined with a breakdown of the supply chain, combined with a cyberattack - it's all these different combinations. That's really what our national defense folks, our national security forces should be looking at."
Common enemies typically untie allies. Before the world defeats this pandemic there is a lot to learn.
