Portland, Ore., council commissioners need to take a break from the Kool-Aid. Their decision, by a 3-2 vote, to withdraw Portland police’s cooperation with the FBI led Joint Terrorism Task Force is insane.
For a start, it is undeniable that cooperation and information sharing between different government agencies is instrumentally effective in reducing terrorist threats. That’s why the 9/11 Commission was so heavily focused on improving cooperation between different federal security agencies. Slicing into the synergy between Portland police and the JTTF, the commissioners have made it harder for law enforcement to keep people safe.
Consider, after all, that JTTFs around the nation have many hundreds, perhaps more than a thousand, of open ISIS-related investigations across the nation. Based on ISIS’ success infiltrating fighters into the U.S., we cannot rule out that skilled ISIS operations officers are on U.S. soil at this moment. While the ISIS caliphate has obviously been shrunken in overt territorial control, the ISIS idea continues to pose a major threat. ISIS-related terrorism investigations in the U.K. were actually up in 2018 over the 2017 surge of attacks.
But that’s just the start as to why the council decision is so stupid.
The terrorist threat only begins with ISIS. Other groups, such as al Qaeda, the Lebanese Hezbollah, Iranian revolutionary guards, and white supremacist organizations also plot relentlessly to maim and murder American lives. Moreover, the council’s decision is particularly dangerous considering Portland’s sanctuary city status. That’s because groups such as the IRGC and Lebanese Hezbollah are organized around operational security measures designed to avoid law enforcement detection. Oh, and they like to hide among immigrant communities.
The commissioners who voted in favor of cutting the JTTF ties do not recognize any of this. They prefer to waltz in the realm of delusion. Fox News reports on one commissioner, Amanda Fritz, who claims that “The current president has made clear his animosity toward Muslims, immigrants and people of color. I found it hard to trust the JTTF under President Obama. It’s impossible now.”
Fritz’s implication here is that FBI agents and analysts simply run around spying on darker skinned people. This is utterly untrue. The FBI investigates all terrorist threats on the basis of their threat assessment in any one moment. Indeed, the FBI wrapped up a neo-nazi terrorist cell just this month!
Another commissioner, Jo Ann Hardesty whined that the FBI isn’t focused on the right threat. As she put it, “We’ve seen the Proud Boys and other white supremacist groups marching throughout the street… We’ve seen Portland police officers attack counter-protesters. Is that a model of law enforcement living up to what you believe their role should be?”
Walking through streets is as intrinsic an American right as any. Of course, this isn’t about rational argument. It’s ranting that would make the Mad Hatter cringe. Portland police do a remarkable job keeping the peace against Antifa fanatics, while also dealing with immense political scrutiny. Just go on YouTube and type in “Antifa Portland Police.” Watch those videos, like the one below, and you’ll quickly see who’s to blame for violence in the city.
The commissioners’ vote here is a dangerous political stunt. It will make Portland less safe, and will make the city more attractive to terrorists for that reason. This is an extreme dereliction of duty from politicians who have sworn to serve the people.
