After stunning revelations about security breaches at the White House, a former Secret Service agent thinks it’s time for the military to get involved, specifically former Rep. Allen West (R-FL).
Dan Emmett, who used to serve in the Secret Service Presidential Protective Division, wrote in the Washington Post’s “PostEverything” section that the Secret Service’s failure to keep a man from jumping over the White House fence and entering the building was particularly concerning “because the United States is at war.”
“This message undoubtedly will embolden our enemies, and that’s a serious problem at a time when terrorist groups are planning major attacks on Western soil and coming alarmingly close to carrying them out,” Emmett wrote.
He argued that the U.S. has brought in the military to protect the White House before — during World War II.
“While Congress has not declared war on ISIS and al-Qaeda, U.S. airstrikes in Syria and Iraq – as well as the threats of radical Islamist groups against Americans and our country – make it clear we are indeed at war,” he wrote. “Had combat troops been in place during last week’s White House breach, the threat would have been easily countered by fixed posts and roving patrols of soldiers or Marines, who are trained to respond immediately to such intrusions with whatever force is deemed necessary.”
Then, he suggested that Allen West replace Julia Pierson as the director of the Secret Service.
“In this role, a true leader, not a bureaucrat, is needed,” Emmett wrote. “West has successfully demonstrated that he possesses the leadership skills of a combat officer as well as managerial and diplomatic skills of a congressman, exactly the traits needed in the next director.”
West is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. army who served one term in Congress from 2011 to 2013.
