OPINION:
The details of an intruder’s entry into the front door of the White House are stunning. It can only be interpreted as demonstrating incompetence by those who are appointed to protect the First Family.
A man known to the Secret Service as a White House loiterer, a man with an arrest record and who is known to be in possession of multiple firearms, is somehow able to jump over the fence, make it across the extensive lawn, and enter the residence through a door that remained unlocked even after an alarm was sounded.
Appropriate action in a case such as this did not require great ability, talent or technical skill, and it is certainly a scenario that has been rehearsed repeatedly. Perhaps the services of those sworn and trained to protect the Obama family should be outsourced to a responsible entity that can perform the job. To his credit, the president graciously noted his appreciation of the Secret Service and his faith in it after the incident occurred, but he has to be disquieted by the fact that his heavily fortified residence could be penetrated by a deeply disturbed man.
I cannot imagine a better tutorial for al Qaeda and the Islamic State to target our leader and our institutions than this troubling incident.
OREN M. SPIEGLER
Upper Saint Clair, Pa.
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