Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

While the White House contends that President Barack Obama can continue fulfilling his domestic agenda undeterred by terrorist threats, one defense expert argued Monday that the administration may not have that luxury.

“He has to be a war president,” James Carafano, a senior fellow with a focus on defense and homeland security at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told Talk Radio News. “Typically, Presidents want to focus on domestic issues ... but you can’t pretend that these wars are a distraction.”

“Even FDR, when World War II broke out, put the new deal on the back burner,” Carafano added.

Carafano explained that the administration, by vowing to overhaul the current intelligence system, has thus far taken the wrong approach to counterterrorism.

“You can’t fix the system, because the terrorists will just find a way to get around it,” Carafano said. “Mostly what they’re talking about is layering on more bureaucracy and more red-tape. It’s not going to make us more responsive, it actually will make us less responsive.”