The United States must adopt one identification system — a biometric system that scans eyes, palms, faces, or DNA — to curb the nation’s growing terrorism threat, a former assistant Secretary of Defense says.
"When you have so many failures — and we don't know how many other failures there are of course — yeah, [the system] is broken," Richard Perle told "The Steve Malzberg Show" on Newsmax TV.
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"In part, it's because we don't have a single uniform identification system, sadly . . . Everyone entering the United States should be required to carry a biometric identifier.
"I know civil libertarians worry about that. But the cause for concern would be if there were abuses by the government — and we can manage that better than we can afford the chaos of not knowing who's in the country, who's going. So we need significant reform here."
Perle, a resident fellow for the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, said terrorists are often bred at an early age.
"These terrorists are not born terrorists. Young kids often, they're not born terrorists. They become terrorists because they become captivated by a radical image, an image of triumphant Islam," Perle said.
"It's propagated by radical clerics for the most part, often funded by Saudi Arabia . . . You find them pretty much in mosques around the country because Saudi money supports them.
"I have no doubt that when we have all the facts about the Boston bombings, this will prove to be the pivotal event [of] these young people — accepting that radical vision and acting on it."
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