Analysis: Shutdown Strains US National Security as Weak Links Start to Fail

Government shutdown strains air travel across the country

Travelers have resorted to luck and superstition as flight delays sweep the nation’s airports. Nashville has an average delay of 126 minutes and climbing, Chicago at about 40 minutes.

Analysis: Shutdown strains US national security as weak links start to fail

While the government shutdown continues, core national security missions are still operating. Counterterrorism and counterintelligence cases continue to be processed. Border security, airport screening, the Coast Guard and other front-line Homeland Security units remain on duty. But the structure beneath that surface is deteriorating. The support systems that keep these missions resilient are thinning, and the risk of an avoidable failure is ris…