Anticipating threats crucial, general says

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- The head of the U.S. Northern Command says in order to keep the United States and its neighbors safe from attack, the military has to anticipate threats.

Gen. Victor Renuart, commander of NORTHCOM and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, says that preventing another attack like that of Sept. 11, 2001, on New York and Washington requires a heightened level of preparation and being able to anticipate threats, the Air Force reported.

Renuart says if NORTHCOM and NORAD, which monitor as many as 40 possible security threats every day, have to respond instead of anticipate, then operations are already behind.

"We anticipate each day what we might be asked to do," Renuart said in a statement.

"If you wait to be a responder, you will always be late -- you will always be playing catch-up. We can't afford to do that in our country."