Almost two years after 9/11, the United States is still “Dangerously Unprepared and Underfunded for a Catastrophic Terrorist Attack“, says a report just released yesterday by a blue-ribbon panel of former military officials, business leaders and Nobel laureates.
The report details $98.4 billion dollars badly needed to fund port security and local first responders.
The Department of Homeland Security gave this unnerving response
The Department of Homeland Security took exception to the findings. A spokesman said critics could just as easily have focused on what has been accomplished since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
What has been accomplished? Homeland Security dollars are being doled out to cash-starved states–with enormous fanfare. New York State got the most–$321 million–of the mere $3 billion given out so far. On a per capita basis, however, Republican states like Texas and Wyoming are getting many more dollars than New York.
Ohio hopes to use some of its Homeland Security windfall to fight zebra mussels in the Great Lakes. Just goes to show the Bush team can be trusted to frustrate terrorists.
More proof if you need it that Google isn’t God: None of this made the front page of Google News.
You can see real (but short) news reports at NYT , CNN, and USAToday.
3 responses so far ↓
1 jr // Jun 30, 2003 at 8:35 am
Terrorists caught at airport security per billion dollars spent… zero. Although a number of women including my wife have gotten a free feel. The underwire bra as terrorist instrument.
2 Betsy Devine // Jun 30, 2003 at 8:44 am
Yeah, I got some inquisitive chest presses at JFK airport last year–and I hope Kennedy was looking down from the sky, he would have been thrilled.
3 Ken Camp // Jun 30, 2003 at 10:48 am
I live on Lake Champlai where zebra mussels are a real problem, although not in my area of the lake. Until reading that article I hadn’t realized that these were terrorist mussels. I feel much better knowing we’ll flush good defense money down the toilet combating that problem. Not!