"U.S. lags on post-9/11 security measures"

Sunday, December 4, 2005

U.S. lags on post-9/11 security measures
Nation remains at great risk of terrorist attack, commission members say
The Associated Press


WASHINGTON - The United States is at great risk for more terrorist attacks
because Congress and the White House have failed to enact several strong
security measures, members of the former Sept. 11 commission said Sunday.

"It's not a priority for the government right now," said the former
chairman, Thomas Kean, ahead of the group's release of a report Monday
assessing how well its recommendations have been followed.

"More than four years after 9/11 ... people are not paying attention," the
former Republican governor of New Jersey said. "God help us if we have
another attack."

Added Lee Hamilton, the former Democratic vice chairman of the commission:
"We believe that another attack will occur. It's not a question of if. We
are not as well-prepared as we should be."

The five Republicans and five Democrats on the commission, whose
recommendations are now promoted through a privately funded group known as
the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, conclude that the government deserves
"more Fs than As" in responding to their 41 suggested changes.

'Lack of a sense of urgency'

Since the commission's final report in July 2004, the government has enacted
the centerpiece proposal to create a national intelligence director. But the
government has stalled on other ideas, including improving communication
among emergency responders and shifting federal terrorism-fighting money so
it goes to states based on risk level.

"There is a lack of a sense of urgency," Hamilton said. "There are so many
competing priorities. We've got three wars going on: one in Afghanistan, one
in Iraq and the war against terror. And it's awfully hard to keep people
focused on something like this."

National security adviser Stephen Hadley said Sunday that President Bush is
committed to putting in place most of the commission's recommendations.

"Obviously, as we've said all along, we are safer, but not yet safe. There
is more to do," Hadley said on "Fox News Sunday."

Ex-commissioners contended the government has been remiss by failing to act
more quickly.

Kean said the Transportation Security Administration was wrong to announce
changes last week that will allow airline passengers to carry small scissors
and some sharp tools. He also said the agency, by now, should have
consolidated databases of passenger information into a single "terror watch
list" to aid screening.

"I don't think we have to go backward here," said Kean, who appeared with
Hamilton on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"They're talking about using more money for random checks. Terrorists coming
through the airport may still not be spotted," Kean said.

Spending priorities

Kean and Hamilton urged Congress to pass spending bills that would allow
police and fire to communicate across radio spectrums and to reallocate
money so that Washington and New York, which have more people and symbolic
landmarks, could receive more for terrorism defense.

Both bills have stalled in Congress, in part over the level of spending and
turf fights over which states should get the most dollars.

"This is a no-brainer," said Hamilton, a former Indiana congressman.

"From the standpoint of responding to a disaster, the key responders must be
able to talk with one another. They could not do it on 9/11, and as a result
of that, lives were lost. They could not do it at (Hurricane) Katrina. They
still cannot do it."

As for the dollar dispute, Hamilton said, "We know what terrorists want to
do: they want to kill as many Americans as possible. That means you protect
the Washington monument and United States Capitol, and not other places."

Congress established the commission in 2002 to investigate government
missteps that led to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Its 567-page final
report, which became a national best seller, does not blame Bush or former
President Clinton for missteps contributing to the attacks but did say they
failed to make anti-terrorism a higher priority.

The commission also concluded that the Sept. 11 attack would not be the
nation's last, noting that al-Qaida had tried for at least 10 years to
acquire weapons of mass destruction.

Calling the country "less safe than we were 18 months ago," former
Democratic commissioner Jamie Gorelick said Sunday the government's failure
to move forward on the recommendations makes the U.S. more vulnerable.

'The interest has faded'
She cited the failure to ensure that foreign nations are upgrading security
measures to stop proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical
materials, as well as the FBI's resistance to overhauling its anti-terror
programs.

"You remember the sense of urgency that we all felt in the summer of 2004.
The interest has faded," the Washington lawyer said on ABC's "Good Morning
America." "You could see that in the aftermath of Katrina. We assumed that
our government would be able to do what it needed to do and it didn't do
it."

Click on the link to view the video:
 . Is U.S. prepared?
Dec. 4: Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton of the 9/11 commission discuss what has
and hasn't been done to prepare the United States for another terrorist
attack.
Meet the Press
 
http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=3c4eeb78-3031-4a40-ae6f-ab95d2a1c36d&f=cop
y


 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dcfp/dcboard.php


*****************************************