DHS is Ineffectual and Bogged Down with In-fighting

Áine on February 10th, 2005 filed in Politics

“DHS is still a compilation of 22 agencies that aren’t integrated into a cohesive whole,” said its recently departed inspector general, Clark Kent Ervin, who released many critical reports and was not reappointed after a falling-out with Ridge. Asked for examples of ineffectiveness, he replied: “I don’t know where to start… I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Ervin cited a report from his office last month that DHS immigration inspectors had continued to let dozens of people using stolen foreign passports enter the United States — even after other governments had notified the agency of the passport numbers. Using stolen passports is a well-known tactic of al Qaeda operatives.” […]

“I’m sorry to say, since 9/11 we have essentially done nothing” to secure chemical plants and trains carrying chemicals, Falkenrath told Congress last week. “This [issue] stands out as an enormous vulnerability we had the authority to address.” [Richard A. Falkenrath, who until last May was Bush’s deputy homeland security adviser.]

—It’s not as if any of this should come as a surprise to anyone. I recall John Kerry bringing up the failure to secure our ports and chemical plants during the presidential debates on national television. The extent of the failures of the Department of Homeland Security is unknown, much of their work is done in secrecy and apparently not subject to much oversight. It’s also about as disorganized as it was when the agency came into being. Apparently, the last 22 months have been spent making plans and engaging in inter-agency squabbling.

Technorati Tags: National Security, Politics, Transportation

3 Responses to “DHS is Ineffectual and Bogged Down with In-fighting”

lughshand Says:
February 10th, 2005 at 1:12 pm
I recall sitting at a retirement luncheon about a year and a half ago and listening to two newly appointed TSA officers discuss gleefully, all the great equipment they were going to buy with their new “blank check”. Now the shrub has contracted out my branch of the FAA to save costs. Oh well, I guess I’ll have a lot of time to write.
Aine Says:
February 10th, 2005 at 2:09 pm
I was reading a report this morning where they’re trying to blame 9/11 on the FAA, who apparently had received numerous “warnings” about airline hijackers in the months preceding the WTC disaster, but chose to concentrate on air traffic congestion instead. Personally, I can’t blame any single department or agency within the government, but there are some scary facts about this whole thing that many people aren’t even aware of. Sure, after the fact, we can point fingers here there and everywhere… but the scariest thing to me is that NOTHING has really be done to prevent something like this from happening again.

I’m also seeing more concern with the Mexican border than with either the Canadian border or the airports or sea ports. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t many of the hijackers enter from Canada? Also, how the heck do they plan to examine and inspect over 12 million containers that enter this country every year? I see that as an impossible goal that, while admirable from a security standpoint, would cripple US trade… something we can ill afford from an economic standpoint because the costs would be HUGE. But then, since when did we worry about costs, except when it comes to helping people who actually need help.
lughshand Says:
February 11th, 2005 at 1:07 am
I sail in and out of ports on both coasts and the Carribean. I have friends who are now sailing up and down the Mexican coasts. Aside from changing the courtesy flag you show, and stopping in to Customs to show passports (which the skipper can do for everyone aboard), there is no security. Stop into a Cruiser Bar in most ports in the Western hemisphere and you’ll find the same people you saw in the last one. Even Cuba, supposedly off limits to US citizens, is building new marinas to attract the sailing crowd. I still feel safe, but I’m not foolish enough to think those doors aren’t always open.