US commission hits at ‘shocking’ post-9/11 failures

[Neil D]

US Commission on 9-11

By Edward Alden in Washington

Published: December 5 2005 18:50 | Last updated: December 5 2005 18:50

9/11 commission reportThe national commission that investigated the September 11 2001 attacks gave a sobering estimate on Monday of the progress made by the US in preparing for future terrorist attacks, saying “pork-barrel politics” and misplaced priorities had left the country far more vulnerable than it should be to another attack.

“There’s no question that we are not as safe as we need to be,” said Thomas Kean, who chaired the commission and the follow-on effort to get the commission’s recommendations implemented. “Our leadership has been distracted in this country. Some of the failures are shocking.”

“We’re frustrated, all of us,” he said. “We’re frustrated at the lack of urgency in addressing these problems.”

The commission, which on Monday issued its final assessment on progress in implementing its recommendations, has been a unique experiment in American politics. While most such commissions issue their conclusions and disband, the 10 commissioners agreed after issuing their report in July, 2004 to continue holding public hearings and pressing for implementation of their recommendations.

The final assessment is particularly critical of Congress for failing to stand up to corporate and local political pressures.

Mr Kean called it scandalous that police and fire departments still could not communicate reliably in a crisis, a failure that was again underscored during Hurricane Katrina. Legislation that would set aside valuable radio spectrum for emergency use has been stalled in Congress, largely because of opposition from commercial broadcasters. Congress has also been reluctant to set national standards for police and fire services traditionally under state and local authority.

Nor has Congress yet agreed to adopt a “risk-based formula” for allocating homeland security funds. As a result, rural states that face little danger of a terrorist attack are receiving much higher per capita funding than prime terrorist targets such as New York or Washington.The Senate, with most members from rural states, has blocked legislation to base funding on an impartial risk assessment.

The result, said Mr Kean, had been such absurdities as the use of homeland security funds to buy new air-conditioned garbage trucks and Kevlar body armour for police dogs. “These are not the priorities of a nation that’s under threat,” he said.

Commissioners also criticised the administration on a number of high-profile issues. Lee Hamilton, the vice-chairman, said he disagreed with the decision by the Department of Homeland Security last week to allow airline passengers to carry small scissors and tools on to aircraft again. This came, he noted, despite the failure of the government to date to check all passengers against available terrorist watch lists.

James Thompson, a Republican commissioner, said the greatest danger was the US’s inability to remain focused on the continued threat of future attacks: “As the shock and the horror wore off, as other political and military challenges preoccupied our leaders and the press and our people, I think we’ve too quickly forgotten the lesson of 9/11, and the odds are very good that we’re going to pay a terrible price for forgetting that lesson.”