"Homeland Security in disarray, officials warn; Delayed projects, reforms in limbo await Obama" by Bryan Bender, Globe Staff | November 30, 2008
WASHINGTON - As the Department of Homeland Security prepares for its first transition, a series of major projects - including a communication network linking state and locals officials in a crisis, a system to scan shipping containers for terrorist weapons, and a massive border-control initiative - face serious technical delays or cost overruns.
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In addition, the agency is struggling in its relationship with Congress, where it answers to dozens of committees with jurisdiction over its operations - a chaotic structure that requires a large number of personnel simply to respond to lawmakers' requests.
And with an estimated three-quarters of its headquarters staff having less than two years of experience managing the agency's $50 billion-a-year operation, there is an urgent requirement to invest in "human capital," according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former senior government officials.
The result, they say, is disarray at the federal department responsible for developing the nation's defenses against terrorism and natural disasters....
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The list of problem-plagued programs includes the $24 billion "Deepwater" project to build a fleet of Coast Guard vessels, helicopters, and other high-tech gear that is experiencing major delays and ballooning costs.
All this $$$ WASTED for that damnable lie!!!!
The Secure Border Initiative, costing more than $2 billion this year alone, is a major effort to increase Customs and Border Protection personnel, introduce detection technologies, and construct a fence along the border with Mexico. But major elements of the project, including a network called SBInet to ensure different agencies can coordinate, have been put on hold pending further testing and development.
Yeah, funny how we can't secure that damn border!!! Sigh!!
Meanwhile, although recent intelligence assessments have warned that a biological attack poses the greatest terror threat, signature defense measures - including the multibillion-dollar Project Bioshield to stockpile antidotes - have made only limited strides, according to Tom Ridge, the first secretary of homeland security.
And GUESS WHO will be BEHIND THAT (just like 9/11 and the anthrax): Bush Prepares Release of Bio-Weapons on American Public
Ridge said in a recent interview [that] Americans "have spent billions on the development of a bio-defense stockpile but they don't have much to show for it."
Yeah, NO KIDDING?
Specialists in the field have criticized the process by which the Department of Homeland Security determines which biological threats to defend against. Another struggling program is the Homeland Security Information Network, designed to allow "all states and major urban areas to collect and disseminate information between federal, state, and local agencies involved in combating terrorism."
"That platform," said David Heyman, director of the Homeland Security Program at the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington and coauthor of a new report, Homeland Security 3.0, a blueprint for strengthening domestic preparedness, "has increased in cost and has performance shortfalls and delayed schedules."
Ridge, who served as homeland security chief from 2003 to 2005, said that getting a handle on the procurement system at the department will be a chief challenge for the new administration. "The system is a mess and it is crying out for reform," he said....
It is not crying out for reform, it is crying out for TRUTH and an ABOLITION of such TYRANNY!!!
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With the prospect of a terrorist attack at any moment - and the transition period considered particularly attractive to terrorists - the department needs a new leadership team that can take over almost seamlessly, according to members of the current and incoming teams.
Can they MAKE IT ANY CLEARER to you, s***-chomping 'murkn?
"At the Justice Department you can postpone cases if you have to," said one Obama adviser who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media. But at Homeland Security, "you have to be operational on day one."
C'mon, Obama, get with it! You are a smart, computer-capable man; you know 9/11 and the "terrorists" is a bunch of hogwash!
.... Obama's homeland security review team, led by Rand Beers, a former Bush administration national security aide and adviser to Senator John F. Kerry's 2004 presidential run, visited the agency's headquarters Nov. 17. It was inundated with briefing books and other materials spelling out the Herculean task ahead, according to officials involved....
Rear Admiral John C. Acton, director of the homeland security presidential transition team, in an interview:
"[What the new team needs most is] correct, accurate information [about the department's operations and a] very candid [assessment of the challenges ahead]."
And that means 9/11 TRUTH, which means NO MORE MASS-MURDERING WARS on INNOCENT PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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