Inspector Gen'l's Homeland Security report BLASTS port security priorities

[kpete]

32 Homeland Security report blasts port security priorities, management

Inspector General report blasts port security priorities

RAW STORY
Published: Thursday March 16, 2006

A report to be released today by the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security will detail failings in security at America's ports, RAW STORY has learned.

The report was required by an Amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill authored by Senator John Kerry (D-MA).

Though the Inspector General does identify some improvements over last year's evaluation that there was "no assurance that the program is protecting the nation’s most critical and vulnerable infrastructure," it still seriously calls into question the security of American ports, at one point noting that "it is not clear that DHS knows how much actual risk reduction has been achieved."

An inconsistent system of evaluation by officials was one major problem identified by the report, which called for a more uniform system of score-keeping. More troublesome, however, is the fact that certain projects scored a 0 on that same 35-point national priority threat scale, but still received government funding while other projects, deemed worthy by the OIG, did not.

20 projects totalling $29.4 million in government spending failed to receive a score of 20 (the number automatically awarded for ports marked a "national security priority"). These projects total one fifth of the grant funds awarded. Many failed even to score the 5 points awarded for protecting local or maritime interests, or being deemed "cost effective".

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Inspector_General_report_blasts_port_security_0316.html

[blm]

1. Corporate media: No Democrats cared about port security before Dubai

deal. They're just trying to make political points on national security.

Uh - Kerry's been criticizing port security since 2002 - it was media who wouldn't discuss it so they could keep fooling the people into believing Bush was their savior against terror.

[blm]

2. K&R - this issue is going to stay big through November. The public GOT IT

and the media has no way to spin it for Bush.