Thread: U.S. Borders Vulnerable

From the New York Slimes...

U.S. Borders Vulnerable, Witnesses Say


By ERIC LIPTON
Published: June 22, 2005

WASHINGTON, June 21 - The federal government's efforts to prevent terrorists from smuggling a nuclear weapon into the United States are so poorly managed and reliant on ineffective equipment that the nation remains extremely vulnerable to a catastrophic attack, scientists and a government auditor warned a House committee on Tuesday.

The assessment, coming nearly four years after the September 2001 attacks and after the investment of about $800 million by the United States government, prompted expressions of frustration and disappointment from lawmakers.

"If we go ahead and spend the money and don't succeed, I don't understand that," said Representative Steve Pearce, Republican of New Mexico.

Four federal departments - Homeland Security, Defense, Energy and State - are involved in a global campaign to try to prevent the illicit acquisition, movement and use of radioactive materials, which includes efforts to prevent theft of nuclear materials from former Soviet stockpiles and inspecting cargo containers on arrival from around the world.

Dirty bombs, crude devices that widely spread low levels of radiation, are relatively easy to detect. But highly enriched uranium, a crucial ingredient in a nuclear bomb, could easily be shielded with less than a quarter-inch of lead, making it "very likely to escape detection by passive radiation monitors" now installed at ports and border stations, Benn Tannenbaum, a physicist and senior program associate at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, testified at Tuesday's hearing.

The monitors are unable to distinguish between naturally occurring radiation from everyday items like ceramic tile and dangerous material like enriched uranium.

"It has been, let me say, a bad few years," Dr. Tannenbaum said.

Customs officials also at times allow trucks to pass through the monitors too quickly, said Gene Aloise, an official from the Government Accountability Office. And because the devices sound so many false alarms, Mr. Aloise said, their sensitivity has been turned down, making them less effective still.

Nationally, less than a quarter of the radiation detection devices needed to check all goods crossing the borders have been installed, federal officials said. In New York, for example, none of the cargo that moves through the largest ship terminal or goods leaving the port by rail or barge are inspected for radiation, Bethann Rooney, manager of security for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, testified.

The problems extend beyond the borders, witnesses said. About half of the monitors given to one former Soviet state were never installed or put into use. A monitor that the State Department gave to Bulgaria was set up on an unused road. And sea spray and winds at some ports overseas may have compromised the detection equipment, Mr. Aloise said.

Richard L. Wagner Jr., a physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and chairman of the Defense Department task force on preventing a clandestine nuclear attack, agreed that the radiation detection systems installed across the United States were "quite limited in their capabilities and, in general, are insufficient to the task." But the situation, Dr. Wagner said, is not surprising given the rapid start up of the effort.

"There will be false starts and there will be money wasted," he said.

Representative Jim Langevin, Democrat of Rhode Island, asked how Homeland Security should apportion $125 million in the coming fiscal year between buying more of the same radiation monitor technology and supporting research into better technology. Two witnesses called for putting the detection equipment on ships, so threats could be identified before reaching the United States.

Members of Congress have also recently questioned a proposal by the Bush administration to spend $227 million in the coming year to create a Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, skeptical that it will do more than add a new layer of bureaucracy.

"I am not too hopeful about this situation," Representative Bill Pascrell Jr., Democrat of New Jersey, said.

(End of Article)

Note that not one word was mentioned about our porous southern border, other than to mention "border stations. " I am sure the terrorists will be considerate enough to ship in the uranium through a port or a "border station".

Exactly, they are spending all this money for uranium detectors at officals points of entry, better survalience, etc but totally ignore the wide open unguarded borders.

I think we will be hit again and it will be with a nuke and ill be sitting thier watching the show, when all the politicians will be gone.

Prometheus

I totally agree with the article you´ve posted. Having unsafe borders or ones that are quite easy to vulnerate is a real problem. That´s why I´m so fo legal immigration becaus I think that this is the best way to control who enters the country, for how long and to do what. When a friend of mine had to immigrate to the US she didn´t doubt it and got the advise from Foreign Immigration www.foreignimmigraton.com

Originally Posted by Scarecrow

From the New York Slimes...

U.S. Borders Vulnerable, Witnesses Say


By ERIC LIPTON
Published: June 22, 2005

WASHINGTON, June 21 - The federal government's efforts to prevent terrorists from smuggling a nuclear weapon into the United States are so poorly managed and reliant on ineffective equipment that the nation remains extremely vulnerable to a catastrophic attack, scientists and a government auditor warned a House committee on Tuesday.

The assessment, coming nearly four years after the September 2001 attacks and after the investment of about $800 million by the United States government, prompted expressions of frustration and disappointment from lawmakers.

I think anyone of us could have told them the same thing much earlier.

"If we go ahead and spend the money and don't succeed, I don't understand that," said Representative Steve Pearce, Republican of New Mexico.

Four federal departments - Homeland Security, Defense, Energy and State - are involved in a global campaign to try to prevent the illicit acquisition, movement and use of radioactive materials, which includes efforts to prevent theft of nuclear materials from former Soviet stockpiles and inspecting cargo containers on arrival from around the world.

Dirty bombs, crude devices that widely spread low levels of radiation, are relatively easy to detect. But highly enriched uranium, a crucial ingredient in a nuclear bomb, could easily be shielded with less than a quarter-inch of lead, making it "very likely to escape detection by passive radiation monitors" now installed at ports and border stations, Benn Tannenbaum, a physicist and senior program associate at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, testified at Tuesday's hearing.

The monitors are unable to distinguish between naturally occurring radiation from everyday items like ceramic tile and dangerous material like enriched uranium.

"It has been, let me say, a bad few years," Dr. Tannenbaum said.

Customs officials also at times allow trucks to pass through the monitors too quickly, said Gene Aloise, an official from the Government Accountability Office. And because the devices sound so many false alarms, Mr. Aloise said, their sensitivity has been turned down, making them less effective still.

Nationally, less than a quarter of the radiation detection devices needed to check all goods crossing the borders have been installed, federal officials said. In New York, for example, none of the cargo that moves through the largest ship terminal or goods leaving the port by rail or barge are inspected for radiation, Bethann Rooney, manager of security for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, testified.

The problems extend beyond the borders, witnesses said. About half of the monitors given to one former Soviet state were never installed or put into use. A monitor that the State Department gave to Bulgaria was set up on an unused road. And sea spray and winds at some ports overseas may have compromised the detection equipment, Mr. Aloise said.

Richard L. Wagner Jr., a physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and chairman of the Defense Department task force on preventing a clandestine nuclear attack, agreed that the radiation detection systems installed across the United States were "quite limited in their capabilities and, in general, are insufficient to the task." But the situation, Dr. Wagner said, is not surprising given the rapid start up of the effort.

"There will be false starts and there will be money wasted," he said.

Representative Jim Langevin, Democrat of Rhode Island, asked how Homeland Security should apportion $125 million in the coming fiscal year between buying more of the same radiation monitor technology and supporting research into better technology. Two witnesses called for putting the detection equipment on ships, so threats could be identified before reaching the United States.

Members of Congress have also recently questioned a proposal by the Bush administration to spend $227 million in the coming year to create a Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, skeptical that it will do more than add a new layer of bureaucracy.

Would it not make more sense to secure the open borders we have today? It doesn't take a rocket scientist or someone inside the beltway to have a solution to the problem. SECURE THE BORDERS! No charge for the solution.

"I am not too hopeful about this situation," Representative Bill Pascrell Jr., Democrat of New Jersey, said.

(End of Article)

Note that not one word was mentioned about our porous southern border, other than to mention "border stations. " I am sure the terrorists will be considerate enough to ship in the uranium through a port or a "border station".

You'll never hear the NYSlimes mention the porous US border.....