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Former 9/11 commissioners: US still at risk
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-05 08:30 "Obviously, as we've said all along, we are safer, but not yet safe. There is
more to do," Hadley said on "Fox News Sunday."
Ex-commissioners contended the government has been remiss by failing to act
more quickly.
Kean said the Transportation Security Administration was wrong to announce
changes last week that will allow airline passengers to carry small scissors and
some sharp tools. He also said the agency, by now, should have consolidated
databases of passenger information into a single "terror watch list" to aid
screening.
"I don't think we have to go backward here," said Kean, who appeared with
Hamilton on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"They're talking about using more money for random checks. Terrorists coming
through the airport may still not be spotted," Kean said.
Kean and Hamilton urged Congress to pass spending bills that would allow
police and fire to communicate across radio spectrums and to reallocate money so
that Washington and New York, which have more people and symbolic landmarks,
could receive more for terrorism defense.
Both bills have stalled in Congress, in part over the level of spending and
turf fights over which states should get the most dollars.
"This is a no-brainer," said Hamilton, a former Indiana congressman.
"From the standpoint of responding to a disaster, the key responders must be
able to talk with one another. They could not do it on 9/11, and as a result of
that, lives were lost. They could not do it at (Hurricane) Katrina. They still
cannot do it."
As for the dollar dispute, Hamilton said, "We know what terrorists want to
do: they want to kill as many Americans as possible. That means you protect the
Washington monument and United States Capitol, and not other places."
Congress established the commission in 2002 to investigate government
missteps that led to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Its 567-page final report,
which became a national best seller, does not blame Bush or former President
Clinton for missteps contributing to the attacks but did say they failed to make
anti-terrorism a higher priority.
The commission also concluded that the Sept. 11 attack would not be the
nation's last, noting that al-Qaida had tried for at least 10 years to acquire
weapons of mass destruction.
Calling the country "less safe than we were 18 months ago," former Democratic
commissioner Jamie Gorelick said Sunday the government's failure to move forward
on the recommendations makes the U.S. more vulnerable.
She cited the failure to ensure that foreign nations are upgrading security
measures to stop proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical materials, as
well as the FBI's resistance to overhauling its anti-terror programs.
"You remember the sense of urgency that we all felt in the summer of 2004.
The interest has faded," the Washington lawyer said on ABC's "Good Morning
America." "You could see that in the aftermath of Katrina. We assumed that our
government would be able to do what it needed to do and it didn't do it."
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