07/03/2003
Homeland Security
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has just published a report titled “Drastically Underfunded, Dangerously Unprepared” concerning the issue of Homeland Security. I thought I’d summarize it, as it’s been the focus of attention and debate in various forums.
Chaired by former Senator Warren Rudman, the title sums up the huge issues facing America. CFR President Leslie Gelb:
“As I sit to write this foreword, it is likely that a terrorist group somewhere in the world is developing plans to attack the United States and/or American interests abroad using chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or catastrophic conventional means. At the same time, diplomats, legislators, military and intelligence officers, police, fire and emergency medical personnel, and others in the United States and across the globe are working feverishly to prevent and prepare for such attacks. These two groups of people are ultimately in a race with one another. This is a race we cannot afford to lose.”
Among the conclusions of the Task Force on Emergency Responders:
--“Congress should work to establish a system for distributing funds based less on politics and more on threat. To do this, the federal government should consider such factors as population, population density, vulnerability assessment, and presence of critical infrastructure within each state.”
[Wyoming, for example, receives $10 per capita from the Department of Homeland Security for emergency preparedness while New York State receives only $1.40 per capita.]
--“States should develop a prioritized list of requirements....to achieve the best possible return on investments.”
How ill-prepared to handle a catastrophic attack is America?
--“On average, fire departments across the country have only enough radios to equip half the firefighters on a shift, and breathing apparatuses for only one third. Only 10 percent of fire departments in the United States have the personnel and equipment to respond to a building collapse.”
--“Police departments in cities across the country do not have the protective gear to safely secure a site following an attack with WMD.”
--“Public health labs in most states still lack basic equipment and expertise to adequately respond to a chemical or biological attack, and 75 percent of state laboratories report being overwhelmed by too many testing requests.”
“If the nation does not take immediate steps to better identify and address the urgent needs of emergency responders, the next terrorist incident could have an even more devastating impact than the September 11 attacks.”
One of the prime headlines coming out of the report is the task force’s recommendation that an additional $98.4 billion for emergency responders be spent over the next five years, a huge increase from the $27 billion already allocated. Among the priorities not currently covered:
--“To enhance emergency agricultural and veterinary capabilities for effective response to national food supply attack.”
--“To help develop surge capacity in the nation’s hospitals and to help them better prepare for a WMD attack.”
Plus you have items like strengthening emergency operations centers for public safety employees.
Further examples of how unprepared the U.S. is:
--Only Iowa and Georgia have basic equipment to test for cyanide, even though the deadly compound is readily available in 41 states.
--The average # of full-time paid police employees is 16% below the figure for 2001.
And this conclusion:
“America’s leaders have not yet defined national standards of preparedness – the essential capabilities that every jurisdiction of a particular size should have or have immediate access to .
“National capability standards (are needed to) determine the minimum number of people that cities of a certain size should be able to decontaminate, inoculate, quarantine, or treat after a chemical, nuclear, biological, or radiological attack.”
The conclusion of the report notes that on September 11, the American people were caught under-protected and unaware of the magnitude of the threat facing them. “Ignorance of the nature of the threat – or of what the United States must do to prepare for future attacks – can no longer explain America’s continuing failure to allocate sufficient resources to preparing local emergency responders. It would be a terrible tragedy indeed if it took another catastrophic attack to drive that point home.”
From my own perspective, the key is I get no sense that the government, as represented by the Department of Homeland Security, has a true set of priorities. Despite the fact that we have to prepare for everything, some items have to be described as more important than others. And as the report says, distributing funds quickly into the right hands is a huge ‘must.’
One item not addressed in the report, nor in Washington, is the thought process between large urban areas and small towns. Some of us living in the suburbs feel that we are not at physical risk from an attack, but any kind of large-scale nuclear or biological incident could obviously put areas far beyond the initial impact zone in great danger. That’s why local officials have to adopt the same mindset as those in the cities.
Finally, as you can see from the recommendation for a further $98 billion in funding over the next five years, to do the job right requires vast sums, with a federal budget that is already riding in record deficit territory, let alone the problems at the state and municipal level. This has vast implications for the financial markets, and our overall sense of wealth .or lack thereof.
Source: cfr.org
Hott Spotts will return July 10.
Brian Trumbore
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