Ad Hoc Security Doesn't Cut it at Home

6 years later, US safeguards still off the mark, Slate argues

By Jonas Oransky, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 12, 2007 7:16 PM CDT

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Ad Hoc Security Doesn't Cut it at Home — Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, left, accompanied by FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Sept. 10, 2007, before the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on post-9/11 terrorist threat to the U.S. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) (Associated Press)

America’s ad hoc security is still off the mark, says Slate’s Daniel Byman: It fosters fears, ignores US Muslims and never plans from a terrorist’s point of view. “The very concept of homeland security is new for Americans,” Byman writes, “and the department was thrown together quickly and involved many already-dysfunctional bureaucracies. ”

Byman urges US officials to stand in Jihadist shoes for a day: "Terrorists seek targets that will resonate with their constituents. We should ask what will play in Peshawar, Pakistan, not Peoria, Ill.” And US officials mustn't tip off attackers, as Tommy Thompson did in 2004, asking why “terrorists have not, you know, attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do.” (More terrorism stories.)

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