WP's Milbank strikes! DHS Disputes Al-Qaeda's 5-Star Rating of 2 US Cities

[DeepModem Mom]

Flash: DHS Disputes Al-Qaeda's 5-Star Rating of Two U.S. Cities
By Dana Milbank
Friday, June 2, 2006; Page A02

.... (Tracy) Henke, who is in charge of Homeland Security's grant-making, has become a target of ridicule since she announced plans Wednesday to cut counterterrorism money for New York City and the Washington area -- which together have been the targets of 100 percent of al-Qaeda's terrorist attacks on American soil -- by 40 percent each.

Adding insult to this injury, Henke's department judged that the nation's capital is a "low-risk" city and that the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and Empire State Building are not worthy of "national icon" status. By contrast, those terrorism magnets of Kansas City and St. Louis -- both by happenstance in Henke's home state of Missouri -- received boosts in funds. Other winners: the horses of Louisville, the cattle of Omaha and five cities in Jeb Bush's Florida.

Sounds dubious? Sorry, you can't see the data Henke used. Classified....

***

The new DHS plan is advertised as a "risk-based" model, but it came up with almost the opposite conclusions to a Rand Corp. study last year that calculated terrorism risk to 47 cities. Seven of the 10 highest-risk cities in the Rand study will lose funding under the DHS plan; six of the 10 lowest-risk cities in the Rand study will see increases in funds, including such hot spots as Milwaukee and Tampa....

***

Asked later if she expected the uproar, (Henke) replied: "There's no getting around the outburst coming. Risk exists elsewhere in the nation and we have done a much better job at identifying, calculating and analyzing that risk....(Y)ou have sites in Wyoming that have risks associated with them."

It's true: The bison of Grand Teton have lived in fear of al-Qaeda long enough.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/01/AR2006060101722.html?sub=AR

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. I saw her on WJ today. A typical neocon kool-aid drinker

she shirked answering any tough question, even a lob like how many containers enter the US uninspected.

Remember, her last job was on her knees at the DOJ, with john Anscroft. I just am unsure what she was doing on her knees.

[katty]

17. exactly slam liberal NYC-the Neocons live in their own world

[htuttle]

2. They're just funneling the money to their own mob 'associates'

At least when the Italian mob guarded the ports during WWII, they honestly did keep the saboteurs away, no matter how much money they siphoned off.

This New England mob isn't half as diligent nor half as competent as Luciano's gang.

[tanyev]

3. If the terrorists blow up Mt. Rushmore, we'll never be able to put

Reagan and W up there! AAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!!

[Cha]

27. They probably think

if Mt Rushmore gets blown up then they can start over with hoover bush reagun and bush the lesser.

[mod mom]

4. Take away $ where large populations of Dem voters live despite the risk

factors. Another GOP ploy to funnel money to their supporters: like Diebold + ES & S for help with the vote, faith based initiative $ for the Christian right, etc.

[Marr]

5. This is an illegitmate government. It constantly puts

the Republican Party's power ahead of the peoples' welfare. It's obvious what this is- yet another incidence of Republicans funelling money into their own political machines- without so much as a thought for the money's intended purpose- or for the government's intended purpose.

For these people, the function of government is to provide a framework for their party's continued dominance. It's not something that's meant to help society run smoothly, or defend the weak from the strong, or anything else. This government is worse than "un-American". It's illegitmate.

[katty]

20. stolen, illegal, treasonous and totally bush family cartel criminal based

[Spazito]

6. LOL, I have to give Milbank his due on this column...

he has used his snark very well to point out the ridiculousness of the allocation of funding by DHS. I still despise him as a shill, overall, but every once in a while, he hits the nail on the head.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. Same here -- kudos to him today. nt

[Scout1071]

8. I'm from Kansas City and I think this is utter bullshit.

I cannot believe they would cut NYC funding by 30%. I've been to NYC many, many times and I would much rather that the portion of my money allocated for terror prevention go to NYC than any city in the Midwest (Chicago and Dallas being the exceptions.)

[Pachamama]

28. I can't believe they would be cutting funds to NYC by any %! If anything,

they should be INCREASING funds to NYC, not cutting. I don't oppose increases to cities like Kansas City or St. Louis, but to decrease in the two cities that were previous targets of the largest terror attacks on US soil and the centers of both our Federal Gov't and Financial Institutions is just plain INSANE!

I guess however if you wanted to make sure that these places got hit again, then what they just did makes total sense....

Amazing...And ofcourse they will say its because of budget cuts and they can't afford to pay for these programs...but if they weren't cutting the taxes for the super rich and now the big estate tax cut, then they could pay for increases across the board. But hey, tax cuts for the rich and all the money that is being poured into Iraq and the War Coffers, just don't allow for protecting our homeland!

[Cha]

29. Thanks! It's just more

IN YOUR FACE "FUCK YOU" TO THE LIBERALS AND PROGRESSIVES AND OH PEOPLE who live in reality!

[librechik]

9. doing the same great job on nat'l security that they did with Katrina

thanks, brand new bureaucracy set up by the smaller government folks. One of Several.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. Have they said what the think the 'national icons' are?

Or is that 'classified'?

[JDPriestly]

16. That they don't care about the Statue of Liberty is predictable.

After all, it was a gift from the French-- those nasty people who have the "gall" (pun intended if you now French) to stand up to their idiotic foreign policy. But, you'd think they'd care enough about New York to want to protect Wall Street and their playgrounds in New York City.

[katty]

18. they don't care about NYC at all-Protect Jebbie'sFLA&TX-ass

[Bake]

11. If/When we take the government back

Can we please please please screw them over really bad?

That's my first reaction. But the truth is, Democrats don't want to screw ANYONE over ... we want everyone treated "with liberty and JUSTICE for all." Damn, that's HARD!!!

Bake

[Occulus]

12. But justice for them would BE a hard, painful screw

something involving broken glass, treble hooks, and a few large stones.

[katty]

19. yes, they have certainly earned it!

[Bake]

21. I'm glad it includes "and JUSTICE for all."

Justice is what they so richly deserve. They are fortunate that we Dems don't stoop to their level of gutter tactics and petty retribution. We just insist on justice.

Bake

[Gman]

13. Al-Queda will strike a blow for Allah in Cheyenne!

Allah Aqubar, or something like that! What a stunning political statement that would make around the world. It will resonate into the soul of every devout Moslem. Imagine the political earthquake that would be heard around the world if Al-Queda brought down these the same way they brought down the WTC:



Actually, I think any terrorist that struck Cheyenne would be laughed at and ridiculed into oblivion by their peers.

[JPZenger]

14. Newark Spent their terrorism money on garbage trucks

Newark NJ spent some of their Federal anti-terrorism money on new garbage trucks for $260,000 each. Their rationale was that after the terrorists blow up the Prudential buildings (as was threatened), they will need the new trucks to cart away the debris.

[NYCGirl]

15. Funniest. Line. Ever.

It's true: The bison of Grand Teton have lived in fear of al-Qaeda long enough.

When Milbank is good, he's very good.

[Canuckistanian]

22. Somebody should do a red state/blue state map

Whcih shows all the areas that got increases and also the ones that got decreases.

I guessing that would tell the tale.

[DeepModem Mom]

23. I think you're not alone in that assessment. A map...

would be interesting to see.

[beltanefauve]

24. Does anybody have a list?

I can already guess the red state/blue state scenario, but I'd like to see it for myself.

[DeepModem Mom]

25. I Googled, and could find only articles about responses...

from individual cities. I've so far not seen a complete list of cities, and the grants to each.

[Cha]

26. ANd if something tragic

happens in one of these new "low risk" sites?..like NYC or DC?

Do we get to throw eggs on her shirking face?

[DianaForRussFeingold]

30. this doesn't surprize me,

:hi: They spent more on investigating Clinton,Than they did investigating 911!:crazy: Maybe Chirtoff knows something WE Don't! :spank: . As far as Katrina he couldn't have done a worse job IF he tryed!;*** "Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency on August 26, a week later, New Orleans remained in a state of chaos.
Chertoff himself appeared misinformed about the situation, even calling the situation at the Convention Center "rumors" after it had been in the news most of the day. While defending the federal government's response in a September 3, 2005 press conference, Chertoff asserted that no one had ever predicted a disaster of this magnitude; however, warnings had in fact come for years from experts in the private sector as well as government agencies at all levels, including FEMA itself, who had identified a disaster such as this as one of the three most likely catastrophes to strike the US. **** Federal officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief of possible devastation just before Hurricane Katrina struck.: http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/03/01.html#a7356 :kick: