It's frightful that four years after 9/11, our nation's "war on terror" has flunked a quiz on its home front. A "report card" released by the former 9/11 Commission, which now calls itself the 9/11 Public Discourse Project, has given the government scandalously low grades in preventing another terrorist attack.
Since 2003, the Bush Administration and Congress have done nothing but prove that politics is taking the bite out of national security. It's fortunate that we're finding out about this ineptitude though a P.R. move and not another national tragedy.
The report argues airport security, a politicized system of doling out Homeland Security funds, and the failure of a new communication system for first responders, have left the United States "shockingly" vulnerable to another terror attack.
It's reprehensible that our politicians haven't implemented policy that reflects the Commission's findings. At best, they are inept and prisoners of bureaucratic inertia, but at worse, they just don't care. We've heard 9/11 "changed everything," but what's changed if the policies that best safeguard our nation aren't acted upon? How can any politician condone the pork-based formula used that doesn't meet New York or California's needs, yet gives all sorts of security funding to Maine, Wyoming and the Dakotas?
The 9/11 Commission's findings weren't without flaw. Its inexplicable reluctance to further investigate the Pentagon's "Able Danger" data mining program that identified lead hijacker Mohamed Atta in 2000 is mind boggling, but its recommendations were not. In fact, commission members were universally praised when the bipartisan group released its initial report in July 2004.
The White House needs to push Congress to make the Commission's recommendations become more than ignored advice. If terrorists attacked the United States today, Washington couldn't say we are protected to the fullest extent. And that's criminal in itself.
Waterfront awash with hope
New Niagara Power pact is good news for Buffalo shoreline
After countless promises, pointed haggling and good old name-calling, local officials secured a new deal with the Niagara Power Authority. Finally, with the re-licensing of the Niagara Power Project, a regional decision has been made in the best interests of the city of Buffalo, and not those involved in the process itself.
Though Rep. Brian Higgins was seeking $10 million a year from the Power Authority, the settlement reached $5.5 million a year for 50 years to waterfront development projects. This will go a long way towards creating a desired destination on Buffalo's shores. As soon as 2006, $65 million could come to the new corporation tasked with redeveloping Buffalo's long neglected waterfront.
Now comes the fun part: figuring out how to spend the money.
Approximately $2 million a year is being set aside for a new "greenway" along the Niagara River that will rival the beauty of the Canadian side, a good idea that will allow for crowds to gather for any multitude of purposes. An Erie Canal museum is also under design that will highlight the regions bountiful history.
The danger is the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., which will manage all development projects, will drop the ball. In the past, searching for the ever-illusive "silver bullet" development project has retarded progress on all fronts. In order to ensure success, decision-making should be transparent-the corruption and cronyism that have marked Buffalo's past needs to be avoided at all costs. Then, and only then, will Higgins' vision for a revitalized Buffalo waterfront work.
