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“Pork Barrel” Spending Hurts Efforts to Prepare for WMD Terrorist Event, Rudman Says By Chris Schneidmiller WASHINGTON — “Pork barrel” spending of federal funds and inadequate concern about a potential attack are hampering many U.S. communities’ efforts to prepare for a terrorist event involving a weapon of mass destruction, former U.S. Senator Warren Rudman (R-N.H.) said yesterday (see GSN, Dec. 2, 2004). He spoke during an experts’ panel discussion following a showing at George Washington University of the movie Dirty War, which depicts the explosion of a “dirty bomb” that spreads radiation over a section of London. While they found fault with some of the details, panel members said the movie was a realistic representation of a bomb plot and its aftermath, and one that should be taken seriously in the United States. “Could it happen to us? Yes,” said New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly. “We’ve done an awful lot, but certainly it could happen.” There is reason for concern that terrorists could obtain radioactive material, panelists said. Rudman noted North Korea’s recent announcement that it possesses nuclear weapons and the communist government’s historic willingness to sell weapons. He also expressed concern over loose radioactive material suspected to be left over from the former Soviet Union. In addition, there are “ample quantities” of radioactive material in the United States and United Kingdom that terrorists could divert for a radiological weapon, said Richard Falkenrath, former deputy homeland security adviser to the Bush administration. The United States has come farther than any nation since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in increasing prevention and preparation efforts for a WMD attack, Falkenrath said. The federal government now distributes about $4 billion annually to state and local preparedness programs. Falkenrath and other panelists acknowledged, though, that more needs to be done. Rudman and Kelly said there still is not enough federal money for training and equipping local first responders. Local governments are too often misspending the funding they do receive, Rudman said, citing a boat, van and a SWAT team as improper uses made by local agencies of homeland security money. “If something like this happens, people will not have the foggiest notion of how to deal with it,” said Rudman, who with former Senator Gary Hart led a commission that warned of terrorist attacks on the United States before Sept. 11 (see GSN, June 4, 2004). Falkenrath said that federal officials have not always been pleased with how money is spent by state and local agencies. However, there are 18,000 police jurisdictions in the United States, and the administration must rely on governors’ offices to develop security plans and determine where money should be spent, he said. Congress should set standards for the use of homeland security funds, Rudman said. Funding must also be distributed based on threat analyses rather than simple population formulas, he added. While communities such as New York City and Arlington County, Va., — both at ground zero for the Sept. 11 attacks — have made great strides in improving security and response capabilities, other cities and towns of all sizes are not taking the threat seriously, Rudman said. They assume an attack will occur somewhere else, which actually makes them a more attractive target for terrorists, he said. Local officials have their own concerns about dealing with a WMD event, audience members said during the discussion. Arlington County Fire Chief James Schwartz said his department needs funding for personnel to increase planning and response capability to an attack. “We just aren’t going to be able to solve this situation by buying equipment,” he said. With existing budget constraints, the federal focus will remain on funding equipment and training, Falkenrath said. There are a number of gaps in prevention and response that need to be filled, including securing radioactive materials, improving detection and preparing health care systems for an attack, said panelist Margaret Hamburg, vice president for biological programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Dirty War showed Londoners fleeing the fallout area, some avoiding emergency decontamination sites and many mobbing a hospital in search of care. Hospitals are not prepared to deal with a dirty bomb or other WMD event, Hamburg said. Medical facilities now would expect decontamination to occur at the “point of exposure,” Hamburg said. What they need are clear strategies to ensure the wounded receive hospital care, while those only in need of decontamination are treated elsewhere, she said. Capacity at hospitals is another concern, Hamburg said. “We’ve seen even in a mild flu season hospitals getting overwhelmed on a regular basis,” she said. Two thousand people visited Inova Health System hospitals in Northern Virginia following the 2001 anthrax attacks, concerned they had been infected, said audience member Dan Hanfling, the system’s director emergency management and disaster medicine. Only two of those people were actually infected with anthrax, he said. Hospitals would be on the front line for providing care in an incident like that depicted in the movie, Hanfling said, “The health-care system … will truly be overwhelmed in a situation like this.” Hamburg and Kelly said their greatest fear is of terrorists obtaining an actual nuclear weapon, as opposed to a dirty bomb that uses conventional explosives to spread radioactive material. There is also the threat of biological terrorism, which would add contagion to the initial event, Hamburg said. All levels of institutions — from governments to hospitals to families — need to prepare plans for an attack, Hamburg said. She said it would probably take additional attacks to create a sustained realization of the seriousness of the threat. Intelligence gathering is crucial to prevent terrorism, Falkenrath said. He called for renewal of provisions of the controversial Patriot Act set to expire this year to maintain information-related capabilities such as obtaining wiretaps based on foreign intelligence. It is not realistic to believe that all terrorist acts can be stopped, but reasonable steps can at least prevent some from occurring, Rudman said. Dirty War, which has already aired on the BBC and HBO, will be shown at 9 p.m. Feb. 23 on PBS stations nationwide. The panel discussion was taped by Washington PBS station WETA and will be shown after the movie. [EDITOR’S NOTE: The Nuclear Threat Initiative is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by the National Journal Group.]
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