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Thursday, September 15, 2005
9/11 Commission: Questions remain
Congress, the president and the states are absorbing the lessons from the 2001 terrorist attacks far too slowly. More intelligent reform in Washington, D.C., would have made a difference in New Orleans.
The bipartisan members of the Sept. 11 investigating commission released a report Wednesday on the status of some of their recommendations. On homeland security and emergency preparedness, the news is far from encouraging.
The commission, which included former U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton of Washington, did a great national service with its report. And the members have stayed together as a non-profit group to monitor progress, or what passes for that.
The members see only minimal progress or an unsatisfactory response in 11 of 13 areas for action, including incident command systems, assessment of infrastructure needs and adequate emergency radio capability. Former New Jersey Republican Gov. Thomas Kean bluntly told The Washington Post that Katrina shows how unprepared the nation is.
Both with Katrina and the larger reform efforts, there's plenty of blame to share with states, cities and businesses. But citizens are justified to question whether the departure of one official is nearly enough to change a federal system that, under Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, failed just when it was needed the most.
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