Almost five years after 9/11, Homeland Security list of nat'l critical assets includes 'ice cream parlor,' Sears Auto Center

RAW STORY
Published: Tuesday July 11, 2006

Close to five years after 9/11, a Homeland Security list of national critical assets is still unreliable, and includes entries such as an 'ice cream parlor' and a Sears Auto Center, according to an article set for Wednesday's New York Times.

Other potential terror targets on the list include an "Old MacDonald’s Petting Zoo, the Amish Country Popcorn factory, the Mule Day Parade, the Sweetwater Flea Market and an unspecified 'Beach at End of a Street.'"

"Nearly five years after the 2001 attacks, the Department of Homeland Security still has been unable to produce a reliable list of critical national assets, considered a fundamental first step in developing a risk-based domestic security system, a new report by the inspector general has concluded," writes Eric Lipton.

"The report cited lists that include such inexplicable entries as an ice cream parlor and a Sears Auto Center and inequities such as the 8,591 entries for the state of Indiana, compared to 5,687 for New York and 3,212 for California," the article continues.

"Homeland Security officials themselves, interviewed by the investigators, agreed that the older data in the inventory -- entered starting in 2003 -- "was of low quality and that they had little faith in it," the report says," Lipton writes.

"But this is the database the government is supposed to use to help divvy up the hundreds of millions of dollars in anti-terrorism grants it distributes each year," writes Lipton.

DEVELOPING...

READ THE ENTIRE TIMES ARTICLE HERE.