Progress Report: An Indefensible Homeland Security Record

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#160;#160;

DON'T MISS

SERVICE: Ben Barnes on how Bush got into the Texas Air

National Guard.

 

ECONOMY: How big is this soft patch, Mr. Greenspan?

 

IRAQ: Death rate increasing.

 

EDITORIAL: Cheney's disgraceful speech.

 

 

DAILY GRILL

" I got an honorable discharge. "

 

- President Bush, 2/9/04

 

VERSUS

 

" The Air Force in Denver, acting retroactively, in

effect overturned Bush's honorable discharge and

placed him on 'Inactive Status' effective Sept. 15,

1973. When Bush left Texas, his personnel file was

sent to Denver for review. "

 

- Salon.com, 9/9/04

 

 

DAILY OUTRAGE

NBC News uncovered footage of President Bush insulting

thousands of Vietnam veterans who were killed or

injured in combat. Bush said in 1988 that the

government " probably should have called the National

Guard up in those days #8211; maybe we'd have done

better in Vietnam. "

 

 

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by David Sirota, Christy Harvey, Judd Legum and

Jonathan Baskin

 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2004

 

REPORT CARD An Indefensible Homeland Security Record

REPORT CARD Failing Nonproliferation Efforts

MILITARY New Memos Expose Bush Record

UNDER THE RADAR Go Beyond The Headlines

 

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REPORT CARD

An Indefensible Homeland Security Record

 

The Bush administration receives a " D+ " on Homeland

Security. Though it has spent billions to deal with an

imaginary threat in Iraq, it has not sufficiently

funded, nor has it put forth realistic strategies to

deal with, threats to America's ports, railways,

chemical plants and other infrastructure. It has also

failed to secure America's borders or establish

effective terrorist watch lists. The Department of

Homeland Security remains " grossly underfunded " and

the color-coded alert system is dysfunctional.

Fundamentally, the administration seems to think it

can defeat terrorism by " taking the fight to the

enemy, " but as Homeland Security expert Stephen Flynn

warns, " Targeting terrorism at its source is an

appealing notion. Unfortunately, the enemy is not

cooperating. "

 

PORTS AND RAILWAYS: The administration has severely

underfunded maritime security, imperiling the safety

of hundreds of thousands of people who live near

ports. The Coast Guard has projected the cost of

implementing safety regulations laid out by Congress

at $7.3 billion over the next ten years, but the

administration has distributed just $441 million so

far, and the president's 2005 budget proposes to spend

only $46 million. Stephen Flynn, a retired U.S. Coast

Guard Commander, points out, " For the cost of two F-22

fighter jets and three days of combat in Iraq#8230;the

nation's ports could be secured against terror. "

Meanwhile, millions of train passengers also remain

unprotected and the administration has not forced the

rail industry to safeguard shipments of hazardous

materials. Bush's 2005 budget allocation for train

security is $100 million, equal to what the U.S.

spends on eight typical hours in Iraq.

 

BORDERS: The 9/11 Commission concluded that the Bush

administration had failed to adequately secure

America's borders and track new visitors. Commission

Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton said, " We need secure

borders with heightened and uniform standards of

identification for those entering and exiting the

country, and an immigration system able to be

efficient, allowing good people in while keeping the

terrorists out. " The Department of Homeland Security

currently has no strategy for tracking down and

deporting people who remain beyond the conditions of

their stay.

 

LAW ENFORCEMENT: Remarkably, Bush administration

homeland security cutbacks have meant fewer cops and

first responders on the streets today than there were

on 9/11. And despite a supposedly high level of

domestic alert, the Bush administration's 2005 budget

calls for a 31.9 percent decrease in law enforcement

funding from levels approved by Congress in FY2004.

Foreign Affairs reports that on average, " U.S. fire

departments have only enough radios to equip half

their firefighters on a shift, and breathing apparatus

for only a third. Police departments in cities across

the country do not have the protective gear to safely

secure a site following a WMD attack. And most

emergency medical technicians lack the tools to

determine which chemical or biological agent may have

been used. "

 

ASSIGNMENT FOR ACTION: The Center recommends that

President Bush give new funding and priority to port

and railway security and require the chemical industry

to adopt tighter security guidelines. The president

should also eliminate the color-coded threat alert

system and order Homeland Security to come up with a

more focused and complete mechanism for communicating

threats to Americans. Finally, he should order the

Office of Management and Budget to draw up a national

security budget that includes appropriations for

defense, intelligence, homeland security, diplomacy

and foreign assistance. The Belfer Center at Harvard

has developed solutions to " key gaps " in the

administration's current policy, including better

funding for first responders in areas most likely to

be affected by terrorism and more widespread

vaccinations.

 

REPORT CARD

Failing Nonproliferation Efforts

 

The greatest danger facing the United States today is

the threat of terrorists armed with nuclear weapons. A

new report by the Center for American Progress titled

" Failing Grades: America's Security Three Years After

9/11 " gives the Bush administration an " F " for efforts

to stop the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological

weapons and materials. In fact, the report shows the

Bush White House has actually gone backward in

attempts to control access to weapons-grade nuclear

materials worldwide. Instead of aggressively curbing

the spread of nuclear weapons, the administration's

policies have " encouraged other countries to take up

the challenge of a new nuclear arms race " while

increasing the likelihood that terrorists and rogue

nations will access nuclear materials. As Harvard's

Graham Allison says: " If we just keep doing what we

are doing, a nuclear terrorist attack is inevitable. "

(American Progress has an in-depth look at how the

lack of leadership from the White House is impeding

global nonproliferation efforts.)

 

THE RECORD: According to a recent Harvard University

report titled " Securing the Bomb: An Agenda for

Action, " " less fissile materials were secured in the

two years after Sept 11 than in the two years before. "

In addition, the Carnegie Endowment for Peace warns,

" since the invasion of Iraq, we have spent $200

billion on the war, but only $2 billion on securing

the nuclear bomb materials we know al Qaeda has sought

and may still seek. "

 

SHORTCHANGING GLOBAL EFFORTS: Two years ago, the

United States joined other G-8 countries in creating

an international effort to fight the threat of WMD.

The White House pledged $10 billion, to be matched by

the other seven nations. Since then, only a fraction

of the pledged funds have been allocated. As chair of

the group in 2003, President Bush failed to advance

this program. President Bush actually proposed cutting

funds for the so-called Nunn-Lugar program #8211; a

proven success that to date has deactivated " 6,312

nuclear warheads; 537 ICBMs; 459 ICBM silos; 11 ICBM

mobile missile launchers; 128 bombers; 708 nuclear

air-to-surface missiles; 408 submarine missile

launchers; 496 submarine launched missiles; 27 nuclear

submarines; and 194 nuclear test tunnels. " Also,

Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan are nuclear

weapons-free as a result of cooperative efforts under

the Nunn-Lugar program.

 

IGNORED AXIS: President Bush pushed the nation into

war in Iraq by claiming Saddam Hussein had weapons of

mass destruction that posed a serious and immediate

threat to the United States. Although the White House

has since spent over $600 million to look for weapons,

no evidence of usable weapons has been found.

Meanwhile, the expensive war in Iraq distracted

attention from the other spokes in the " Axis of Evil, "

allowing increasingly aggressive North Korea and Iran

to continue to develop their own nuclear programs. The

president's cabinet is divided over what to do about

North Korea and Iran, which has resulted in policy

gridlock#8212;enabling North Korea to quadruple its

suspected nuclear arsenal from two to as many as eight

weapons and allowing Iran to proceed in building

infrastructure that could be used to build a nuclear

weapon on short notice.

 

SACRIFICING CREDIBILITY: The Bush administration has

been trying to develop new, deadlier nuclear weapons,

a move the director general of the International

Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed El Baradei, likened to

having a cigarette dangling from your lips while

admonishing other nations not to smoke. The White

House has sought funding for " bunker busters, " nuclear

weapons that could penetrate deep into the earth, and

" mini-nukes, " for smaller nuclear attacks. Both of

these are considered " usable, " first-use weapons,

increasing the likelihood of preemptive nuclear

strikes, which in turn goads other nations into

accelerating their nuclear programs.

 

MILITARY

New Memos Expose Bush Record

 

Four previously unseen memos obtained by 60 Minutes

from the personnel file of President Bush's squadron

commander, Col. Jerry Killian, " suggest that Bush

received favored treatment during a time in the early

1970s when many young men were being drafted and sent

to fight in Vietnam. " The memos, which include reports

of Bush's dereliction of duty during his time in the

Texas Air National Guard and allege pressure from

superiors to " sugar coat " evaluations, " appear to be

the most damaging revelations in long-running

accusations by his critics that he had received

special treatment. "

 

BUSH FAILS TO MEET STANDARDS: The memos trace a

pattern of Bush failing requirements at the Guard,

then escaping the consequences. In one memo, dated May

1972, Killian writes that Lt. Bush called him to talk

about " how he can get out of coming to drill from now

through November, " and expresses concern the

congressman's son is " talking to someone upstairs. " On

Aug. 1, 1972, the day Bush was suspended from flying

for failing to take his physical, Killian wrote, " on

this date, I ordered that 1st Lt. Bush be suspended

not just for failing to take a physical#8230;.but for

failing to perform to U.S. Air Force/Texas Air

National Guard standards. The officer [then-Lt. Bush]

has made no attempt to meet his training certification

or flight physical. " But Killian alleges he was then

pressured not to be too hard on Bush in his

evaluations.

 

THE HONORABLE DISCHARGE: The White House defends

Bush's performance with the Guard by pointing to his

" honorable discharge, " but Killian's memos suggest

Bush's favorable reviews were tainted by preferential

treatment. A memo dated Aug. 18, 1972, seventeen days

after Killian said Bush had failed to meet Guard

standards, complains that Col. Buck Staudt, the man in

charge of the Texas Guard and a longtime supporter of

the Bush family, was putting on pressure to " sugar

coat " the evaluation of Lt. Bush. Killian admits to

" having trouble running interference and doing my

job. " Though Bush did receive an honorable discharge

in October 1973, Salon reports that a month later, the

Air Force in Denver, " acting retroactively, in effect

overturned Bush's honorable discharge and placed him

on 'Inactive Status' " upon review of his personnel

file. It was " only last-minute intervention, likely

from Bush's local Houston draft board, " which reversed

Bush's inactive status and secured his honorable

discharge.

 

GETTING INTO THE GUARD: Also on 60 Minutes last night,

former Texas House Speaker Ben Barnes explained how he

helped Bush gain entry into the Guard in 1968, just a

few months before Bush was to become eligible for the

Vietnam draft. Barnes recalled a meeting with oilman

Sid Adger, a friend to both Barnes and

then-Congressman George Bush, during which he agreed

to help Bush get into the Guard. " I would describe it

as preferential treatment, " Barnes said. " There were

hundreds of names on the list of people wanting to get

into the Air National Guard or the Army National

Guard. I think that would have been a preference to

anybody that didn't want to go to Vietnam or didn't

want to leave#8230;Those that could get in the

Reserves, or those that could get in the National

Guard - chances are they would not have to go to

Vietnam. " Barnes now regrets helping Bush, saying he

is " very, very sorry " for what he did.

 

BUSH'S RESPONSE: Barnes's story conflicts with the

president's recent statements about his Guard service

#8211; Bush has insisted " any allegation that my dad

asked for special favors is simply not true. " But in

1988, the president expressed his true feelings about

preferential treatment: " If you want to go into the

National Guard, I guess sometimes people make calls, "

he said. " I don't see anything wrong with [that]. "

Bush also insinuated he would have been ready to serve

in Vietnam with the Guard, saying, " They probably

should have called the National Guard up in those

days. Maybe we would have done better in Vietnam. " On

the O'Reilly Factor last night, American Progress'

Larry Korb pointed out, " We now know that

[bush]#8230;would have been in no position to have

been called up [to Vietnam], because he got out of his

flying status and he didn't show up for his flight

physical. "

 

A TACTIC FIRST EXPLOITED BY GEORGE BUSH: Former

President George H. W. Bush has attacked those who

have questioned President George W. Bush's service

record during the Vietnam War. Yet it was George H. W.

Bush who orchestrated a similar attack on his

opponents in 1988. As reported in the 8/23/88 Los

Angeles Times, Bush campaign co-chairman John Sununu

" accused the [sen. Lloyd Bentsen] of helping his son

get into the National Guard. " Bentsen son " served in

the 147th Fighter Group of the Texas National Guard

along with George W. Bush, the vice president's

son. " #160; Bush's allies on Capitol Hill at the time

also charged Dukakis with using student deferments to

avoid service during the Korean War.

 

Under the Radar

 

ABORTION #8211; LAW FAILS TO PROTECT WOMEN'S HEALTH:

Yesterday, a federal judge in Nebraska declared the

Partial Birth Abortion Act of 2003 unconstitutional

because it " failed to provide any exception if a

woman's health is at stake. " The plaintiff in the

case, Dr. LeRoy Carhart, said that he went to court

because " as a doctor it is my duty to put my patient's

health and safety first. The government has no

business in a medical professional's office

determining the safest or best treatment for patients

with no knowledge of the medical circumstances. " Judge

Richard Kopf, who decided the case, said that the

medical conclusions drawn by Congress " arbitrarily

relied upon the opinions of doctors who claimed to

have no (or very little) recent and relevant

experience with surgical abortions, and disregarded

the views of doctors who had significant and relevant

experience with those procedures. " Federal judges in

New York and California have recently made similar

rulings. Apparently indifferent to concerns about

women's health, John Ashcroft immediately pledged to

fight the decisions.

 

IRAQ #8211; ALLOWING INSURGENTS TO REGROUP: A

Washington Post editorial observes that in " the Sunni

cities of Fallujah, Ramadi and Samarra...the United

States has withdrawn its forces, allowing extremist

movements and foreign terrorists to take over. "

Strongholds in these cities " now pose a serious threat

to U.S. forces, to Iraq's interim government and to

the plan to hold national elections in January. "

Nevertheless, " the U.S. military leadership has

announced that it cannot eliminate these sanctuaries

for Baathists and suicide bombers before December. "

The WP asks, " Is it only a coincidence that the

Pentagon's timetable postpones a difficult and

potentially costly showdown until after the U.S.

presidential election? " Whatever the answer, the

result is that terrorists and insurgents have been

" conceded a haven in a country that the United States

invaded to preempt just such a threat. "

 

INTELLIGENCE #8211; GOP DEMANDS BUSH RELEASE

DOCUMENTS: Sen. Bob Graham (D), who was chairman of

the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2002, has

published a new book asserting that " the Bush

administration and FBI blocked a congressional

investigation " into the relationship between the Saudi

Arabian government and the 9/11 hijackers. Graham

objected to the White House's decision to classify 27

pages of a congressional report that dealt with the

relationship. While the Republican National Committee

and Fox News anchor Brit Hume have attacked the

Florida Senator, he is not the only one who wants the

27 pages released. Top Republicans do, too. Sen.

Richard Shelby (R-AL), who was the ranking Republican

on the committee, said on 7/27/03 that " I think [the

27 pages are] classified for the wrong reason#8230;My

judgment is 95 percent of that information could be

declassified, become uncensored, so the American

people would know. " Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), who is

now chairman of the committee, said on 7/27/03 that " I

was upset with the process, and I was upset with the

amount of material that was redacted. " Sen. Chuck

Hagel (R-NE) said on 7/31/03, " I think it's in the

interest of this administration to have some of this

opened up. "

 

TERRORISM #8211; SPINNING THE NUMBERS: Newsweek

reports, " Without any public explanation, President

George W. Bush last week increased the estimate of al

Qaeda leaders who have been killed or captured. " Bush

claimed for the first time that " more than three

quarters of al Qaeda's key members and associates have

been detained or killed. " In his previous statements,

Bush said the number was " nearly two-thirds. "

According to Newsweek, " White House and U.S.

intelligence officials declined to provide any back-up

data for how they developed the new number#8212;or

even to explain the methodology that was used. " An

official from the recently disbanded 9/11 Commission

said, " It was meaningless when they said two-thirds

and it's meaningless when they said three-fourths.

This sounds like it was pulled out of somebody's

orifice. " The vast majority of the FBI's most wanted

terrorists are still at large.

 

CUBA #8211; COUNTERPRODUCTIVE POLICIES: The report of

the State Department-anointed Commission for

Assistance to a Free Cuba continues to rear its ugly

head. Among the recommendations of the commission

#8211; and among those already going into effect

#8211; is a call for limiting remittances and family

visits to Cuba. The nonpartisan Inter-American

Dialogue, which convened its own commission to study

the report, recently released a letter to Secretary of

State Colin Powell arguing that " the recommendations

for hastening the end of the current regime are not

conducive to the subsequent goals of a successful

transition to democracy and market economy, " and that

" the report's recommendations might well increase the

risk of violence and social unrest in Cuba during a

transition period. " Even Powell, who chaired the

commission, disagrees with U.S.-Cuba policy; Powell's

chief of staff, Larry Wilkerson, told GQ magazine that

Powell thought U.S. Cuba policy was the " dumbest

policy on the face of the earth. "