Why Bother?

Sometimes it's hard to get a grasp on just how well the federal government is doing in securing the nation against possible terrorist attacks. After all, such information is generously stamped as not for public release because of national security reasons.

That means Americans frequently get a watered-down account of the government's performance when it comes to security. Sometimes very watered down. Consider this report that the inspector general at the Homeland Security Department posted this month. The report, if you can call it that, has to leave the public wondering why the department even bothered to waste resources to print it and store it on its Web site.

The report, with the title “A Review of Homeland Security Activities Along a Segment of the Michigan-Canadian Border (Unclassified Summary),” is a spine-straining three pages long. That includes the title page and the back page, on which is printed the boilerplate end-of-report information on how to request additional reports.

That leaves one page for the five-paragraph “Unclassified Summary," three paragraphs of which are devoted to the report's objective and how the IG conducted the review. The last two (short) paragraphs present the IG's findings and recommendations:

We identified several concerns regarding the integration and dissemination of intelligence, the protection of critical infrastructure/key resources, local targeting capabilities, the extent of local performance measures, and the need for additional technological resources.

We are recommending that DHS increase its local intelligence presence; better coordinate the funding of protective measures for critical infrastructure/key resources; introduce additional standard operating procedures at the ports of entry; and deploy additional technological resources along the border. DHS is already taking steps toward remedying some of these issues in response to concerns that were raised during the course of our review.

Ignorance is bliss, they say.