July 12, 2006 U.S. Terror Targets: Petting Zoo and Flea Market? By ERIC LIPTON http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/12/washington/12assets.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&; pagewanted=print
WASHINGTON, July 11 It reads like a tally of terrorist targets that a child might have written: Old MacDonald¹s Petting Zoo, the Amish Country Popcorn factory, the Mule Day Parade, the Sweetwater Flea Market and an unspecified ³Beach at End of a Street.² But the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, in a report released Tuesday, found that the list was not child¹s play: all these ³unusual or out-of-place² sites ³whose criticality is not readily apparent² are inexplicably included in the federal antiterrorism database. The National Asset Database, as it is known, is so flawed, the inspector general found, that as of January, Indiana, with 8,591 potential terrorist targets, had 50 percent more listed sites than New York (5,687) and more than twice as many as California (3,212), ranking the state the most target-rich place in the nation. The database is used by the Homeland Security Department to help divvy up the hundreds of millions of dollars in antiterrorism grants each year, including the program announced in May that cut money to New York City and Washington by 40 percent, while significantly increasing spending for cities including Louisville, Ky., and Omaha. ³We don¹t find it embarrassing,² said the department¹s deputy press secretary, Jarrod Agen. ³The list is a valuable tool.² But the audit says that lower-level department officials agreed that some older information in the inventory ³was of low quality and that they had little faith in it.² ³The presence of large numbers of out-of-place assets taints the credibility of the data,² the report says. In addition to the petting zoo, in Woodville, Ala., and the Mule Day Parade in Columbia, Tenn., the auditors questioned many entries, including ³Nix¹s Check Cashing,² ³Mall at Sears,² ³Ice Cream Parlor,² ³Tackle Shop,² ³Donut Shop,² ³Anti-Cruelty Society² and ³Bean Fest.² Even people connected to some of those businesses or events are baffled at their inclusion as possible terrorist targets. ³Seems like someone has gone overboard,² said Larry Buss, who helps organize the Apple and Pork Festival in Clinton, Ill. ³Their time could be spent better doing other things, like providing security for the country.² Angela McNabb, manager of the Sweetwater Flea Market, which is 50 miles from Knoxville, Tenn., said: ³I don¹t know where they get their information. We are talking about a flea market here.² New York City officials, who have questioned the rationale for the reduction in this year¹s antiterrorism grants, were similarly blunt. ³Now we know why the Homeland Security grant formula came out as wacky as it was,² Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said Tuesday. ³This report is the smoking gun that thoroughly indicts the system.² The source of the problems, the audit said, appears to be insufficient definitions or standards for inclusion provided to the states, which submit lists of locations for the database. New York, for example, lists only 2 percent of the nation¹s banking and finance sector assets, which ranks it between North Dakota and Missouri. Washington State lists nearly twice as many national monuments and icons as the District of Columbia. Montana, one of the least populous states in the nation, turned up with far more assets than big-population states including Massachusetts, North Carolina and New Jersey. The inspector general questions whether many of the sites listed in whole categories like the 1,305 casinos, 163 water parks, 159 cruise ships, 244 jails, 3,773 malls, 718 mortuaries and 571 nursing homes should even be included in the tally. But the report also notes that the list ³may have too few assets in essential areas.² It apparently does not include many major business and finance operations or critical national telecommunications hubs. The department does not release the list of 77,069 sites, but the report said that as of January it included 17,327 commercial properties like office buildings, malls and shopping centers, 12,019 government facilities, 8,402 public health buildings, 7,889 power plants and 2,963 sites with chemical or hazardous materials. George W. Foresman, the department¹s under secretary for preparedness, said the audit misunderstood the purpose of the database, as it was an inventory or catalog of national assets, not a prioritized list of the most critical sites.The database is just one of many sources consulted in deciding antiterrorism grants. The inspector general recommends that the department review the list and determine which of the ³extremely insignificant² assets that have been included should remain and provide better guidance to states on what to submit in the future. Mr. Agen, the Homeland Security Department spokesman, said that he agreed that his agency should provide better directions for the states and that it would do so in the future. One business owner who learned from a reporter that a company named Amish Country Popcorn was on the list was at first puzzled. The businessman, Brian Lehman, said he owned the only operation in the country with that name. ³I am out in the middle of nowhere,² said Mr. Lehman, whose business in Berne, Ind., has five employees and grows and distributes popcorn. ³We are nothing but a bunch of Amish buggies and tractors out here. No one would care.² But on second thought, he came up with an explanation: ³Maybe because popcorn explodes?² _______________________________________________ Infowarrior mailing list [email protected] https://attrition.org/mailman/listinfo/infowarrior
