Security flaws at Ft. Dix after alleged plot?
Eyewitness News Exclusive WABC By Jim Hoffer New Jersey - WABC, May 23, 2007 http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local <http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=local&id=5333401> &id=5333401 An Eyewitness News investigation is raising troubling questions about security at U.S. military bases. When news broke earlier this month about an alleged terrorist plot against Fort Dix, the New Jersey base called it a real wake-up call. Yet days later we went to the base to check security and found serious flaws. Exactly one week after the FBI foiled an alleged terror plot at Fort Dix, we approached one of the main gates at the Army base expecting tightened security. Eyewitness News Photographer: "How are you?" Guard: "Where are you guys heading?" Photographer: "Soccer." Guard: "All the way from New York, go ahead." After saying we were there for an athletic event and only one us having to show a driver's license, we were in, free to drive anywhere within the sprawling base -- the same base that the FBI claims six men wanted to use AK-47's and rocket propelled grenades "to kill American soldiers." We took our own tour, first stopping by base lodging, a hotel for visiting military personnel. We then followed signs to the command center which is headquarters for the entire base, all along the way passing groups of soldiers, some getting their pictures taken, others conducting drills. Once you get through the main check point you have almost total access to just about any place on the base. We've been here now for over 60 minutes and have not seen one security vehicle or military police. Since 2001, the base has served as a major mobilization point for soldiers heading to Iraq and Afghanistan. The base is brimming with humvees and transport vehicles. On a return visit to the base, we found easy access to areas where soldiers train and live. In some cases, doors had been propped wide open as if no thought had been given to security. And no ID was needed to get into the base military store even though only soldiers and their families have exclusive right to shop there. "I am appalled that they don't have better security," said former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb. Korb, a former assistant Secretary of Defense in charge of military installations, was alarmed by our investigation. "Even with my retired military ID many times they search my car so the fact that they didn't do it here, particularly after this warning that they have gotten, is just inexplicable. It's a failure of leadership," Korb said. We showed the head of Fort Dix police just how easy it was for us to pass through security. Jim Hoffer: "How does this happen?" Stephen Melly, Public Safety Director: "I guess when you put human beings in a position to uphold something and do something sometimes they just don't keep to the standard that's put in front of them." But our investigation found widespread security weaknesses and not just at the gate but throughout the base. Hoffer: "Doesn't that mean there might be a systemic problem?" Melly: "Possibly, and over the last several days since we've been advised of what's going on we have completely looked at the process and put major changes in place." Those changes, we're told, include better training, more stringent background checks and increased searches of cars -- security measures some believe should be carried out with far greater urgency. "You are at war with a group of radical extremists that want to strike wherever you're weakest and if you are not checking people coming into the gate you are weak," Korb said. We did observe Fort Dix police asking drivers for vehicle registration and proof of insurance. But in our visits, we never saw any cars searched. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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