WASHINGTON Three years after the lack of coordination among federal security agencies contributed to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Department of Homeland Security has failed in its effort to create a single, comprehensive "watch list" of suspected terrorists, according to a government report released Friday. DHS is not fulfilling its responsibility under the Homeland Security Act," said Clark Kent Ervin, inspector general of the Homeland Security Department, whose office conducted the study.
The department's failure to produce a viable terrorist watch list stemmed primarily from a lack of leadership and intelligence agencies' continued failure to coordinate information, the report said.
Without a central database containing the latest information about possible terrorists, border guards and other security personnel are hard-pressed to do their jobs, experts say. The absence of the watch list and information-sharing among agencies has been cited as a major factor in the Sept. 11 attacks.
The inspector general's report comes at a critical time...read on
If we can't even put together a list....