Twenty months after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the government has new powers to conduct the war on terror, and the Bush administration insists that the country is safer than it used to be. However, last week, the Congressional Research Service reported that despite all that's been done in the name of homeland security since September 11, potential terrorists can still buy guns and explosives and evade the enforcement of new laws-and there's still no consensus on government's role in protecting seaports, chemical plants or nuclear installations. Are airport checks and orange alerts just window dressing? Is real security too costly and too politically complex? We hear from a civil defense historian and experts from the Hart-Rudman Task Force on Homeland Security, the Heritage Foundation and the Site Institute.
Making News: Lee Arrested for Alleged Serial Murders
Derrick Todd Lee appeared in an Atlanta courtroom Atlanta today and waived extradition to Louisiana. DNA evidence from the suspected serial killer has linked him to the murder of five women over the past year. Reporter Mike Hasten, who's based in Baton Rouge for the Shreveport Times says the community is expressing great relief over the arrest of a man who had won over many. Reporters Notebook: UN Asked to Intervene in Congo
The genocide in Rwanda discredited the United Nations in 1994. In Congo, rebel armies with patrons from nine neighboring countries are waging a brutal struggle for gold, diamonds and coltan, a conflict that has killed an estimated 3 million people in the past four years. Colette Braeckman, African editor for the Belgian newspaper Le Soir and an author of many books on the region, looks at the latest challenge now facing the UN. Congressional Research Service reports
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