September 11, Nine Years Later

The 9-11 Commission led by Lee Hamilton and Tom Kean established the National Security Preparedness Group to follow its work with periodic assessments of terrorist threats to the United States. Its latest report, released today, says terrorism is more complex than it was nine years ago and that some US citizens are more dangerous than al Qaeda. In the meantime, the US has built dozens of new intelligence bureaucracies, with thousands of employees, costing more than $75 billion a year. Even some intelligence experts say over-reaction is leading to massive waste and duplication of effort. Is it worth the cost to make America safer? Is it counterproductive? Does it exaggerate dangers, create unnecessary fears and perpetuate an overly powerful national security state?