Richard Clarke: Homeland Insecurity

For several days after Hurricane Katrina, homeland security czar Michael Chertoff seemed to spend most of his time on camera, strolling through the wreckage of New Orleans, dodging questions about FEMA's lack of preparedness, focusing instead on the lessons he hoped to learn -- as if the death of thousands and the submersion of a major American city were nothing more than a dry run for the real catastrophes just around the corner. In the November Atlantic, Richard Clarke, counterterrorism chief under Clinton and (briefly) under Bush, raises the distressing possibility that Mr. Chertoff is not the only one who has learned a thing or two from his mistakes. Terrorists have televisions too:

Imagine if, in advance of Hurricane Katrina, thousands of trucks had been waiting with water and ice and medicine and other supplies. Imagine if 4,000 National Guardsmen and an equal number of emergency aid workers from around the country had been moved into place, and five million meals had been ready to serve. Imagine if scores of mobile satellite-communications stations had been prepared to move in instantly, ensuring that rescuers could talk to one another. Imagine if all this had been managed by a federal-and-state task force that not only directed the government response but also helped coordinate the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and other outside groups.

Actually, this requires no imagination: it is exactly what the Bush administration did a year ago when Florida braced for Hurricane Frances. Of course the circumstances then were very special: it was two months before the presidential election, and Florida's twenty-seven electoral votes were hanging in the balance.