Anti-Terror Expert Launches Jihad

Christian Beckner of Homeland Security Watch follows the ongoings of anti-terrorism bureaucracy and policy as well as than anyone on the web, and today he comes out swinging on news that chemical companies are betting they can use the Homeland Security funding bill to water down the ability of the government to require certain security measures.

Beckner even breaks out the strong tags:

Regardless of the exact nature of the language that ends up in the appropriations bill, this is a shameful way to finally deal with this issue. Thousands of hours went into a serious, mature effort to develop comprehensive chemical security legislation, and the bills that passed out of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee are solid, bipartisan pieces of legislation. [...] But these bills have been blocked from moving forward by the chemical industry, which has tried to talk a good game but has constantly maneuvered behind the scenes to stall or block legislation, and has rarely given an inch to reach a durable compromise.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration has sat on the sidelines this month, instead of using its muscle to support legislation that it has endorsed [...] President Bush has engaged Congress incessantly over the last two weeks to argue for the passage of bills on the NSA program and detainee trials, arguing that these are necessary to protect the nation against terrorism. [...] But the Administration's claims that these bills are necessary to protect the nation have a hollow, empty ring to them in light of its failure to take leadership this month on an issue of equal or great importance to the nation's security - chemical plant security.

I disagreed with Beckner just yesterday, but he's spot on here. Has everyone forgotten the 15,000+ Indians that Union Carbide (now Dow) managed to kill in Bhopal, India, even without the aid of fundamentalist terrorists?

Special interests will be clamoring for the first Acela out of D.C. the moment Beckner learns about the strikethrough tag.

Photo: Haydnseek