Politics As Usual Instead of Security

By Joe Conason



Michael Chertoff possesses the impressive résumé and aggressive bearing of a big-time official, but as Secretary of Homeland Security, he behaves more like a small-time hack. His feeble judgment in matters of policy, personnel and politics—first demonstrated in the wake of Hurricane Katrina last year—has proved that he was never qualified to protect the United States from terrorism and natural disaster.

Last week, he suddenly reminded the nation of his manifest incompetence, after his department released a bizarrely skewed list of security grants to cities and counties. Municipalities that confront the most significant threats will lose many millions in funding, while those least likely to face attack will receive additional millions.

Even more outrageous than the funding decisions were the explanations offered by Mr. Chertoff and his staff, who had promised to award money on the basis of actual need instead of political clout. To justify cutting New York City’s grant by nearly half, the department claimed that city officials had failed to fill out the grant application properly. They also asserted that the nation’s greatest city has no significant landmarks, and that the superb counterterrorism division of the New York City Police Department is somehow substandard.

While the firing of Mr. Chertoff certainly is overdue, as the tabloid headlines suggest, his dismissal will not solve the department’s problems. The priorities at D.H.S. have been badly distorted from the beginning, with partisan patronage and lobbyist influence taking precedence over efficiency and effectiveness. The controversial grants issued to municipalities are dwarfed by contracts awarded to private corporations, which amount to around $10 billion annually.

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