Who are these masked men, Liars, Hypocrits or Incompentants?

BrooklynDodger has argued, in other contexts, that one should not assume malevolence where ignorance, incompetance or laziness could equally explain bad behavior. The front page of the Times notes that the Homeland Security Elite, having squandered 4.5 billion on useless [for the stated purpose] equipment, now wants more money without any prospect we aren't throwing good money after bad.

The Dodger suggests that the purpose of most HS BS was to constantly propagandize Americans about marginal to improbably threats to reinforce political support for the Bush Administration. We needn't invoke Lakoff framing of mommy and daddy parties to conclude which party is more likely to lock up all the [dark skinned] furriners here, and bomb them there, jail first and ask questions afterward. So, if you ignore the long term prospect of amplifying hostility, the short term impact says vote for Bush, every time you take off your shoes in the airport.

There is some science here, but the vast majority of the science trained community is walled off by secrecy from doing the simple calculations which would permit evaluating any of this stuff.

What are these biological detectors detecting and how? Can they possibly work, or are we better served by putting resources into surveillance which can detect an outbreak of any disease, a network which could respond to SARS or the Avian flu?

What are these radiation detectors detecting and how does that apply to a smuggled nuclear weapon? Can they possibly work outside a semi-trailer loaded with a cargo container? [The Dodger guesses these detectors measure gamma rays, which are incidentally released by fissionable material. Virtually no shielding will stop alpha particles, not much is needed to stop beta's [emitted by the nucleides which pose the largest internal radiation threat from a "dirty bomb."b How much enriched uranium do you need to get a detectable amount of gamma? Someone knows, but not the Dodger]


http://nytimes.com/2005/05/08/national/08screen.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5094&en=5cfdf0fee9e6ae67&hp&ex=1115611200&partner=homepage

U.S. to Spend Billions More to Alter Security Systems

Among the problems:
¶Radiation monitors at ports and borders that cannot differentiate between radiation emitted by a nuclear bomb and naturally occurring radiation from everyday material like cat litter or ceramic tile.
¶Air-monitoring equipment in major cities that is only marginally effective because not enough detectors were deployed and were sometimes not properly calibrated or installed. They also do not produce results for up to 36 hours - long after a biological attack would potentially infect thousands of people.
¶Passenger-screening equipment at airports that auditors have found is no more likely than before federal screeners took over to detect whether someone is trying to carry a weapon or a bomb aboard a plane.
¶Postal Service machines that test only a small percentage of mail and look for anthrax but no other biological agents.