July 1, 2005 |
Dear Families and Friends,
The 9/11 Public Discourse Project hosted two hearings this week in Washington to discuss the many security threats that still face our country nearly 4 years after the attacks of September 11. The first, on Monday, focused on the possibility that terrorists could attack the homeland with WMDs, including nuclear weapons. The panel began with a frank assessment of our vulnerabilities by former Senator Sam Nunn, a longtime leader of Congressional efforts to counter nuclear proliferation who advocates stronger action to keep loose nuclear material out of the hands of terrorists. Nunn expressed dissatisfaction with the scope and the pace of efforts by the United States and Russia to ensure that nuclear material is secured. This material includes operational nuclear weapons, parts to make a bomb, and spent radioactive fuel that could be used for a deadly ‘dirty’ bomb, in which conventional explosives are used to spread radioactivity across a wide area. He said turf battles and complacency in Washington and Moscow have dangerously hamstrung counter proliferation given Al-Qaeda’s professed goal to obtain a nuclear device and use it on the United States or one of our allies. “From my perspective, the terrorists are racing and we are somewhere between a walk and a crawl," said Nunn, currently the head of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a Washington-based group focused on combating the nuclear menace before it hits our shores. Nunn said part of the NTI’s job is to educate the American people on the real possibility of an attack that could take hundreds of thousands of lives and devastate the economy. To raise awareness, the NTI has produced a film showing various scenarios where al-Qaeda obtains a weapon and plots to attack America. The NTI is offering DVDs Thompson of the film, starring former Senator Fred Dalton Thompson, at no cost in an effort to reach as many Americans as possible. VOICES has already ordered our copy, and we encourage each one of you to visit the NTI’s website, www.lastbestchance.org, to obtain more information on counter proliferation and order your copy of the free DVD. In depth coverage of the nuclear issue can be found on a website regarding the work Fmr. Sen. Nunn and Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) have done to keep nukes out of terrorists’ hands, www.nunn-lugar.com. Other members of the panel joined Nunn in calling on the government to step up its efforts to fight nuclear terrorism, and agreed that the best way to do so is securing the finite amount of nuclear material that currently exists before terrorists can obtain it through theft or bribery. Once the terrorists have a weapon, the panelists warned, it will become nearly impossible to detect it before they have a chance to use it. Nunn compared the search for a single device, which could fit in a small cargo container or the back of an SUV, to the search for a needle in a haystack. Also, given the magnitude of the threat, many said the government needs to do much more to keep us safe. "I think we have a war on terrorism. We don't have a war yet on weapons of mass destruction," said panelist Ashton Carter, co-director of the Preventive Defense Project at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Panelists also expressed concern that the government was focused on responding to past incidents of terrorism, especially those involving airplanes, rather than anticipating the dangers of the future. "We need to have a rational, mature discussion in this country about what our priorities are," said Steven Brill, founder and chairman of the America Prepared Campaign, which he formed to help the public, government and media prepare for terrorist attacks and other emergencies. For more information on their work, please see www.americaprepared.org. The PDP will not be holding a panel next Monday in honor of the July 4 holiday, so we will bring you a summary in our e-newsletter next Friday of the Tuesday, June 28 panel, on Homeland Security issues including border control, port security and the risks of falling into complacency in the face of grave threats to the homeland.
July 4th Letter by Robin
Flag of Remembrance Mindy Kombert and Sherry Kronenfeld In the aftermath of 9/11, Mindy Kombert and Sherry Kronenfeld took time off from their jobs to focus on the creation of The Flag of Remembrance, an enormous 20 by 27 foot American flag featuring the photographs, names, and ages of every victim of 9/11. Their hope was to create a permanent tribute to the photographs and posters of missing loved ones scattered throughout New York City in the days and weeks after 9/11. The Flag was unveiled last year in Chappaqua, NY and was also on display at VOICES Spring Information Forum this past April. For more information on the Flag of Remembrance, please visit their website.
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