The New Nation - Internet Edition

ACCORDING to a study as reported in the US media, the United States remains 'dangerously vulnerable' to chemical, biological and nuclear attacks seven years after 9/11. A House Democrats' report, on the other hand, blamed the Bush administration saying it has 'missed' one opportunity after another to improve the nation's security. The recent political rupture between Russia and the United States only makes matters worse, said former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton who helped lead the 9/11 Commission and now chairs the independent group's latest study. The report produced by the bipartisan Partnership for a Secure America' concludes- 'The threat of a new major terrorist attack on the United States is still very real' as efforts to reduce access to nuclear technology and bomb-making materials have slowed.

Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, had harsher criticism of the Bush administration's efforts. Their report, written by the staff of the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs Committees, found rather little progress across the board on national security initiatives. 'The Bush administration has not delivered on a myriad of critical homeland and national security mandates', the Democrats' report states adding the administration has just failed to act in so many ways. The report describes the 'failure' of international cooperation to prevent terrorists from obtaining weapons of mass destruction.

Many countries continue to ignore a United Nations mandate to prevent the spread of weapons; the ability of many countries to monitor potential bio-terrorism is essentially non-existent', and dangerous chemical weapons stockpiles remain in some countries as the report mentioned. Russia has been a significant player in US efforts to secure nuclear weapons and to eliminate inventories of chemical weapons in the former Soviet region and that cooperation could be jeopardised as the two countries face off over the Russian troops' march into Georgia and concerns about a US missile defence base in Poland.