Jackson Jambalaya

Report

The L.A. Times recently reported on a report issued in May by the Inspector General for the Department of Justice concerning the response of federal law enforcement to the use of a WMD in this country. The report was rather scary as it slammed the Department of Justice for being comletely unprepared for such an event:

"The Justice Department is not prepared to ensure public safety in the aftermath of an attack using weapons of mass destruction, the agency's inspector general said Tuesday in the latest warning about the government's readiness for a catastrophic terrorist event.

The Justice Department is supposed to coordinate federal law enforcement activities after a nuclear, biological or chemical attack and take over if the incident overwhelms state and local police, the report said.

"We are totally unprepared," an unidentified Justice Department official is quoted as saying in the report by the inspector general, the agency's internal watchdog. "Right now, being totally effective would never happen. Everybody would be winging it..." (p. 44 of report)
Article

I actually read the report and its scary when one starts thinking about its implications. One should assume if a WMD is detonated, local first responders will probably be incapacitated or dead. The use of federal law enforcement personnel and resources will be very critical and it is imperative they have some idea of what the hell they are supposed to do in such a crisis. Here are some quotes from the report (Read the Executive Summary and then skip to page 28 for the meat of the report):

"In December 2008, the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Proliferation and Terrorism issued a report on the United States’ ability to protect itself from a WMD attack. The Commission concluded that, without concerted action to prevent it, a WMD attack is likely to occur somewhere in the world by 2013." (p. 13, I'm using page numbers in adobe, not the document itself).

"Our review found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has taken appropriate steps to prepare to respond to a potential WMD attack.... "The FBI has developed various plans, handbooks, and other resources to guide its staff in responding to a WMD incident. Further, the FBI regularly provides its staff with training specific to WMD incidents. The FBI provides WMD training for all new Special Agents during their initial FBI Academy training, and FBI WMD Coordinators and Intelligence Analysts are trained in specific WMD areas of emphasis." (p.4)

"Although the FBI appears prepared to provide the initial response to a WMD incident, the Department (Department of Justice) as a whole is not fully prepared to provide a coordinated response. We found that no entity or individual has been assigned responsibility for central oversight of WMD response activities throughout the Department (If I could underline that sentence as well I would do so.) In addition, the existing Department-level response policies and plans are not in compliance with national policy and are outdated. Further, the components’ preparations for responding to a WMD incident, other than the FBI’s, are inconsistent and not well coordinated. Moreover, appropriate component staff does not appear well trained in the unique requirements associated with responding to a WMD incident." (p. 35)

"the NSD National Crisis Management Coordinator stated that the Department’s response program lacked general leadership, centralization, and coordination. He added that nobody is looking at all of the components regarding response operations, particularly for responding to a WMD incident." (p. 25)

"Overall, we found no Department-sponsored training or coordination of exercises to test preparedness for responding to a WMD or other incident. No law enforcement components other than the FBI have specific WMD operational response plans, although EOUSA and NSD have developed plans or guides for a legal response to a WMD incident.

We found ATF, the DEA, and the USMS each have groups or individuals to manage all-hazards responses, but no Department component, other than the FBI, assigns an entity specifically to prepare for WMD incidents. Further, none of the components maintains plans, handbooks, and other resources specifically for responding to WMD incidents." (p.40)

A couple of the agencies make the excuse that they thought the FBI would lead the way and they would support the FBI in the event of a WMD detonation. The IG thrashes this argument:

"However, we found no efforts among the components to coordinate responding to a WMD incident. The FBI is the only component with plans, handbooks, and other resources for responding to a WMD incident, but officials from the other components said they have not seen the FBI’s response materials. The Assistant Directors of the FBI’s WMD Directorate and Critical Incident Response Group said the FBI would not object to letting other Department components review the plans, but none of the components have asked to do so." (p.41)

It gets worse. This quote spells out exactly why this is such a big deal:
"In a WMD incident, agencies’ roles are not specified and resources are not pre-positioned as during a special event. Moreover, the hazard presented by a WMD – as opposed to conventional or improvised explosives or natural disasters – is unique. Without WMD-specific training and response plans, responders may be at greater risk of becoming casualties. Because the component field offices in the NCR other than the FBI have no WMD-specific response plans or training, and have not participated in WMD-specific exercises, it is uncertain that they are fully prepared to safely and effectively contribute to the Department’s overall response in the event of a WMD incident." (p. 52)

This passage says it all:
"ATF’s Chief of the Office of Field Operations said that ATF’s plan in the event of a WMD incident is to not respond, but rather to provide support to the FBI. DEA and USMS officials stated that in the event of a WMD incident they would develop plans to support an FBI response if the FBI asked for support, after the components’ headquarters approved the use of resources."

So they develop plans AFTER the attack? Do I even need to say it?The IG makes five recommendations on page ten. The agency responses are at the back of the report and some of the IG's responses to their responses are good reading as the IG dissects and then knocks them down one at a time. Forget the Republican or Democrat debates. Read the report. Its sobering. One can only hope the government will get its act together before the terrorists do.