US Terrorist Vulnerability Exposed Years Ago

The Issues and Events piece on the potential revival of the Office of Technology Assessment (Physics Today, October 2001, page 24 ) was excellent, timely, and important. I would particularly like to point out the Web site the writer mentioned: http://www.wws.princeton.edu/~ota/ , where all of the more than 700 OTA reports may be found. These reports are outstanding syntheses of information on many complex issues. Being science-based and therefore densely factual, they have an enduring quality that is mostly independent of the policy oscillations that characterize our political debate.

In particular, and in light of the recent airborne terrorist attacks, the OTA reports Technology against Terrorism: Structuring Security (January 1992) and Technology Against Terrorism: The Federal Effort (July 1991) make for chilling reading and a sad sense of déjà vu. The lack of coordination among intelligence agencies; underpaid, bored, poorly trained baggage screeners; passenger profiling and privacy issues; and much more—they’re all analyzed in detail, and specific action items are discussed for Congress, the Federal Aviation Administration, and others.

A great many detailed analyses of security lapses and intelligence failures, together with recommended improvements, have been published since the 11 September disasters. Almost all of them could have been lifted in toto from these OTA reports, now nearly 10 years old. To me, that is almost as frightening as the events themselves.