DEFENDING AGAINST CLANDESTINE NUCLEAR ATTACK

"Since the 1950s, there has been sporadic concern about the threat of
clandestine nuclear attack" -- involving nuclear weapons delivered by
means other than missile or aircraft -- "but little has been done,"
the Defense Science Board observed in a June 2004 study on the topic.

A series of National Intelligence Estimates dating back to 1951 on the
subject of clandestine WMD attacks against the U.S. has been compiled
from declassified CIA records along with the 2004 DSB report and may
be found here (thanks to Allen Thomson):

http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/wmd.htm#clan

THE 9/11 COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS: A POST-MORTEM

The 9/11 Commission could hardly have delivered a more forceful
presentation to a more receptive public audience than it did in its
best-selling 2004 report.

Yet 17 of its 41 recommendations have been largely or completely
ignored by the government. Why?

The reasons "fall into six categories," according to an assessment in
the latest National Journal: "a Congress resistant to institutional
change; a bureaucracy that bucks new ideas; lack of money; lack of
leadership; special interests that have the ear of Congress or the
White House; and, finally, an inability to accurately see how the
United States is perceived abroad."

See "Miles to Go," by Shane Harris and Greta Wodele, National Journal,
January 14, reprinted here as "Bureaucracy hinders 9/11 commission
recommendations":

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0106/011306nj1.htm