Dirty Bombs and the Wrong Scare

The AP/AOL scare machine is hyping one of those typical scare stories tonight.  It is a story a bout a GAO (General Accountability Office, which is supposed to be non-partisan but is inclined , as a Congressional agency, to concentrate on criticizing the Executive Branch. 

This is actually a reprise of a somewhat old story/report about how we are not adequately controlling, and accounting for, civilian use of nuclear materials in medical and other devicies.  The Idea is that a terrorist group MIGHT be able to obtain enough non-weapons grade radioactive material to set off a "dirty bomb"--which would PANIC everyone (because of the SCARE stories the mainstream media would run on THAT)m and create a huge clean up problem getting rid ot the resulting radioactive material thrown around by the bomb.  The Federal Government is some 3 years behind in the schedule for effectively "controlling" this kind of civilian nuclear material, although there is NO indication that terrorists have come close to exploding a dirty bomb ANYWHERE (much less in the U.S.).  As with bird flu, this "threat" is likely to be vastly exaggerated.

I am glad we are paying attention to this.  However, as problems go, this (tracking and controlling U.S. nuclear materials used in equipment perfectly)  ranks somewhat behind the "problem" of mercury in compact florescent light bulbs.  Even if the U.S. were perfect in tracking U.S. nuclear materials, there is no way to be "perfect" for the whole world.  That emphasizes how WRONG leftist Democrats are to continually place obstacles in the way of the war on terror--especially their efforts to restrct FOREIGN intelligence, and to harass/investigate our past intelligence operations, and operatives, endlessly.  The BEST (really the ONLY) way to stop a "dirty bomb" attack in the end is adeqate INTELLIGENCE, and OFFENSIVE operations against terrorists everywhere.  That is obviously how we have stopped any move toward such an attack so far, even with lax controls and the media telling terrorists exactly how to get materials for a dirty bomb attack.

P.S.  It continues to be amazing how lefitsts keep citing the FAILUE of the Federal Government to act efficiently, and yet want the Federal government to do more and more.  That remains the definitions of insanity:  coninually doing the same thing expecting a different result fromt the result you get time and time again.  It remains an absolute fact that the Federal Government is the WORST agency for solving any problem, and getting worse all the time (as it gets bigger).  The excuse here is that the Federal Government HAS to be responsbile for national defense.  That is not true of health care, and the infinite number of other "problems" leftists want the Federal Government to "solve" for us.