Homeland Security chief: US growing complacent on terrorism

Michael Chertoff says Americans are 'starting to be unwilling' to make the needed sacrifices to repel attacks.

posted June 21, 2007 at NaN:NaN p.m. EST

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The secretary oversees a department with some 180,000 employees, the third-largest workforce in the federal government. Formed after 9/11 from 22 separate agencies, there have been notable missteps including the performance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency during hurricane Katrina. More recently, border guards let tuberculosis patient Andrew Speaker cross from Canada into the US despite his being on a watch list. Some critics have said the department is too big and composed of too many disparate parts to manage effectively.

Chertoff disagrees. "The idea that the solution to every problem is to always reorganize everything is completely boneheaded," he said. "There comes a point where you have to recognize you don't grow a plant by tearing it up at the roots every year. You have to let it grow. In this case we actually have convincingly demonstrated the value of integration.... So I don't think this department is too big to manage."

But he adds a note of caution. Integration of the various parts of DHS, "is not going to happen overnight because nothing happens overnight. It doesn't happen overnight in the private sector, it doesn't happen overnight in the public sector."

When asked what about his job kept him up at night, Chertoff said he usually slept well. "In the long run I worry, of course, about a weapon of mass destruction," he said. "But I would say in the short run I worry about a developing complacency and cynicism about the threat that we are facing" from Islamic extremism.

"I do worry that we are beginning to swing in the other direction.... People [are] starting to be unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices in order to make sure that we can continue to disrupt and repel" attacks on the US, he said.

Responding to complaints from Congress and travelers, DHS announced June 20 that it would delay for at least six months a rule requiring Americans to present passports when crossing the US border by land or sea. [Editor's note: The original version did not report this announcement.]

But Chertoff remains convinced that without tougher rules, terrorists will use fake travel documents to sneak into the country. "Either we care about the security of the country and we are prepared to take a little bit of inconvenience to put it in place or we really don't care ... and we are prepared to live with the consequences," he said.

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