The WaPost sold yesterday, for a poultry $250 million. But the bigger story (much much bigger) is its 7 page expose of the "other world" of counter terrorism. In short, it is so big, it has become ineffective. We are not safer than 10 years ago !!!

Excerpts from an impressive and comprehensive Washington Post article (7 pages),  tells us the sad story of waste and a growing ineptness within the counter terrorism community,  all because of an anti-terror economy that is out of control, secretive beyond belief,  and in opposition to many of  America’s values.  It is a long article.  I am not a fan of the WaPost,  but,  this investigation is very impressive,  a must read for those who really care about what is going on in this country.  In short,  ineptness abounds with help from Obama’s feckless administration. 

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The top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work  . . . . . . .

These are not academic issues; lack of focus, not lack of resources, was at the heart of the Fort Hood shooting that left 13 dead, as well as the Christmas Day bomb attempt thwarted not by the thousands of analysts employed to find lone terrorists but by an alert airline passenger who saw smoke coming from his seatmate . . . . .

Underscoring the seriousness of these issues are the conclusions of retired Army Lt. Gen. John R. Vines, who was asked last year to review the method for tracking the Defense Department's most sensitive programs. Vines, who once commanded 145,000 troops in Iraq and is familiar with complex problems, was stunned by what he discovered.

"I'm not aware of any agency with the authority, responsibility or a process in place to coordinate all these interagency and commercial activities," he said in an interview. "The complexity of this system defies description."   The result, he added, is that it's impossible to tell whether the country is safer because of all this spending and all these activities. "Because it lacks a synchronizing process, it inevitably results in message dissonance, reduced effectiveness and waste," Vines said. "We consequently can't effectively assess whether it is making us more safe."  Read the full article,  here.