Reason has a long and rich archive on all things relating to Sept. 11, terrorism, homeland security, and so on. I'll highlight just one: Contributing Editor Veronique de Rugy's "Are We Ready for the Next 9/11?" from March 2006.
Soon after hijackers obliterated the World Trade Center towers eight years ago, Marin County received more than $100,000 in surveillance equipment to keep its water treatment system safe from a terrorist attack.
But four years after the funds were awarded, state authorities found more than $67,000 worth of the gear still boxed in its original packaging.
It had never been used.
The rest of the homeland security money went toward an alarm system to protect remote tank and pump sites. Because of the region's hilly terrain, the system didn't even work.
