Winning the War on Terror

The Chicago Tribune reports that an undercover federal agency managed to scam the Nuclear Regulatory Commission out of a license to build dirty bombs (the kind that use conventional explosives to spread radioactive material over an area). Wow, I'm glad all those Wal-Mart Security rejects doing strip-searches for the TSA are keeping me safe from terrorists.

Don't believe me? Read the article:

U.S. agents' fake firm got OK to buy nuclear material
New York Times News Service Published July 12, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Undercover congressional investigators set up a bogus company and obtained a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that would have allowed them to buy the radioactive materials needed for a so-called dirty bomb.The investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, demonstrated that the security measures to prevent radioactive materials from getting into the wrong hands are insufficient, according to a GAO report, which is scheduled for release Thursday.
"Given that terrorists have expressed an interest in obtaining nuclear material, the Congress and the American people expect licensing programs for these materials to be secure," said Gregory Kutz, an investigator at the Government Accountability Office.The bomb the investigators could have built would not have caused widespread damage, but could have had serious economic consequences.The undercover operation involved a fake West Virginia-based construction company. Its only asset was a mailbox.Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials did not visit the company or try to interview its executives in person.The license, mailed in March, was then modified to remove a limit on the amount of radioactive material the firm could buy, the report says.With that forged document, the auditors arranged to purchase industrial equipment containing radioactive substances americium 241 and cesium 137. Auditors called off the ruse before the devices were delivered.
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