Ignored for a full year before an executive order was signed, a federal warning identified systemic vulnerabilities that touched virtually every major aspect of government operations.
By Constance Bell ·
Thousands of air travelers were left vulnerable when a federal watchdog found the systems guiding their flights failed every critical security test.
By Miriam Adler ·
American operatives fought over who had the right to snatch suspects from foreign soil while the government ignored the possibility of no-warning attacks in its 1999 preparations.
By Desmond Okafor ·
Two years before the towers fell, federal auditors dismissed high-impact attacks as unlikely, prioritizing bookkeeping over the terrifying possibilities of asymmetric war.
By Harlan Pryce ·
In 1999, an audit of 201 federal drills found a systemic failure to prepare for no-notice attacks and conventional weapons, leaving a gap in readiness that persisted until 2001.
By Harlan Pryce ·
While the FBI warned that conventional weapons remained the primary terrorist threat, the Pentagon spent millions building a response machine for a chemical apocalypse that intelligence said wasn't coming.
By Harlan Pryce ·
A research project was damaged "beyond repair" after a 1994 security breach that stayed hidden from the public for two years.
By Harlan Pryce ·
The Director of Central Intelligence ignored technical realities to paint a picture of imminent disaster, a deception the GAO flagged as a threat to national resource allocation.
By Marcus Boone ·
US citizens are treated as logistical problems to be solved in a decades-long effort to bypass Fourth Amendment protections and integrate military drones into the domestic sky.
By Miriam Adler ·