WP: U.S. Struggles to Rank Potential Terror Targets

Securing All Sites Is Not Financially Feasible,
but Choices Are Fraught With Uncertainty
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, July 16, 2006; A09

The U.S. government has made limited headway in identifying and securing the domestic targets whose destruction would pose the greatest threat to American lives and national defense, experts and former government officials said.

The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general reported last week that a department target list has grown exponentially -- from 160 in 2003 to 28,000 in 2004 to 77,069 today -- but it is filled with bean festivals, car dealerships, small-town parades and check-cashing stores.

Indiana has the most potential terrorism targets in the National Asset Database: 8,591, nearly three times as many as California. Washington state lists 65 national monuments and icons, nearly twice as many as the District of Columbia.

[Full story at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071500726_pf.html ]