And that is sarcasm, Irene!

Remember the days of yore?  The days of the Bush admin’s massive fear tactic?  Remember the tactic of a “dirty” bomb entering our ports?

The WaPo has an excellent report on just how badly money is spent….thgis is not the only place but it will do for now.

The Department of Homeland Security spent three years pushing for a costly nuclear detection system that does not work as billed, while neglecting to upgrade existing equipment that could have helped improve security, according to a new U.S. Government Accountability Office review and an interview with one of the authors.

The report is the sharpest critique to date of one of the Bush administration’s marquee national security programs, and it marks the culmination of several years of struggle by the GAO to determine whether the detectors worked as well as government officials claimed when first promoting the $1.2 billion project in 2006.

Contracts to spend up to $1.2 billion on 1,400 devices were first announced in July 2006. Then-Secretary Michael Chertoff said that they were a “vital priority” of the administration and that they were ready to be deployed.

The next month, GAO auditors alleged that the machines could not perform as well as the department claimed and questioned the department’s cost estimates of $377,000 per machine.

As always it costs too much and works not well enough….remember the Osprey?…how about the Bradley?  When will we ever learn?