Homeland Insecurity

Recently, a Senate panel accused the Department of Homeland Security of hiding embarrassing information about its so-called "fusion" intelligence centers while wasting hundreds of millions of dollars and contributing little to the country's counter-terrorism efforts.

In its report, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said that HS has spent up to $1.4 billion funding fusion centers, i.e. intelligence sharing centers, that have produced "useless" reports while collecting information on the innocent activities of American Muslims that may have violated federal privacy law.

The fusion centers, created under President George W. Bush and expanded under President Barack Obama, consist of special teams of federal, state and local officials collecting and analyzing intelligence on suspicious activities throughout the country.