Eric R. Taylor

About the author: Eric R. Taylor served in the Chemical Corps of the U.S. Army and is now an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been proposed to address the lack of inter-agency cooperation among the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency (NSA), Immigration and Naturalization Service, and other agencies that, prior to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks had fragmented U.S. counter-terrorism efforts. The fundamental problem with a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—and its predecessor, the Office of Homeland Security —is that it lacks the authority to fulfill its mission. The department would consolidate dozens of federal agencies, but not the FBI, CIA, or the NSA. Thus, inter-agency "turf...