HEALTH & SAFETY

Coordination, cooperation continue to challenge public health system

Nearly a year after the Sept. 11 attacks, numerous steps have been taken to prepare for a possible biological attack, but the network responsible for combating bioterrorism is far-flung and coordination and communication remain weak points.

When, how to make smallpox vaccine available still debated

Federal health officials are stockpiling enough smallpox vaccine for every man, woman and child in America in case the deadly, highly contagious virus is ever used as a weapon. But there is growing debate about who should be vaccinated and when.

IMMIGRATION & TRAVEL

For people who live, work and visit Washington, the sneak attacks of Sept. 11 are a reminder that the capital is always a target for the countries enemies.

Congress and the Bush administration have radically altered the nation’s longstanding open-door policy toward foreign visitors since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Splitting INS causes critics to take sides in sensitive divorce

IThe Immigration and Naturalization Service had a reputation as inefficient and inept even before the Sept. 11 attacks. Critics say it consistently has failed to keep illegal immigrants from entering the country and still takes years to process applications from foreigners seeking legal residency. Today, nearly a year after the attacks, the INS isn’t just in trouble, it’s about to disappear.

Push to improve tracking of foreign students off to shaky start

A rushed effort by immigration officials to better monitor foreign students — a key component of the nation’s new focus on homeland security — may take off before many of the participating schools can get on board.

Critics question domestic, overseas detentions

A year after the deadliest attacks on U.S. soil, at least 147 people remain in custody in this country, and the Pentagon wants to add 200 cells to the 600 nearly filled with foreign detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The detainees were among an estimated 1,200 rounded up under the government’s post-Sept. 11 secret arrests, detentions and interrogations, a policy that worries civil liberties advocates and human rights groups.

HOMELAND SECURITY

The Pentagon’s recovery from the Sept. 11 terror attack began less than nine hours after American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into the building’s western facade.

Cargo shipping poses threat to energy supply

If terrorists were to blow up a cargo ship near one of America's major ports, it might cut off access to the nation's oil refineries, possibly choking energy supplies and putting the economy at risk. Find out what the one East Coast port is doing to clamp down on security.

Have homeland security concerns gone too far?

The massive reorganization of the federal government by the Bush administration is supposed to protect against terrorism. But some lawmakers and policy experts fear that in the process some agencies will lose sight of their non-security tasks.

FOREIGN POLICY

Lawmakers struggle on dealing with Iraq

It's not a question of whether Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein wants nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction -- he does. It's not whether he has the will to use them -- he does. What's shaping the debate over U.S. options against Saddam is whether efforts to contain him are failing and, if so, how he should be dealt with.

War on terrorism faces hurdle from Arab intellectuals

It doesn't matter that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says he warned America one week prior to Sept. 11 that an al-Qaida attack was imminent. It doesn't matter that long before the terrorist attacks, Osama bin Laden had declared war on America and its citizens. The lanky Saudi is innocent. This is the view of several Egyptian intellectuals who insist the United States is chasing the wrong guy.

Moussaoui: Prolific filer of accusatory motions

The man accused of plotting to be the 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 attacks, has fired off dozens of handwritten filings since he took over his own defense in May.