GAO Report Humbling for Justice Dept.

A cartoon by Sargent published this week -- which ran in The Washington Post -- depicts a bucktoothed, larger-than-life John Ashcroft clad in Santa Claus gear. Our attorney general is fiddling at a personal computer in the dark. The scene is certainly clandestine.

A scroll is unraveled next to the figure. It reads, "You'd better watch out, you'd better not cry, You'd better not pout, I'm telling you why: He taps your phone and reads your e-mail too ...

"He's making a list, checking it twice, Gonna find out who's naughty or nice: He's got a file on everything you do."

Though the rhyme is not particularly adept, it is an attempt to clue the nation into the new developments involving the Justice Department and the top law enforcement official in the land.

On Monday in Washington, a federal appeals court greatly expanded the authority of the Justice Department to set up wiretaps and other devices to fight terrorism.

John Ashcroft chimed in immediately, "(The decision) is a victory for liberty, safety and the security of the American people."

He continued, "(The ruling) revolutionized our ability to investigate terrorists and prosecute terrorist acts."

Ashcroft is now giddy that he can pursue a more efficient system to process wiretap and surveillance applications.

The review court commended the Justice Department for attempting to bridge the gap between prosecutors and intelligence agents.

The following day, The Washington Post ran a "tech-news" story titled "Agencies Fail Cyber Test."

Tucked away on page 23 of the A section, the story reports that the General Accounting Office -- the federal government's officious watchdog -- found that many of the federal government's largest agencies, including the Justice Department, had disgustingly low levels of computer security.

Subsequently, the House Government Reform committee on government efficiency gave a failing grade of "F" to 14 of 24 federal agencies.

The highest grade given to one of the major agencies was bestowed upon the Social Security Administration, a "B-." The GAO discovered that precious information and data had been left vulnerable and access controls were all out of whack.

Accordingly, this poor security level leaves most of the federal government's major agencies susceptible to attack by terrorists, crooks, even teenagers.

But the chunky nougat within this journalistic candy bar is that four of the agencies with the worst evaluations -- failing in grand measure -- were the State Department, the Department of Transportation, the Defense Department (gulp) and the Justice Department (eek).

Ironically, GAO investigators noted the importance of the solidarity of our national computer systems with the continued threat of a terrorist attack.

So our Justice Department has been granted extended authority for surveillance purposes when its own systems and data are an open book to nefarious types and hooligans?

Washington is a mad, mad world.

The juxtaposition of Ashcroft's triumph with the humbling GAO report prove much more than the fact that national security is an inexact science.

It is doubtful that Sargent's cartoon intended to offer any shred of compliment to John Ashcroft. But he is dressed as Santa, and we all know that Santa is a good guy.

So maybe, just maybe, Ashcroft is too. Possibly maniacal, certainly overweening, he is still acting during a time of war.

Let's not forget that he's forging new ground in an arena of unique combat with an incomprehensible enemy.

But, let's also remember that the United States can be made safer from within.

If the Justice Department cannot fight an "enemy" as ruthless as the GAO, what good will more power do?

Nathan Perez can be reached at nperez@email.unc.edu.