Via RawStory I got to THIS ARTICLE at the Seatle Times.

A pipeline shuts down in Alaska. Equipment failures disrupt air travel in Los Angeles. Electricity runs short at a spy agency in Maryland.

None of these recent events resulted from a natural disaster or terrorist attack, but they may as well have, some homeland security experts say. They worry that too little attention is paid to how fast the country's basic operating systems are deteriorating.

All that money that went/is going to the failure that is Iraq has been taken away from other projects (No Child Left Behind). Our power-structure is out of date as the above article mentions, but is also pointed out by failures like the major northeast blackout, and rolling blackouts in California. Adding to the problem is Enron Fraud, and the cronyism involved in projects like "The Big Dig". And lets not forget the lack of explosive screening equipment at our airports, and the lack of proper training and staff that leads to such fearful items dell batteries, vaseline, water-bras, and gatorade among other things (dynamite) on a plane amidst the highest 'terror threat level' since... well the last elections. But anyways, some more good reading from the article:

When I see events like these, I become concerned that we've lost focus on the core operational functionality of the nation's infrastructure and are becoming a fragile nation, which is just as bad -- if not worse -- as being an insecure nation," said Christian Beckner, a Washington analyst who runs the respected Web site Homeland Security Watch (www.christianbeckner.com).

The American Society of Civil Engineers last year graded the nation "D" for its overall infrastructure conditions,

Add that to the 9/11 Commision Grades, the Governments Response to Katrina, and how swimmingly things are going in Afghanistan, The GOP Report Card and W's college grades have alot in common. But hey, at least theres always fart jokes.

More from the Seattle Times:

"I thought [Hurricane] Katrina was a hell of a wake-up call, but people are missing the alarm," said Casey Dinges, the society's managing director of external affairs.

To bad the GOP doesnt hire thinkers. Dont get along with Deciders I guess.

If a terrorist group were able to knock the NSA offline, or disrupt one of the nation's busiest airports, or shut down the most important oil pipeline in the nation, the impact would be perceived as devastating," Beckner said. "And yet we've essentially let these things happen -- or almost happen -- to ourselves."

Devastating?! You dont need electricity, airplanes, oil or the NSA to clear brush, dont expect immediate action.

The Commission on Public Infrastructure at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, said in a recent report that facilities are deteriorating "at an alarming rate."

It noted that half the 257 locks operated by the Army Corps of Engineers on inland waterways are functionally obsolete, more than one-quarter of the nation's bridges are structurally deficient or obsolete

"Nobody could have predicted that the [insert one: locks, bridges, levees] would fail."

No fears though, G.W to the rescue:

Infrastructure is always a difficult issue," Bush acknowledged. "It's a federal responsibility and a state and local responsibility. And I, frankly, feel like we've upheld our responsibility at the federal level with the highway bill."

Upheld your responsibility?

$11 billion is needed annually to replace aging drinking-water facilities.

Water: $11,000,000,000

Iraq as of 2:55p.m: $310,076,168,578