Former CIA case officer and author of Operation Hotel California and the forthcoming Beyond Repair, Charles S. Faddis takes a look at the state of homeland security and attempts to answer the question, “Are we really any safer than we were on 9/11?” While not a security expert, Faddis knows more than most about the subject and he does understand terrorism. He has also run numerous offensive operations in his 20 years with the Agency, so it’s easy for him to stand in the shoes of a terrorist and appraise targets. To date, he has taken a look at military installations, passenger rail, freight rail, chemical plants, LNG facilities, and water treatment plants. He’s just started to look at dams, and next up will be nuclear power plants. He went into this project very skeptical of what he would find. Several months later, he is terrified. The picture is not pretty.