Chertoff offers terrorism briefing

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Feb. 17, 2006 | 12:34 p.m.

WASHINGTON Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff offered Thursday to give skeptical Nevada lawmakers a classified briefing on the reasons Las Vegas is not among the U.S. cities considered the most likely targets for terrorist attacks.

But Chertoff added that the closed session would answer the question only "to a certain degree."

Chertoff's offer came after Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., asked him at a congressional hearing why Las Vegas was not one of the 35 cities on a list of likely terrorist targets. Cities on that list are eligible for federal anti-terrorism aid.

The federal agency has said it cannot disclose the information it used in analyzing threats and drawing up the list for fear it would be helpful to terrorists. It has said little more than that the analysis included 3.2 billion computer calculations.

Chertoff told Gibbons during the hearing what Nevada officials already know - that the department used a classified, sophisticated new formula to determine which cities were most at risk, a formula he couldn't really talk about.

"It's not just about population, as you know," Chertoff said.

He suggested that Nevada officials could provide his department with more justification for why it should be on the list.

"I'm open," Chertoff said.

But after the hearing Gibbons said, "We've provided that information already. For them to say we need to show more defies logic."

Benjamin Grove can be reached at (202) 662-7436 or at grove@lasvegassun.com.