Ridge's lucky success.

Byline: The Register-Guard

By the most important measure, Tom Ridge has been a great success as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. No terrorist attack on U.S. soil has occurred since President Bush appointed the former Pennsylvania governor to lead the new department early last year.

The absence of attacks, however, is not proof of effective preparations. Ridge's success owes more to good fortune than to his department's efforts. Ridge's departure, announced Tuesday, gives Bush and Congress a chance to take a fresh look at the Department of Homeland Security and act to reduce the nation's many glaring vulnerabilities.

Ridge's department was destined to be disorderly. Congress placed 22 separate federal agencies under its control, ranging from the Border Patrol to the Federal Emergency Management Service. Each agency came with a political constituency, a network of congressional supporters and a set of contractors with financial interests to defend. The inevitable turf battles have led to distorted priorities, with homeland security funds being distributed as pork.

Ridge will be best remembered for his color-coded terror alerts. The secretary defended the alerts Tuesday as a means of letting the public know when the government has reason to believe the intensity of the terrorist threat has changed. Initially, the result of heightened alerts was increased public anxiety that could not be channeled into effective action. Lately, the alerts have been generally ignored.

Six orange, or high-level, alerts have been issued. There need not be a seventh. Instead, Ridge or his successor should simply describe the nature of a suspected threat and suggest appropriate responses.

Much of the agency's efforts have been devoted to preventing one of the least likely types of attack - a repeat of the hijackings on Sept. 11, 2001. Any terrorists who tried to commandeer an airplane today would be mobbed by passengers. Yet a new airline security agency has made air travel slower, less convenient and, for some, humiliating. Meanwhile, air cargo and baggage remains lightly screened.

More worrisome yet is the inadequate level of protection for power plants, water systems, tunnels, bridges and industrial installations. The next secretary of homeland security should seek presidential, congressional and private support for safeguarding the nation's infrastructure, much of which is more vulnerable to a devastating attack than any commercial airliner. Only 5 percent of the 9 million cargo containers that enter U.S. seaports each year, for example, are inspected.

Ridge is credited with having tightened border security, improved bioterrorism readiness and enhanced local law enforcement agencies' disaster preparedness. The disparate nature of those achievements reveals the daunting scope of the department's responsibilities, and gaping holes remain. The Homeland Security Department has a long way to go before it can claim the nation is well-protected against terrorism - and the country can't count on its luck lasting forever.