The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has revealed a stunning lack of security at some of the federal government’s largest and most sensitive facilities. Investigators were able to penetrate all 10 facilities they tested, smugging live bomb components through security checkpoints manned by disinterested guards.

In one case, it took just 27 seconds to smuggle the components into a federal building. The bomb was then assembled in a bathroom, and the operative was able to walk through several floors of the building without being questioned once.

The Department of Homeland Security is ostensibly responsible for the security in the over 9,000 federal buildings across the United States. The buildings penetrated included DHS buildings, the State and Justice Department buildings, and the offices of a US Senator and a Congressman.

Sen. Lieberman (I – CT), who chairs the Homeland Security Committee investigating the findings, said it was “simply unacceptable,” and said it proved that people had “forgotten the lessons of 9/11.”

Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz

• Homegrown US 'Terror Plots' Drop, But Nation Still 'On Edge' - February 9th, 2012
• Amputations Soared Among US Troops in 2011 - February 9th, 2012
• US Still Can't Find Missing Libyan Missiles - February 9th, 2012
• Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: Let Us Form Government - February 9th, 2012
• As Reports of Violence Grow in Syria, So Do Western Calls for Intervention - February 9th, 2012