By Kristin Roberts WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - Chlorine bombs in Iraq have raised concern that lax security at U.S. chemical plants could make the country, and particularly New York City, vulnerable to similar attacks. Policymakers and law enforcement officials said poor security at the plants could lead to the theft of ingredients needed to build a bomb like the ones detonated in Iraq. "It is perplexing that a nation that has expended so much blood and treasure searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, would allow what could become their equivalent to sit largely overlooked on U.S. soil," Stephen Flynn, former U.S. Coast Guard officer and now analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Congress this week. Flynn said he expects Islamic militants to try to strike the United States again within five years using lessons learned in Iraq. Chemical plants, he said, were likely a top target. Weak security at chemical plants in New Jersey, particularly along a stretch about 10 miles (15 km) from New York City, was cited as a top concern by a senior official in the New York Police Department's counter-terrorism bureau. That official, speaking anonymously, said detectives were analyzing the chlorine bomb attacks in Iraq. He said the NYPD expected would-be attackers targeting New York to try to import the tactic, just as insurgents in Afghanistan had adopted strategies from Iraq. Iraq has been "a fantastic training ground for (bomb) builders," the official said. Insurgents in Iraq have increased their use of chemical bombs, detonating six chlorine bombs since January, U.S. Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero said. Chlorine gas car bomb attacks in the past week killed at least two and sickened hundreds. "The insurgency in Iraq is growing bolder and last week's chemical attacks illustrate the injury and panic they can spread," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat. "Like our troops are helping guard Iraq from those attacks, we need to guard against a chemical attack here at home." New Jersey is home to about 140 chemical facilities. A small area around Newark and the nearby cities of Elizabeth and Kearny hosts the chemical facilities cited by federal law enforcement and analysts as the most worrisome. Federal officials have said chemical facilities with weak security are scattered throughout the country. But the proximity of the New Jersey facilities to New York City has raised the level of worry about those plants. New Jersey officials are also concerned the plants could be attacked. Lautenberg and New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez say the Bush administration is trying to prevent states from enforcing tougher regulations on the industry. A rule proposed by the U.S. Homeland Security Department, for example, could preempt state chemical regulation laws even if state laws are more stringent. "The federal government must work with the states to secure the country from a chemical disaster, not against them," Lautenberg said.
