( dpa )- US President George W Bush Thursday celebrated the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, saying it was "hard to imagine" there had not been another "attack on our homeland" in the interim.
Bush and the department's secretary, Michael Chertoff, noted the work that had been done improving security at the nation's gateways since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks - work that Chertoff said had frustrated Islamist terrorists and forced them to turn to softer targets such as Europe.
"One of the reasons we're seeing more attacks in Europe is because they think it's easier," Chertoff was quoted as saying by the Washington Post online.
Chertoff cited attacks since 2004 in Madrid, London and Glasgow and disrupted plots in Denmark, Germany, Italy, France and Portugal.
He said those attacks were planned by terrorists who were similar to car thieves passing over locked cars equipped with alarms in favour of the next car that is less protected, the Post reported.