http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001824782_homeland28.htmlWASHINGTON — Osama bin Laden and his henchmen had hoped their attacks would cripple the U.S. economy. But while Sept. 11 helped deepen the nation's recession, the al-Qaida terrorists also unwittingly spurred a new, fast-growing industry dedicated to homeland security.
This industry, built around the Homeland Security Department and the focus on terrorism in the United States, has attracted old-line defense contractors, small businesses, universities, investment bankers, consultants and newsletter publishers.
Homeland-security conferences, where business people network in hopes of landing a Homeland Security Department contract, are common. So are trade shows featuring displays of such products as bomb-resistant glass for offices and imaging machines to reveal the innards of trucks and cargo containers.
With overall homeland-security spending estimated by analysts at about $55 billion this year, some observers believe that a homeland-security-industrial complex is emerging, much as the military-industrial complex became a huge presence in American life during the Cold War.
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