A long with relief must come a new sense of danger. The serial snipers demonstrated that a pair of drifters, a man and a boy with a beat-up car and a powerful rifle, could terrify and largely paralyze the nation’s capital for three weeks. What far greater devastation can the 9-11 conspiracy do with its surviving cells known to remain viable after a year of the war on terror?

Credit for solving the sniper case must go to good police work, clues left by the suspected killers, and also some luck. But the fingerprint that led to identifying and tracking down the pair lay for three weeks in a Montgomery, Ala., police office without being put into a national database. And a study of police records in the Washington area shows that police came across the blue Chevrolet Caprice 10 times in the weeks before they finally seized it at a throughway rest stop and made the arrest. They repeatedly let it go because they were looking for a white van and because the occupants were not on their wanted list.

This latest episode of terror at home proves that the United States remains “dangerously unprepared” to deal with another major terrorist attack. That was the conclusion of a report last week by a bipartisan task force of former top government officials, academics and business leaders headed by former Sens. Warren Rudman, R-N.H., and Gary Hart, D-Colo. They said: “A year after Sept. 11, 2001, America remains dangerously unprepared to prevent and respond to catastrophic terrorist attack on U.S. soil. In all likelihood, the next attack will result in even greater casualties and widespread disruption to American lives and the economy.”

They backed up their warning with grim facts: Local and state police officials operate in a “virtual intelligence blackout,” deprived of access to federal terrorist watch lists. Only a tiny percentage of containers, ships, trucks and trains that enter the United States each day are checked for explosives or other weapons that could be hidden in their cargo.

It was the second time around for Sens. Rudman and Hart. Their earlier commission, created by Congress, warned in February 2001, “A direct attack against American citizens on American soil is likely over the next quarter century.” It came seven months later. They proposed a new “Homeland Security Agency” to coordinate domestic defense. President Bush has proposed a full cabinet Department of Homeland Security, but Congress has not yet approved it.

So we must not just punish the snipers. We must take a lesson from them and prepare for more terrorism to come.