Bush appoints new security supremo

President George Bush has formally chosen former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik to lead the US Homeland Security Department, charged with safeguarding Americans from future attack.

Kerik helped direct the emergency response to the September 11 terrorist strikes against the Twin Towers.

“Bernie Kerik is one of the most accomplished and effective leaders of law enforcement in America,” President Bush said in nominating him to be his Homeland Security chief.

“In every position he has demonstrated a deep commitment to justice, a heart for the innocent and a record of great success,” the president said in the White House today.

“I know what is at stake,” said Kerik, who also helped train Iraq’s police force. “On September 11, 2001, I witnessed the very worst of humanity, and its very best,” said Kerik, who faces confirmation by the Senate.

He inherits a sprawling bureaucracy from homeland security secretary Tom Ridge, who resigned last month. The creation of the department in 2003 combined 22 disparate federal agencies with more than 180,000 employees.

Kerik’s first anti-terrorism work was as a paid private security worker in Saudi Arabia. He joined the New York Police Department in 1986, first walking a beat in Times Square.

He led the city’s Corrections Department and was appointed commissioner in 2000.