WASHINGTON, Dec. 3  -- U. S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff warned his successor, Janet Napolitano, that she will have to fight off special interests in her new post.

The Hill reported Wednesday that Chertoff told reporters, "The biggest challenge to my successor (the Arizona governor) … is the willingness to take on very deeply embedded special interests that tend to have very specific views on particular issues," Chertoff said. "Every time you put a security measure in place you are goring somebody's ox."

He said while businesses usually complain about inconveniences, border towns complain about security measures that may seem unfriendly to tourists, Chertoff said.

"And the problem is ... those are great arguments until the attack occurs and then all of a sudden we have failure to secure identification; we have failure to check general aviation," he said. (UPI)