[iwar] [fc:How.to.Protect.the.Homeland]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-09-25 22:00:59


Return-Path: <sentto-279987-2370-1001480460-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com>
Delivered-To: fc@all.net
Received: from 204.181.12.215 by localhost with POP3 (fetchmail-5.1.0) for fc@localhost (single-drop); Tue, 25 Sep 2001 22:03:11 -0700 (PDT)
Received: (qmail 24695 invoked by uid 510); 26 Sep 2001 05:01:21 -0000
Received: from n2.groups.yahoo.com (216.115.96.52) by 204.181.12.215 with SMTP; 26 Sep 2001 05:01:21 -0000
X-eGroups-Return: sentto-279987-2370-1001480460-fc=all.net@returns.onelist.com
Received: from [10.1.1.222] by hi.egroups.com with NNFMP; 26 Sep 2001 05:01:00 -0000
X-Sender: fc@big.all.net
X-Apparently-To: iwar@onelist.com
Received: (EGP: mail-7_3_2_2); 26 Sep 2001 05:00:59 -0000
Received: (qmail 55629 invoked from network); 26 Sep 2001 05:00:59 -0000
Received: from unknown (10.1.10.26) by 10.1.1.222 with QMQP; 26 Sep 2001 05:00:59 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO big.all.net) (65.0.156.78) by mta1 with SMTP; 26 Sep 2001 05:00:59 -0000
Received: (from fc@localhost) by big.all.net (8.9.3/8.7.3) id WAA09641 for iwar@onelist.com; Tue, 25 Sep 2001 22:00:59 -0700
Message-Id: <200109260500.WAA09641@big.all.net>
To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List)
Organization: I'm not allowed to say
X-Mailer: don't even ask
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.5 PL1]
From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com
Delivered-To: mailing list iwar@yahoogroups.com
Precedence: bulk
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:iwar-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 22:00:59 -0700 (PDT)
Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [iwar] [fc:How.to.Protect.the.Homeland]
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

September 25, 2001
How to Protect the Homeland
By JOSEPH S. NYE

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.  -- Five years ago, with James Woolsey, former director
of the Central Intelligence Agency, I headed a government study that
found a lack of preparedness to face catastrophic terrorism.  Our
warnings and those of similar groups went largely unheeded.  On Sept. 
11, complacency was wiped away, but the fragmented bureaucratic
structure and procedures of our government remain a barrier to action,
despite President Bush's decision to name Gov.  Tom Ridge of
Pennsylvania to head a new Office of Homeland Defense. 

By using the rhetoric of war to frame our response to the terror
attacks, President Bush has marshaled the public's patriotism and
persuaded Congress to provide financing.  But the danger in the rhetoric
is that the new office may be structured like a military organization. 

There are many types of terrorism and many kinds of terrorist weapons. 
Even if we succeed in eliminating Osama bin Laden, we have to remember
that Timothy McVeigh was home-grown.  And as we succeed in battening
down the cockpits to prevent civilian aircraft being used again as giant
cruise missiles, terrorists will be exploring other vulnerabilities in
our open society and investigating even more devastating weapons. 

Fortunately, nuclear and biological weapons are not as easy to make as
popular fiction suggests, but there have been reports that Mr.  bin
Laden and others have tried to purchase stolen nuclear weapons from the
former Soviet inventory.  We also know that a few years ago the Japanese
Aum Shinrikyo cult killed people with both chemical and biological
agents. 

Suppressing terrorism is very different from a military campaign.  It
requires continuous, patient, undramatic civilian work and close
cooperation with other countries.  And it requires coordination within
our government. 

The C.I.A.  and F.B.I.  must improve their ability to work together on
detection and must reconcile their different authorities and programs in
intelligence and law enforcement.  The F.B.I., the Immigration and
Naturalization Service, the Customs Service, the Defense Department and
other agencies must improve their cooperation.  Because of poor
coordination, two suspects were able to enter this country even after
their names had been placed on a watch list, and the jet fighters that
scrambled after the Federal Aviation Administration notification of the
hijackings arrived too late.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency
has to work with local governments on domestic responses.  New federally
funded research and development programs are needed to address each
phase of a crisis, as well as to accelerate new technologies and devise
special training and testing exercises. 

It would be a mistake if the Office of Homeland Defense merely added
another layer of bureaucracy.  Instead, Governor Ridge should head a
committee of deputy secretaries from the agencies with control over
budgets and programs involved with terrorism defense.  He should create
a small staff that works closely with the Office of Management and
Budget to monitor plans to be carried out by existing agencies.  His
office should be supported by new research corporations created to deal
with terrorism, as the RAND corporation was created in the cold war to
deal with the nuclear threat.  These groups should not be bound by the
rigidities and inadequate salaries of the federal bureaucracy.  Their
independence should allow them to plan an antiterror system that can
find gaps and overlaps in government agencies' antiterror efforts and
examine weaknesses in private systems like computer networks. 

Planners should conduct regular exercises with teams simulating
terrorists and defenders, trying to outsmart each other.  Had we done
this for our airport security system, we might have realized that it was
designed to detect guns and bombs but not to stop suicide pilots armed
with knives and box cutters. 

As recently as last spring, a commission on national security headed by
former Senators Gary Hart and Warren Rudman also warned of our lack of
preparedness.  Sadly, the commissioners were right.  Now we must
organize ourselves effectively to combat terrorism. 

Joseph S.  Nye, dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, was
chairman of the National Intelligence Council and an assistant secretary
of defense in the Clinton administration. 

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get your FREE VeriSign guide to security solutions for your web site: encrypting transactions, securing intranets, and more!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/XrFcOC/m5_CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

------------------
http://all.net/ 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-09-29 21:08:50 PDT