Combating Terrorism: Assessing Threats, Risk Management, and Establishing Priorities

• NCJ Number: 189703
• Author(s): John V. Parachini
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 18 pages
• Corporate Author: Ctr for Nonproliferation Studies
• Sale Source: Ctr for Nonproliferation Studies
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Testimony before the House Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and International Relations on July 26, 2000.

Annotation

The paper recommends a strategy for threat assessments and funding levels to prevent acts of terrorism.

Abstract

Although the United States has taken great strides in recent years to enhance Federal, State and local capabilities to combat terrorism, many of the efforts launched in the mid-1990's need to be reconsidered. The United States lacks a comprehensive, integrated intelligence assessment to inform policymakers on how to prioritize spending decisions to support the government's terrorism programs. What is missing from national discussions is a regular, comprehensive threat assessment that integrates both domestic and international terrorist threats. Without the threat assessment, policymakers draw conclusions on raw intelligence. Having the assessments will ensure that intelligence information withstands the scrutiny of the entire intelligence community. A regular benchmark calibrating the threat is needed. Basing threat perception according to worst-case scenarios is skewing our approach to terrorism. By focusing on low probability, high consequence events we tend to categorize them as Federal events when local agencies may be the appropriate responder. We must guard against inflating the potential of the threat to such a degree that we create conflicts between antiterrorism spending at home and important military missions abroad. A national strategy should guide the creation of programs and allocations of resources to implement the strategy. An emphasis in funding should reflect the front-end of the problem, with prevention of attacks, but this has not been the case. Personnel working terrorism issues need to develop the needed expertise. Because of the uncertainty in which biological or chemical weapons would be used, the priority list of vaccines should be changed periodically. Research and development spending on biological weapons is critical. The Department of Justice is the lead agency during a terrorism crisis, but its National Domestic Preparedness Office does not have much Federal financial support, which does not promote its leadership potential. References, figures