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By John D. Banusiewcz American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 16, 2005 Risk management must guide decisions on preventing, responding to and recovering from terrorist attacks, the new homeland security secretary said here today. Michael Chertoff spoke at George Washington University in his first major address since taking office Feb. 15. A nation as vital and thriving as ours cannot become hermetically sealed; even less can we afford to be overwhelmed by fear or paralyzed by the existence of threats, he said. That is why we need to adopt a risk- based approach in both our operations and our philosophy. Risk management is fundamental to managing the threat while retaining our quality of life and living in freedom. The secretary illustrated his point by noting people take risks every day. The perfect way to avoid the risk of a car accident is never to leave your home in a car, he said. But very few people pursue this kind of perfect security, because we understand that it is self-defeating. When we get into our cars, we take reasonable precautions, but we also go about our lives. We go to work, we drive our children to school, we visit friends. We are managing risk. The same principle, he said, applies at the homeland security level. The most effective way, I believe, to apply this risk-based approach is by using the trio of threat, vulnerability and consequences as a general model for assessing risk and deciding on the protective measures we want to take, Chertoff said. And he warned against focusing principally on the threat. A terrorist attack on the two-lane bridge down the street from my house would be bad, but would have a relatively low consequence compared to an attack on the Golden Gate Bridge. And at the other end of the spectrum, we know that even a remote threat to detonate a nuclear bomb is a high-level priority because of the catastrophic effect that would have even though it is a remote threat. So each threat must be weighed with the consequences and the vulnerabilities that are attached to it, he continued. As consequence increases, we have to respond according to the nature and credibility of the threat and any existing state of vulnerabilities. Chertoff said homeland security is one piece of a broader strategy President Bush has laid out. That strategy first involves taking the battle to the enemy, he said. To be blunt, we have forced terrorists to spend more time worrying about how to defend themselves against death and capture, leaving them less time to plot how to get by our own defenses, he said. That strategy pays enormous dividends in terms of diminishing the threat. First, the intelligence we gain is a major tool in disrupting the threat. And second, by taking the fight to our enemies, we keep them on the run (and) limit their abilities to plan, train and act. A defense in depth is another part of the strategy, the secretary noted. That means even as we pursue terrorists overseas, we work here at home to prevent infiltration by those terrorists and their weapons to protect our people and our places if infiltration occurs and to respond and recover if an attack is carried out, he said. This is embodied in our strategy of building multiple barriers to terrorist attack. The secretary said his department and other federal agencies aren’t enough to protect the nation. Homeland security does not simply rest upon the federal government. It requires collective national action, he said. When it comes to the protection of our people, our infrastructure, our companies, our communities, our country, we all have a role to play if we’re going to frustrate the enemy’s intentions.
By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, March 8, 2005 While tremendous progress has been made in protecting the United States from terrorist attack, there’s much more work ahead that demands "continuous innovation" at every level, the newly nominated deputy secretary for the Department of Homeland Security said March 7. Michael Jackson told members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee it’s impossible to completely protect the country from those who wish to do it harm. Committee members opened the session acknowledging that while he’s not the only Michael Jackson in the headlines these days, the nominee is being considered for a position critical to the nation’s long-term security. That’s a challenge that can’t be underestimated, Jackson said during his nomination hearing. 'We can’t eliminate vulnerability. We can’t eradicate risk,' he said. 'We have to keep working on it and stay one step ahead of the ones that President Bush called ‘the evil ones’ shortly after the attack of 9/11.' This demands "continuous innovation," not just within the Department of Homeland Security, but also among its partners at every level, Jackson said. "We cannot ever stop innovating or rest on our laurels,' he said. Jackson outlined the broad initiatives involved in protecting the homeland" from strengthening the transportation infrastructure to reducing vulnerability at chemical plants to protecting the food supply. It’s critical that the department continue to focus on its counterterrorism mission "with all of the best and brightest minds that we can bring,' he told the committee members. "By doing this, we honor the tragic victims of 9/11" and nothing else but that is what we have to hold dear." If confirmed by Congress, Jackson will serve as deputy to Secretary Michael Chertoff, who was sworn in March 3.
By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2005 The Defense Department's first assistant secretary for homeland defense acknowledged he's surprised terrorists haven't launched another 9/11-type attack against the United States -- but is quick to say he's not calling it luck. Paul McHale told civilian leaders gathered at the Pentagon Feb. 18 that he credits the country's aggressive efforts to disrupt the al Qaeda terrorist network, as well as to build up its homeland defense capabilities, with preventing more attacks within U.S. borders. "Luck has had nothing to do with it," McHale told alumni of the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference, who traveled here for a full day of briefings about U.S. defense issues. The civilians attending the session were among about 50 business, civic and academic leaders who traveled throughout the Pacific region in September to learn about military operations and observe them firsthand. Had the United States not taken multiple measures to confront the terrorists and build up its defenses, McHale told the group, he has little doubt that al Qaeda would have attacked again, "probably on multiple occasions." "We have had significant achievement in terms of taking the fight to the enemy overseas and in making it known that we are better prepared at home," he said. Both, he said, are probably deterring terrorists intent on launching more attacks. The United States has "dramatically disrupted" al Qaeda, killing or capturing more than two-thirds of its leadership and making it difficult for the terrorists to move money or communicate over significant distances, McHale said. "We have disrupted their planning cycle, and with an aggressive intensity, we must continue to do so," he said. McHale said there's no doubt that, given the opportunity, terrorists will launch another attack. He said there's no way to know for certain how many "sleeper cells" may be in the country, planning one or more attacks or preparing to carry them out. But, he said, extensive measures to beef up the country's homeland defense capabilities may be hampering these plans. "We will never know how helpful (this has been) and to what extent we might have disrupted a plan under way," he said. "We have built up defenses that did not exist on the morning of Sept. 11," McHale told the group. The Air National Guard routinely flies combat air patrols within U.S. airspace, and "a very robust number of F-16s and F-15s" is prepared to take off within minutes to assume a combat posture within U.S. borders, he said. McHale said the military also has trained for the "sobering" mission it feasibly could be forced to carry out: shooting down a hijacked civilian airliner about to be used by terrorists as a weapons platform, as occurred on Sept. 11, 2001. It's a mission he acknowledged carries "a heavy burden" for all involved, but could be necessary to save even more lives. "The purpose is to let it be known that we have that capability and are prepared to use it under the necessary circumstances so we can deter such an attack," McHale said. In addition, a new combatant command, U.S. Northern Command, is focused on homeland defense and the use of the U.S. military in and near the United States. McHale said civilian law enforcement continues to provide the county's first line of defense, backed up by a greatly enhanced National Guard force, in which every state now has its own quick-reaction forces. In addition, the United States now has "significant" active Army and Marine forces on alert, ready to respond as necessary, he said. "Today in the United States, unlike on Sept. 11, we have active duty units on alert, prepared to deploy within our country in order to confront terrorists should we become aware of a potential terrorist attack," he said. McHale said the United States also is at work enhancing its maritime defenses to prevent hostile nation states or transnational terrorists from launching attacks within U.S. waters or ports. These attacks could be devastating if ships are used as platforms to launch attacks involving weapons of mass destruction against U.S. ports or cities, he said. If these defenses prove inadequate and terrorists successfully launch an attack on the United States involving weapons of mass destruction, McHale said, Northern Command's Joint Task Force Civil Support stands ready to respond immediately. If needed, thousands of troops would support the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency "to put military capabilities and manpower behind a national response to a terrorist attack or series of attacks involving weapons of mass destruction," he said. McHale said he never uses the word "comfortable" to describe the level to which he believes the terrorist threat is in check. But by remaining vigilant, he said, it's feasible that the United States will maintain a comparable level of security during the next three years. "We have methodically built defenses that did not exist on the morning of Sept. 11," he said. "We tried to develop the vision (and) the imagination that was absent on Sept. 11 and tried to develop capabilities to deal with emerging threats as best as we could anticipate." These steps, he said, have enabled the county to "earn its safety in the last three years." "We've come a long way in the last three years" in expanding U.S. defense capabilities, McHale said. "And we must remain vigilant."
By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2004 The nature of war has changed, and the United States must change to meet the new threats, the Defense Department's top homeland defense civilian said here today. Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense, spoke at the 35th Fletcher Conference. This year's theme is "Planning for and Responding to Threats to the U.S. Homeland." He said the nature of war has fundamentally changed in the last three decades. McHale, a Marine Reserve colonel, said his generation of officers trained for a conflict with the Soviet Union. "A conflict involved a hostile nation state or coalition of hostile nation states, the Warsaw Pact," he said. "Throughout our history we believed it took the resources of a nation state to threaten the United States." But that has changed. "Transnational terrorist groups, unaffiliated with nations, but taking advantage of safe havens, can now acquire miniaturized weapons, including weapons of mass destruction that would bring to them, the destructive capacity that in the past could only be associated with the resources of a country," McHale said. These groups could acquire and would use weapons of mass destruction. McHale shared the draft of the proposed Homeland Defense and Civil Defense Strategy. Pentagon officials stressed that the strategy is only a draft, and changes may still occur until Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signs the policy. McHale said the common theme in the strategy is that a passive, reactive defense, one implemented only after the threat becomes clear, is too slow to be effective. "A passive defense, a reactive defense is a formula for failure," he said. Al Qaeda and similar groups are brutal and malevolent, but "they are quite professional," McHale noted. Terrorists look for seams in defenses and attack them, he said. "We must seize the initiative," he pointed out. Defenses must change daily, and defenses must be in depth and layered. He said the principal objective of the draft strategy is to anticipate the attack. The United States must identify the approaching threat at the earliest possible time. The American military applying pressure in Afghanistan forced Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda leaders into the mountains. This had a direct impact on al Qaeda operations, he said. Defeating the threats as far away from U.S. shores is another focus of the strategy. He said the idea is to push out the borders of interdiction. "From our perspective, homeland defense begins overseas," McHale said." When Marines and soldiers went into Kandahar during military actions against the Taliban in Afghanistan, their achievement in Kandahar contributed directly to the security in California and Kansas." Another portion of the strategy is to ensure that no enemy attack will degrade U.S. ability to project power. The strategy also looks to ensure DoD ability to help civil authorities in case where defenses fail and there is an attack with weapons of mass destruction. He said al Qaeda does not launch single attacks. The military must be prepared to help in the event al Qaeda launching multiple attacks using these weapons. Finally, the strategy calls for DoD to share its knowledge and expertise with state, local and international partners. He said the services have been prepared to work in contaminated environments since the chemical attacks of World War I. "DoD has the legal and moral obligation to migrate those capabilities to the civilian community," he said.
By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 29, 2004 -- The government's new plan to counter a bioterrorism attack on the United States was announced at an April 28 news conference here. The announcement came as part of President Bush's directive to integrate anti- bioterrorism efforts across all government agencies. "We've done a good job so far, but you haven't seen anything yet," said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, after he gave reporters a tour of the department's new mobile command center. Thompson, who was joined by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, told reporters the "highest priority" of the government is to safeguard the American people. The three leaders met earlier with other agency heads to discuss biodefense for the 21st century at the Health and Human Services building here. "One of the fundamental requirements of a good plan of action for biodefense preparedness is that we in the federal government start coordinating closer with one another," Thompson said. "This is a responsibility that President Bush takes extremely seriously, and he wants us to make sure that we are prepared, and he has delegated that responsibility to us." On the health front, Thompson said his department now spends 12 times as much on bioterror preparedness as it did three years ago. "And when you look at our shared responsibility with DHS, the increase is even more," he said. Between 2001 and 2004, HHS funding has gone from $305 million to $3.9 billion, he said. "And we have requested $4.1 billion for next year," he added. "On bioterrorism related research alone, we've gone from spending $53 million in 2001 to $1.6 billion in 2004. That's more than 30 times as much for bioterrorism research." Thompson noted that HHS has almost 10 times as many staff members working on bioterrorism readiness as it did in 2001. The department has increased food- imports inspections from 12,000 in 2001 to 60,000 in 2004, "and will do over 100,000 in this fiscal year," he added. The HHS secretary said his department has dramatically improved its ability to respond to the threat of smallpox. In 2001, the department had only 15 million doses of smallpox vaccine available. Today, he said, there is enough vaccine for every man, woman and child in America, if necessary. The secretary also noted strides in anthrax vaccine research that he expects to be available by mid-2005. Ridge reported several initiatives Homeland Security has implemented against a bioterrorism attack, a plan he also said begins with "better coordination within." He said under the president's new national biodefense directive, all bioterrorism projects and programs will fall under a coordinated and focused strategic plan that will help "maximize resources, ensure a common unified effort across all federal agencies, and address any deficiency that we discover." Ridge added that his department's plan for a robust bioterrorism defense includes the creation of a biological attack warning system and an improved distribution system for critical antibiotics and vaccines. A biological agent detection program called BioWatch has been tested in most major cities, he said. BioWatch can deploy environmental sensors in major urban areas to sample the air for biological agents. The department tested the system earlier this month in Washington. Ridge said the president's budget this year contains $118 million to support and expand the program, including the development of improved environmental monitors. In addition, Homeland Security has established a new National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center to study biological agents and to track down the source of any release that might occur, he said. Ridge acknowledged that the bioterrorism threat is "too great for any single government entity to address," adding that, "all government agencies are working diligently together not just to meet the threat, but to defeat the threat as well." Wolfowitz said the Defense Department has been the primary biodefense organization in government. He noted that DoD has heavily invested in facilities and science to protect service members against anthrax, smallpox and Ebola threats. One of the most important efforts by DoD to combat bioterrorism, Wolfowitz said, was the establishment of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md. For decades, he said, the laboratory has been in the forefront of researching, developing and fielding medical and nonmedical defenses against biological weapons. Wolfowitz said the institute is expanding its research base with the establishment of the National Biodefense Campus, now under construction at Fort Detrick. He said the new lab and will work with Health and Human Services and Homeland Security to help the government respond to potentially catastrophic threats. The Defense Department is spending $1.1 billion for the Installation Protection Program, which will provide chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear detection and defense capabilities for 200 DoD installations in the United States and overseas, Wolfowitz said. nother $800 million will be spent on new and emerging technologies in protection, detection, decontamination and medical countermeasure development against current and emerging threats. The department also is establishing collaborative programs with U.S. allies, particularly through NATO, he said.
By Jim Garamone American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Oct. 17, 2003 - In its short existence, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense has established good working relationships with all homeland security players, said one of the office's top officials. Peter Verga, principal deputy assistant defense secretary for homeland defense, said the relationship among law enforcement agencies, the new Department of Homeland Security, the newly operational U.S. Northern Command and his office are helping to make the United States more secure. The setup could have been a disaster, with competing lines of authority and conflicting missions. Instead, it has been a collegial exercise in which all players are working together to formulate plans and processes to protect the United States and its citizens, he said. Verga explained the differences between DoD's homeland defense mission and that of the Homeland Security Department. "We have a national strategy for homeland security, which is the protection of the (United States) from terrorist attacks, the reduction of vulnerability from terrorist attacks, and the mitigation and recovery from terrorist attacks, should they occur," he said. "That mission belongs to the Department of Homeland Security. "In DoD," he continued, "we undertake homeland defense, which is the traditional military defense of United States people, U.S. territory (and) critical infrastructure against external threats and aggression." Both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom are part of the homeland defense mission, Verga said. In two short years, the U.S. military has routed the Taliban and freed Afghanistan from an oppressive, autocratic regime. The U.S. military also has deposed Saddam Hussein, liberating 23 million Iraqis. Both of these operations take the war to the terrorists, Verga said. "Our principal role in the defense of our nation is to attack the enemies of the United States where they live, as opposed to letting them attack us where we live," he said. "That overseas, worldwide war on terrorism is the department's principal contribution to making the homeland more secure." Still, he said, the U.S. military has a role in homeland defense, and the department had made changes that made the country more secure even before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Since Sept. 11, that pace accelerated, he added. The military made changes in the worldwide command structure, most notably establishing the U.S. Northern Command, which went to full operations capability on Sept. 11, 2003. This command unified the three areas of defense of the United States: maritime, air and land. "For the first time, they are under a single unified commander," Verga said. "The combatant commander is responsible for all three domains." In the past, the North American Aerospace Defense Command -- a combined U.S.-Canadian command -- managed air defense, and U.S. Joint Forces Command handled land and sea defense. The other major reorganization was establishing Verga's office. That office formally stood up in March. "We are charged with the overall supervision of the homeland defense activities of the department, and provide the guidance and policy direction necessary to provide that homeland defense," he said. Former Congressman Paul McHale is the assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense. Verga said communication is superb among all the homeland security players, on both an individual level and at the highest levels of government. All are working to formulate the homeland defense vision and are drafting their plans to implement a unified layered defense of the territory of the United States, he said. The new office is the advocate within the department's budgetary process for the resources necessary to carry out the homeland defense function. Verga said his office works more closely with U.S. Northern Command than other DoD offices do. He said the relationship is similar to the way the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict works with U.S. Special Operations Command. Verga said senior leaders from U.S. Northern Command visit Washington frequently, and members of his office work in Colorado Springs, Colo., with members of the command. On the homeland security side, there is a close working relationship between DoD and DHS. Verga said 65 DoD employees work with the Department of Homeland Security "to ensure close and seamless cooperation between the departments." Still, even with a good beginning there is more to do, he said. Verga said what keeps him up at night is what he isn't worrying about. "I'm worried we're not worrying about something we haven't even thought of," he said. "That is the greatest challenge. DoD plans better than anyone in the world, but you have to know what we're up against. We're working on that."
By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Oct. 14, 2003 - On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, the staff at the North American Aerospace Defense Command was poised to identify a missile test or space launch anywhere in the world, or to tell exactly how many items of "space junk" were circling the globe. What they didn't know was that four commercial airplanes hijacked within U.S. borders were launching an orchestrated terrorist attack on the United States. That's because, at the time, the eyes and ears of NORAD were focused on aerospace threats launched far from the shores of the United States and Canada. The concept of an attack from within U.S. borders seemed almost inconceivable to a command created in the 1950s to address Cold War threats. Today, NORAD's operations division chief says the command is dramatically changed, with a larger scope and a major role in the war on terror. Air Force Lt. Col. Lennie Coleman said NORAD's ground-based radar, airborne radar, aircraft, satellites and intelligence capabilities now focus within the United States and Canada as well as offshore to identify suspicious aircraft or other aerospace threats. "We've expanded from our Cold War structure to be able to meet the terrorist threat that's out there," he said. From its air warning center, deep within Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs, Colo., NORAD now conducts around- the-clock monitoring in support of Operation Noble Eagle - the mission to protect the homeland. Since Sept. 11, 2001, Coleman said, NORAD has flown more than 32,000 sorties in support of Operation Noble Eagle. More than 1,500 of these sorties, flown by U.S. F-15 and F- 16 fighters and Canadian CF-18s from sites throughout the United States and Canada, involved what Coleman calls "targets of interest." "In every single one of these cases, the pilots taking off on the ground or being diverted have no idea if they are going up to another Sept. 11," Coleman said. "Every mission is taken very seriously." Fortunately, most "targets of interest" have turned out to be pilots who had mistakenly strayed into restricted air space or whose communication or navigation equipment had failed, he said. But in several instances, they proved to be real-life threats. One was the airliner that carried Richard C. Reid, the "shoe bomber" who tried to blow up a Paris-to-Miami flight just four months after the 9-11 terrorist attacks. U.S. fighters shadowed the flight until the pilots made an emergency landing in Boston. Two other "targets of interest" involved hijacked Cuban airliners. Again, U.S. fighter jets intervened in both hijackings, shadowing the aircraft until they landed in the Florida keys. Coleman emphasized that NORAD does not conduct its expanded mission in a void. The command works hand-in-hand with a wide range of government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Secret Service and the Transportation Security Agency. "We work closely with them to complement the security measures that they have put in place since 9-11," Coleman said. "And we've helped make sure that our defensive measures will be there if those security measures fail." Nowhere is NORAD's increased intergovernmental coordination more evident than with the Federal Aviation Administration. "Before Sept. 11, the FAA had to physically pick up the phone and call us if there was a hijacking," said Coleman. "Today, they don't have to do that. We have constant, real- time communications with the FAA. So when they have concern about an airplane - even before they determine that it is a problem - we already know about it. That's a vast improvement." But Coleman said NORAD is constantly "exercising the system and looking for ways to do it smarter, do it better" and to improve interagency coordination. Information sharing is key, he said, to ensuring that each agency understands its role in a crisis and is prepared to carry it out. Coleman said regular exercises help reinforce that the system is working, and serve as a deterrent to would-be terrorists. "Time and space are our friends," he said. "If we can gain one extra day, one extra hour, one extra phone call, one extra planning effort that the bad guys have to take, that gives those intelligence, law enforcement and security elements in the field that one chance to catch them before we, the last line of defense, (have) to act." Coleman said these initiatives are making the United States and Canada far safer than before Sept. 11. "We've looked at the terrorist threat very seriously, and we've expanded our communication, our command-and-control infrastructure and our interagency coordination to be able to hopefully avoid ever having another 9-11," he said. "We're much better postured to meet the threat, no matter where it comes from - not only externally, but internally as well. And that's a guarantee."
By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2003 -- Outlining a series of initiatives implemented to make the country more secure, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge declared here today that the United States is at the "highest level of protection this nation has ever known." Speaking at an event marking the 60th anniversary of the American Enterprise Institute, Ridge told the audience, "We can never guarantee that we are free from the possibility of terrorist attack, but we can say this: We are more secure and better prepared than we were two years ago," he said. "Each and every single day we rise to a new level of readiness and response." Ridge said the department has instituted several measures to thwart terrorist efforts, beginning with the new Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Unit. Ridge said the unit focuses exclusively on threats to the United States by researching ways to reduce vulnerability to attack while strengthening critical infrastructures, both "cyber and physical." He also said his department is working to share critical intelligence with key people at the state and local level, and beefing up security at the nation's borders, stating that cooperation between Mexico and Canada to patrol borders to the United States has "improved significantly." In addition, his department has hired and trained new inspectors and border patrol agents. The secretary added that by the end of 2003, his department will have launched U.S. Visits, a virtual border that will use biometrics to confirm the identity and status of travelers both to and from the United States. Other improved security measures that he called "layered defenses from the curb to the cockpit" have been implemented around airports. Those include hardened cockpit doors and measures to arm pilots, as well as allowing more air marshals to accompany travelers on flights. He said thousands of passengers and baggage screeners are better trained to do their jobs, and federal security officers have been hired to oversee airports. In addition, Ridge said that under federal law all air carriers now must provide advanced passenger information on international flights, "This enables us to identify high-risk passengers attempting to enter or leave the United States," he said. He also said the United States is seeking ways to stop the threat of shoulder- fired missiles that could attack commercial aircraft taking off and landing. "This effort encompasses strategies to stop the proliferation of these weapons, work with state and local officials to improve perimeter security at our busiest airports, and develop new technologies that can counter this threat." Ridge said progress has been made to protect U.S. ports and waterways as well. "That's why we work so very hard to extend our zone of security outward," he said. "So that our borders are the last line of defense, not our first line of defense. And that's why we built security measures that begin thousands of miles away, long before a container is first loaded on a ship." Ridge credited President Bush during his speech for having "no tolerance" for hatred and "no patience" with terrorists he called "cold-blooded killers." He stated that under the president's leadership, the United States and its allies have "exacted a war unknown to terrorists in decades before -- a global war on terrorism, distinct from any battle, any conflict, any world war ever waged." "From Beirut to Lockerbie (Scotland) to the U.S.S Cole, we can see that terrorists are not deterred by time. But as our country has made clear, their time is up." Ridge said the reason terrorists have lashed out in Iraq and elsewhere is not because the United States is failing in its efforts to defeat terrorism, but because it is succeeding. "These successes remind us why we fight," he said. "because every single victory in a faraway land makes us safer here at home."
By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, July 29, 2003 - While there are no guarantees that America can prevent another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge said the "American people are more secure and better prepared today than ever before." "I can say that because we are certainly more aware of the threat of terrorism and we are certainly more vigilant about confronting it," he said. Ridge's remarks were made during the Homeland Security Department Conference held July 28 in Arlington, Va. He also announced measures to share information among government agencies and a new system to keep track of visitors entering the United States illegally. He said the president's initiative to create the Terrorist Threat Integration Center will give analysts access to sensitive information generated by agencies all across the government. This will "assure that critical intelligence will be shared with the appropriate individuals at both the state and local level," Ridge noted. He said this would involve a communication system among multilayered government tiers down to local levels and across the law enforcement community and the private sector. "Again, it will require teamwork. It will require partnership. It will require communication," he emphasized. In addition, Ridge said his department is increasing the number of inspectors and Border Patrol agents, and equipping agents with state-of-the-art technology. He said the department is in the process of implementing the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indication Technology system. Ridge said the system, called US VISIT, will be under way at selected locations by the end of the year. It is designed to make entering the U.S. easier for legitimate tourists, students and business travelers, while making it more difficult, by implementing biometrically authenticated documents, to enter the U.S. illegally. "This is essentially a virtual border that will use biometrics to confirm the identity and status of all travelers both to and from the United States. We're obliged by the end of this year to be able to confirm the identity of individuals who come into this country using our seaports or airports," he said. Visitors coming into the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2004, will have to submit fingerprints that will allow the department to monitor who's in the country, he said. "Then we have a basis of information to make sure that once their visa has expired or once their authorized time within the country has expired, then they leave," he explained. "And then we'll have a database of those who have complied with the law and those who haven't, and then we can devote the resources to go out and apprehend those who haven't." Ridge pointed out that in the first six months of the department's existence, it has made great progress to reach a high standard of readiness and protection. "We moved rapidly to map and protect our critical infrastructure, such as power plants and financial systems, secure our borders from terrorists and suspicious cargo, and prevent and prepare for attacks involving weapons of mass destruction," he said. "Through our 'Ready' campaign, we have also empowered individual citizens and families in their own protection. Every single day we collect more intelligence, share more information, inspect more baggage and passengers and containers, guard more territory and equip and train more first responders," he added. Although he emphasized the work that the Homeland Security Department is doing to prepare and plan against terrorist acts is important, he added that "the role of localities in prevention is absolutely critical as well." "We depend on citizens to be vigilant. We depend on state and local governments to assess critical infrastructure vulnerabilities and work with us to address them. We depend on businesses to take the necessary steps to protect their facilities. And we depend on thousands of trained personnel to work with cities across the country to secure our ports, to secure our borders, secure our transportation systems." Ridge said that DHS has developed "vital security partnerships" to assist localities with those obligations and that his department will share information and resources "however and wherever we can." Ridge said that DHS has allocated about $4 billion for equipment, training and other resources for first responders such as police, fire and emergency services personnel at the state and local areas. The money will also provide grants for mass transit, port security and emergency operations. He said that an additional $3.5 billion will be made available later this year. "So, by the end of this year, there will be about $7.5 billion available to our partners in the state and local government," he said.
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