President George W. Bush has taken an important
early step to improve the nation's security by establishing an
Office of Homeland Security (OHS) as a Cabinet-level position. The
critical need for central coordination was demonstrated by the
failure of various departments and agencies of the United States
government to collect and evaluate information that could have led
to the detection and arrests of terrorists before their attack on
OHS's success will depend on its authority and its role in the
Administration. President Bush's choice to head the office,
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge, will need to coordinate the
activities of a variety of agencies, including federal, state, and
local law enforcement authorities; the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS); the Department of Justice and U.S.
Marshals Service; the Department of Defense; the intelligence
community; and the National Guard. He will need significant power
over agency policies, operations, standards, and budgets for
homeland defense as well as the full support of the President.
OHS's primary mission should be to achieve greater security at home
while preserving the civil liberties guaranteed in the U.S.
Constitution. At present, Congress supports instituting a new body
to coordinate homeland defense efforts. In fact, many Members are
calling for the OHS to be turned into a permanent agency.
Security and Defense of the United States
Since September 11, it has become clear that the nation's
critical infrastructure must be protected from terrorists. The
government must organize itself to intercept those who would harm
the United States before they enter the population and to identify
those who have already "burrowed in."
nation must be safe from, and be prepared to react to, many
potential threats in addition to air terrorism, including nuclear,
biological, and chemical attacks from non-state agents; organized
computer attacks against vital networks; destruction or disruption
of critical infrastructure such as power plants; and attempts to
disrupt the U.S. financial system or financial flows.
potential for such devastating non-traditional attacks demands
increased vigilance and strengthened protective and investigative
measures. According to a recent study by the Center for Strategic
and International Studies, "250 pounds of anthrax spores, spread
efficiently over the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, could
cause up to 3 million deaths, more than from a one-megaton hydrogen
bomb." A crippling attack on the nation's rail and
telecommunications infrastructure (in addition to its serious
economic and societal consequences) also could impair the nation's
ability to respond. Reservoirs could be poisoned. Power plants,
especially nuclear power plants, are
vulnerable to attack. Containers loaded with weapons of mass
destruction could enter U.S. ports. Thus, for a limited period, it
may be necessary to expand the powers of investigative authorities
and even to augment them with trained military personnel.
The President and Governor Ridge should pursue the
following objectives while ensuring that civil liberties are
immediately to review regulations that limit the ability of the
Department of Defense to cooperate with other federal, state, and
local law enforcement or intelligence organizations. Congress is
drafting legislation to remove obstacles to greater information
sharing between the intelligence community and civil law
enforcement entities. Where necessary, new legislation should
foster greater exchange of information and operations.
the Justice Department to ensure that the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, INS, and Marshals Service work from common
databases. Also ensure that visa requests at embassies are screened
and lift restrictions prohibiting immigration officials from
consulting with an applicant's home country regarding suspected
terrorist links. Information sharing will enhance the ability of
immigration officials at airports and other points of entry to
intercept suspected terrorists. When a common database is created,
grant some access to American consular offices abroad to make it
more difficult for suspected terrorists to obtain a visa.
the Attorney General and the INS to forge links with state and
local authorities to investigate aliens who overstay their visas
for possible terrorist activity, as provided for in the Illegal
Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
port security to ensure that crews of ships entering the United
States are not members of terrorist cells and that containers do
not contain weapons of mass destruction.
- Strengthen border security with the
National Guard or military reserves. The President should also
direct the Secretary of State to work with Canada and Mexico to
institute parallel security measures.
federal law enforcement personnel with trained military
counterintelligence agents from the Department of Defense and use
their expertise in collection, analysis, counterintelligence, and
investigations to help make up for FBI manpower shortages.
all airport and airline employees who work on the tarmac or inside
the security cordon. Use polygraph examinations with narrow
questions regarding affiliation with any terrorist organization as
a screening and investigative tool.
for security by local authorities for power stations, water
reservoirs, and rail lines. When applicable, particular attention
should be paid initially to the clutch points on which the large
regional grids rely.
armed air marshals on all domestic and international flights. At
least in the near term, include marshals on all flights and assign
staff to the program from other federal law enforcement agencies as
the Department of Transportation to study security in foreign
airports servicing the United States to determine which airports
terrorists are most likely to use to gain access to the United
States. Particular attention should be paid to flights originating
from countries or airports with recognized security
The war against terrorism requires a good offense and an
effective defense for the American homeland. The established
bureaucratic order must be broken apart by the new Office of
Homeland Security so that glaring security gaps can be filled
quickly and a comprehensive strategy for homeland defense can be
devised while keeping civil liberties intact.
Dr. Larry M. Wortzel, is Director of
the Asian Studies Center, and Michael
Scardaville is a Policy Analyst in the Kathryn and Shelby and
Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies, at The Heritage