Combating Terrorism: Status of DOD Efforts to Protect Its Forces Overseas.
Abstract
In November 1995, a car bomb exploded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing five Americans who were working at the Office of the Program Manager, Saudi Arabian National Guard. A few months later, in June 1996, another terrorist bomb detonated near Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The explosion killed 19 U.S. service personnel living in a high-rise apartment building at the Khobar Towers military complex. Hundreds more were injured. Soon after the Khobar Towers bombing, the Secretary of Defense appointed a task force headed by retired four-star Army General Wayne A. Downing to investigate the incident and make recommendations on how to prevent or minimize the damage of future attacks. The Downing Assessment Task Force completed its work in August 1996. The Secretary of Defense on the whole concurred with the task force's report and announced a series of measures intended to improve the protection of deployed U.S. forces. He said that the threat of sophisticated, organized terrorism against our overseas forces was now a fact of life and that U.S. leaders must adopt a 'radically new mind-set' with regard to international terrorism. In early 1997, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff provided a status report to Congress on DOD'S response to the Downing task force. The Chairman stated DOD was implementing all of the task force's recommendations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 21, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA327566
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office