Structuring Homeland Security
Abstract
In the wake of World War II the Soviet Union exploded an atomic bomb, which awakened Americans to the idea that the United States could be attacked by another nation. in recent months the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have demonstrated the vulnerability of the U.S. and the civilized world to yet another threat: terrorism. Unlike 1950 when President Truman was perplexed and had no immediate course of action to prevent an attack on U.S. soil, President Bush answered the call by appointing former Governor Thomas Ridge director of the Office of Homeland Security. Cold war lessons learned from the stand up of the Federal Civil Defense Administration can serve as a blueprint for how lines of authority and resources can be employed for the Office of Homeland Security. The challenges over the next several months and years will be to fully empower and organize the Office of Homeland Security. This office will have responsibility for coordinating a wide variety of federal, state and local security activities to combat terrorism, including the gathering and distribution actions to prevent such attacks. Security experts and congressional panels have long known that certain national infrastructures are so vital that their disruption or destruction would have a debilitating impact on the national defense and/or economic security of the United States. Until now, no one office was charged with coordinating the protection of those resources and connecting the fragmented leadership to fight terrorism.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 09, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA404445
Entities
People
- Terrie Warren
Organizations
- United States Army War College