A U.S. Government Interagency Structure to Combat Terrorism
Abstract
Terrorists viciously attacked us on 11 September 2001 killing thousands of Americans. Terrorists supported cells located throughout the world, including within the US, executed these attacks and caught the United States by complete surprise. Terrorist acts have grown in frequency and audacity over the years but these attacks threaten our most critical national interest - our citizens' welfare and our homeland. The President must organize the United States for a sustained war on terrorism. The US must attack terrorists where they live and protect the American homeland from them as well. It is not a fight that one US government agency can win by itself. Our current national security structure has not kept pace to deal with new terrorist organizations. The recent attacks demonstrate the need to re-examine our national security system and make needed changes to prevent similar terrorist attacks. There is no one right answer that absolutely guarantees their prevention but we must act to eliminate deficiencies when they are discovered. The purpose of this paper is to examine the current situation terrorism presents, assess our current preparedness to deal with this problem and recommend organizational interagency structural changes required to sustain a prolonged war to defeat international terrorism.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 09, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA404516
Entities
People
- George J. Woods Iii
Organizations
- United States Army War College