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U.S. Military Drafts Terrorism Defense Plans
The U.S. Northern Command has for the first time formulated war plans for protecting the United States from terrorism and responding to large-scale events, including biological and radiological attacks, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, Aug. 3). The classified documents envision deploying up to 3,000 U.S. ground troops for an attack within the United States, according to the Post. Potential missions range from small-scale crowd control to massive disaster management efforts in response to release of a biological agent or detonation of a radiological device, according to several military officers who drafted the plan. The strategy also includes scenarios involving multiple strikes occurring at one time. The Defense Department has historically avoided involvement in domestic operations and is legally restricted from participation in law enforcement. Pentagon officials emphasized that the military would play a supporting role in homeland emergencies. However, in the case of a catastrophic attack, the military is likely to expand that role, according to the new strategy. “In my estimation, (in the event of) a biological, a chemical or nuclear attack in any of the 50 states, the Department of Defense is best positioned — of the various eight federal agencies that would be involved — to take the lead,” said Adm. Timothy Keating, head of Northern Command. The Defense Department issued its latest homeland defense strategy in June, stressing that “domestic security is primarily a civilian law enforcement function,” while at the same time noting the possibility that troops could be deployed to respond to certain types of security threats and large-scale emergencies. “For the Pentagon to acknowledge that it would have to respond to catastrophic attack and needs a plan was a big step,” said James Carafano, who follows homeland security issues for the Heritage Foundation The plan also addresses prevention and deterrence of terrorism attacks on the United States, according to the Post. The Pentagon’s Joint Staff has approved the portion of the plan dealing with post-attack responses and deterrence. It is expected to soon reach Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and top aides for further review, the officers who took part in drafting it said. The portion of the plan dealing with post-attack management of 15 types of domestic scenarios is undergoing final drafting at Northern Command, according to the Post (Bradley Graham, Washington Post, Aug. 8).
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