U.S. Response:  Intelligence Center Could Help Intelligence Sharing

In an attempt to combat intelligence sharing gaps within U.S. security agencies, the White House will open a center this week to funnel important threat information to local law enforcement officials, the Boston Globe reported Friday (see GSN, Jan. 30).

The Bush administration plans to open the new intelligence clearinghouse at the CIA headquarters but some critics believe the CIA’s secretive methods will continue to confound cooperation with local law enforcement.

“There is still a gap between what the Department of Homeland Security needs and what CIA is obliged to give the department,” said a congressional official.

CIA officials are confident, however, that the new initiative will address information sharing problems.

The Terrorist Threat Integration Center will provide important information to “the appropriate first responders” who need it, according to John Brennan, who will run the new center (Bryan Bender, Boston Globe, April 25).

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U.S. Response:  Cities Receive Radiological Detection Equipment

The U.S. Energy Department has provided emergency management officials in Los Angeles and San Francisco with radiological detection equipment, the department announced today (see GSN, Sept. 6, 2002).

The devices were given to the Los Angles Fire Department’s Hazardous Waste Unit, the Los Angeles Port Authority and the San Francisco Health Department.  The equipment transfer was conducted through the Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse (HDER) Program, which provides surplus federal homeland security-related equipment to state and local agencies.

“We are proud to help ensure that our law enforcement and emergency personnel have the necessary equipment and training to prepare them to respond effectively and thoroughly to any emergency,” Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said.  “And, we are pleased to provide DOE resources to help ensure America’s homeland defense,” Abraham said.

Five other U.S. cities have received refurbished radiological detection devices through the HDER program, including Boston, Detroit, New York, Philadelphia and Washington (U.S. Energy Department release, April 25).

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U.S. Response:  Officials Brace for Mock Chicago Terror Attack in May

A weeklong exercise designed to ready Chicago officials in the event of a chemical, biological or nuclear attack will begin next month, the Associated Press reported.

The drill is linked to another fabricated terrorist event in Seattle that will commence May 11 (see GSN, April 22).  The Seattle exercise will lead to a mock health crisis in Chicago that will involve officials from the U.S. Homeland Security and State departments, as well as locally from surrounding counties, according to the Associated Press.

Officials are keeping the details of the drill closely to create an element of surprise, Ross Rice, spokesman for the FBI’s Chicago office, said.  “The agents that are going to be directly involved in the training exercises, such as evidence recovery people, counterterrorism, SWAT teams — they don’t know any of the particulars,” he said (Associated Press, April 24).

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U.S. Response:  Antiterrorism Efforts to Top U.S. Foreign Policy Agenda

Now that the U.S.-led war in Iraq has cooled down, the Bush administration plans to restore its foreign policy focus to combating terrorism and countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, according to the Boston Globe.

U.S. officials will again pressure rogue nations to hand over suspected terrorists and stamp out terrorist training camps, as well as press for arms nonproliferation.  During the past 10 days, the Bush administration has sent pointed messages to Syria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon urging them to do just that, the Globe reported.

“The war in Iraq has made many other countries nervous, and the administration hopes to capitalize on that in the coming weeks and months,” a State Department official said.  “Maybe it will work in some cases, but in the case of North Korea, they seem to have us over a barrel as much as we do them,” the official added (see related GSN story, today).

Some critics have charged the Bush administration with not using a principled approach to fighting WMD proliferation.  “They are viewing proliferation selectively,” said Carnegie Endowment for International Peace analyst Jon Wolfthal, “By the administration’s own words, it’s not proliferation that’s the threat, it’s proliferation with the bad guys.  It’s OK if India has nuclear weapons, but not OK if North Korea has them.”

On the terrorism front, aside from al-Qaeda, the administration’s main targets are Hezbollah, formed in the 1970s to combat Israel’s incursion into Lebanon, and Hamas, the Palestinian organization that has stationed some of its offices in Syria.

“The administration is clearly putting the word out, ‘We’re taking down these terrorist organizations; you better step aside and not support them anymore,’” said Jay Farrar, a former senior U.S. military official.  “Hezbollah has been around for 25 years.  They make al-Qaeda look like a bunch of rookies in some ways.  After this administration goes after Hezbollah and Hamas, then they will tell the Israelis … it’s time to accommodate the Palestinians,” he added (John Donnelly, Boston Globe, April 23).

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