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U.S. Responses to the Threat of CBW Terrorism
 ven before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. government
had begun to address the threat of CBW terrorism. Since September 11,
those activities have intensified dramatically.
Blast damage, U.S. Embassy, Tanzania,
August 1998 (source: FBI website)
U.S. Government Actions Before September 2001
After
the Tokyo subway attack and the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, the U.S.
government began paying considerably more attention to terrorism, including
the possible use of CBW. In the years following the 1995 attacks, there
were several important developments:
- Federal spending
on defenses against weapons of mass destruction (WMD) terrorism rose
more than ten-fold between 1997 and 2000, from $130 million to $1.45
billion. A large portion of this amount was earmarked for training
and equipping first responders to deal with CBW incidents.
- In June 1995,
President Bill Clinton issued Presidential Decision Directive (PDD)-39,
"U.S. Policy on Combating Terrorism." PDD-39 provided a framework
for domestic preparedness operations and set out the responsibilities
of various federal agencies in responding to a WMD attack. The FBI
would take the lead in the initial "crisis management" phase of an
incident, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would
be in charge of longer-term "consequence management" operations.
- In 1996, Congress
passed the Defense Against Weapons of Mass Destruction Act (known
as the "Nunn-Lugar-Domenici" program, named after its Senate sponsors)
to help local first responders to manage the consequences of a WMD
attack before federal resources arrived on the scene. Under this program,
the Department of Defense and later the Department of Justice provided
training and equipment for first responders in the 120 largest U.S.
cities.
- In May 1998,
President Clinton issued PDD-62, "Protection Against Unconventional
Threats to the Homeland and Americans Overseas," which focused on
WMD attacks. This PDD established an Office of the National Coordinator
for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-Terrorism within
the National Security Council to oversee federal programs and policies.
- A variety of
federal response teams and capabilities were established, including
WMD Civil Support Teams under the U.S. National Guard to assist local
authorities, the Metropolitan Medical Response System under the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide treatment for victims
of mass-casualty attacks, and the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile
to ensure sufficient supplies of vaccines, antibiotics, and antidotes.
Critics complained that these federal efforts were poorly coordinated
and often wasteful of resources.
U.S. Government
Actions After September 2001
Following the devastating terrorist
attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. government undertook new
initiatives to counter the threat of CBW terrorism. These efforts
included increased cooperation between law enforcement and intelligence
agencies, and the passage of tough laws designed to detect, interrupt, and arrest the
activities of terrorists and their support networks. The government also
established new bureaucratic structures to address the threat of
terrorist attacks against the U.S. homeland:
- On November 1,
2001, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) created the
Office of Public Health Preparedness (OPHP), tasked with
coordinating a unified national response to national health
emergencies. The name of this office was later changed to the Office
of the Assistant Secretary for Prevention and Response (ASPR). ASPR
coordinates with state and local authorities on public health
issues. It also works with HHS agencies such as the
Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP) for deployment of
emergency health personnel, and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for infectious
disease surveillance.
- On October 8,
2001, President George W. Bush signed Executive Order (E.O.) 13228
creating the Office of Homeland Security (OHS) and the Homeland
Security Council (HSC). The purpose of the OHS and the HSC was to
coordinate the 40-plus Executive branch agencies dealing with
terrorism to "detect, prepare for, prevent, protect against, respond
to, and recover from terrorist attacks within the United States."
President Bush appointed former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge as
the first director of the OHS. Lacking budgetary authority, however,
the Office soon became entangled in bureaucratic battles with other
agencies over resource allocation.
- On June 6,
2002, after initially resisting the creation of a new Cabinet-level
agency, President Bush unveiled a plan to establish a Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) to manage counterterrorism activities and
coordinate intelligence sharing among different federal agencies. On
January 24, 2003, former Governor Ridge became the first Secretary
of Homeland Security.
- On March 1,
2003, DHS assumed operational control of 180,000 officials formerly
under the authority of different departments, becoming the second
largest government agency after the Department of Defense. The new
department has four divisions:
- In April 2004,
the Bush administration launched a comprehensive program of civilian
biodefense preparedness called "Biodefense for the 21st
Century." Since the attacks of 9/11, there has been a massive
increase in U.S. government spending on biodefense research and
development, including the construction of numerous maximum- and
high-containment laboratories around the country. Over $41 billion has been spent on civilian biodefense between 2002-2008.
- On December 17, 2004, President Bush signed the Terrorism Reform and Prevention Act into law, creating the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and initiating other reforms in response to the 9/11 Commission's recommendations to institute tighter coordination between the various agencies of the U.S. intelligence community.
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