3 June 2002

SEPTEMBER 11: KEY LESSONS NOT YET LEARNED
by Saul B. Wilen

It’s been seventeen months since the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century, also known as the Hart-Rudman Commission, issued its third and final report outlining its view for a new national security strategy. Titled “The Road Map for National Security: Imperative for Change,” the principal conclusion was, “in the face of this threat, our nation has no coherent or integrated governmental structures.” Preventing, protecting and defeating attacks against Americans and America’s infrastructure requires a new strategy, according to the report, which identified prevention as the critical element offering the best strategy for America.

The news of recent weeks, which showed just how much the government knew and could have acted before Sept. 11, reinforces the need for proactive approaches.

But has anything really changed?

Members of Congress, including committee chairs and the leaders, refer proposals and inquiries to the Office of Homeland Security. Senior and high-level officials of U.S. government agencies do the same. The Office of Homeland Security responds that it has no budget, is not responsible for operational decisions and that the proper contact is the appropriate U.S. governmental agency.

Who is in charge? Is the domestic war on terrorism more than a public relations device to make Americans feel good?

An examination of the burgeoning internal structures of our federal government since Sept. 11 suggests massive duplication of effort without any obvious interagency coordination or direction. Each agency appears to be asserting its vital role and attempting to maintain some control in this new era of terrorism. What America needs now is a top-down and directed implementation plan from the executive branch. This plan requires equal focus on preventing terrorism and reacting swiftly to attacks. This implementation plan requires secure, open cooperation and sharing of information among federal agencies, and as appropriate with states, regions, local agencies, communities and the private sector.

The results of recent and ongoing monitoring of representative municipalities, states and non-intelligence gathering federal agencies by International Horizons Unlimited indicates that for the six months ending March 31, 80 percent of all terrorism related efforts were committed to reaction, while only 5 percent of these efforts were committed to prevention. American perspectives (government, the private sector and the people) continue to be fixed on the faulty premise that reaction to terrorism is the solution. Terrorism experts, consultants and analysts, realizing the futility of a reactive strategy, now realize the major focus of our efforts must be prevention.

The irony of Sept. 11, however, lies in the fact that the direct consequences of the terrorist attacks were limited. The death toll - although one death would have been serious and regrettable - was only about 3,000. Injuries were minimal, and the physical destruction was contained to a relatively small area. New York City and America escaped overwhelming destruction when these towers imploded rather than falling over and turning all of lower Manhattan into a blazing inferno from 14th Street down to the Battery at the lower tip of the island. Under these circumstances, 300,000 lives would have been at risk for death and injury, and our resources to respond and react would have been totally inadequate.

What must be done? We must institute terrorism prevention strategies supported by a willingness to share and communicate effectively.

We must trust the American people to participate in the process. Prevention will be accomplished by molding our unique ability to mobilize technology, use information optimally, create effective communication, employ education, and apply and manage our resources as a weapon to defeat terrorist threats. We have the information we need, but it is not integrated for practical use. Prevention, communication and education strategies must be applied at all levels. Our communities, the media, schools, the private sector, states and government agencies all must be included. The prevention weapon consists of computer-based systems that instantly use multiple databases within various government agencies, domestically and globally.

New and unique horizontal data integration technology exists today that allows information to be immediately subdivided into essential elements for evaluation and effective decision-making. The information stored in the multiple agency and entity databases should be merged into a functional "one-source-reservoir" for these agencies' strategic prevention analyses. This technology exists now and can be implemented readily. But the job, logical as it seems, has yet to be done. There is no time to wait.

Looking back nine months since Sept. 11, two questions readily come to mind. Are we more secure? Are we winning the war on terrorism? At this time, the verdict from the terrorism experts, consultants and analysts remains inconclusive.

Saul Wilen is president of International Horizons Unlimited, a San Antonio think tank focusing on terrorism prevention. He serves on the U.S. Secret Service Task Force on Electronic Crimes and Terrorism, and the U.S. Department of Commerce Critical Infrastructure Working Group on Community Structure for Crisis Management, Planning, Preparedness and Recovery.