When the united states began airstrikes in Afghanistan in October 2001, U.S. planes were threatened by Stinger missiles that had been provided to the mujaheddin by the United States in the 1980s. Since at least the mid-1990s, the use of legally exported U.S. weaponry to bomb and burn Kurdish villages in southeastern Turkey has been documented. Turkish forces have also used U.S.-supplied light weaponry in specific human rights violations, ranging from torture to indiscriminate firing on civilians.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
In the aftermath of the attacks of Sept. 11, the accusation was “intelligence failure.” In the aftermath of the series of revelations in May and June 2002 about bureaucratic bungling in the weeks before the attacks, the accusation was “what did the president know and when did he know it?”
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
President george W. Bush's new Nuclear Posture Review harks back to the stone age, or at least to the 1950s, when America's most beautiful minds struggled to devise a strategy to deal with the original rogue state — the Soviet Union. The latest exercise to devise a nuclear strategy to neutralize threats of weapons of mass destruction wielded by the 2002-class of rogue states such as Iraq and North Korea is proof that time folds over on itself, and that higher-order nuclear intelligence is as elusive as table-top fusion. This repetition of history isn't funny, but it is dangerous.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
IN HIS JAN. 29, 2002 State of the Union Address to Congress and the American public, U.S. President George W. Bush described a tripartite “axis of evil” threatening the United States.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
A Cdi Delegation Traveled to Cuba Feb. 27-March 3 and met top Cuban officials, including Fidel Castro, to explore the possibility of closer cooperation between the United States and Cuba in the fight against drugs and terrorism. CDI President Bruce Blair led a group that included Gen. (Ret.) Barry McCaffrey, Gen. (Ret.) Charles Wilhelm, and members of the CDI board and staff. McCaffrey was “drug czar” under President Clinton; Wilhelm was commander in chief of Southern Command from 1997-2000, and now serves as a Distinguished Military Fellow with CDI. He also went to Cuba with a CDI delegation in February 2001.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
On feb. 4, the administration of President George W. Bush released its proposed federal budget for fiscal year 2003 (FY'03). It includes a $396.1 billion request for national security: a whopping $379.3 billion for the Defense Department and $16.8 billion for the nuclear weapons functions of the Department of Energy. This is $48 billion above current annual spending levels, an increase of 13 percent. It is also 15 percent above the Cold War average, to fund a military force structure that is one-third smaller than it was a decade ago.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Sept. 11 did not presage or begin a new war. For more than 30 years, the modern world has confronted terrorism in the form of plane hijackings, massacres of travelers and athletes, and assassinations of politicians and military and business people. During the same 30 years, untold numbers of civilians in countries all over the world have been wounded, maimed, and killed as groups vying for personal and political power have battled each other, sometimes with the backing or even direct intervention of neighboring states.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Terrorism, and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Department of Social Sciences at West Point, United States Military Academy
Abstract:
India has long endured terrorist attacks against its security forces and civilians, both in Indian Kashmir and in India proper, which it alleges are directed and financed by Pakistan. On Dec ember 13, a terrorist attack against the Indian parliament building in New Delhi appeared aimed at killing Indian members of parliament. India interpreted this as an “act of war,” mobilized its troops and threatened military action. This paper examines the options available to the Indian military, and determines that none of them are very attractive and are unlikely to cause serious damage to the terrorist infrastructure located in Pakistan controlled Kashmir, or in Pakistan proper.
Cyber-warfare conjures up images of information warriors unleashing vicious attacks against an unsuspecting opponent's computer networks, wreaking havoc and paralyzing nations. This a frightening scenario, but how likely is it to occur? What would the effects of a cyber attack be on a potential opponent? Cyber attacks, network security and information pose complex problems that reach into new areas for national security and public policy. This paper looks at one set of issues – those related to cyber-terrorism and cyber attacks on critical infrastructure and their implications for national security. Cyber-terrorism is “the use of computer network tools to shut down critical national infrastructures (such as energy, transportation, government operations) or to coerce or intimidate a government or civilian population.” The premise of cyber terrorism is that as nations and critical infrastructure became more dependent on computer networks for their operation, new vulnerabilities are created – “a massive electronic Achilles' heel.” A hostile nation or group could exploit these vulnerabilities to penetrate a poorly secured computer network and disrupt or even shut down critical functions.
Ten days after the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller toured the smoldering rubble where the Twin Towers once had stood. “It's unspeakable,” the Attorney General kept repeating as he took in the horrible scene. Mueller walked with New York Governor George Pataki. “We'll get them,” he said.