Good morning Chairman Graham,
Vice-Chairman Shelby and members of the committee. I am Dale Watson, the
Executive Assistant Director of the FBI over counterterrorism and
counterintelligence. I am pleased to have this opportunity to appear
before your committee and I convey Director Mueller's regrets for not
being able to be with you today. This morning I would like to discuss
the domestic and international terrorist threat facing the United States
and the measures the FBI is taking to address this threat.
The terrorist attack of September 11,
2001, marked a dramatic escalation in a trend toward more destructive
terrorist attacks which began in the 1980s. Before the September 11
attack, the October 23, 1983 truck bombings of U.S. and French military
barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, which claimed a total of 295 lives, stood
as the most deadly act of terrorism. The attacks of September 11
produced casualty figures more than ten times higher than those of the
1983 barracks attacks.
The September 11 attack also reflected a
trend toward more indiscriminate targeting among international
terrorists. The vast majority of the more than 3,000 victims of the
attack were civilians. In addition, the attack represented the first
known case of suicide attacks carried out by international terrorists in
the United States. The September 11 attack also marked the first
successful act of international terrorism in the United States since the
vehicle bombing of the World Trade Center in February 1993.
Despite its unprecedented scope and
destruction, the September 11 attack underscored many of the trends in
international terrorism identified in recent years by the U.S.
intelligence community (Central Intelligence Agency, National Security
Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, the Bureau of Intelligence and
Research of the State Department, intelligence elements of the
departments of Defense, Treasury, Energy, and the Drug Enforcement
Administration, and intelligence/counterterrorism elements of the FBI).
Among these has been an apparent shift in operational intensity from
traditional sources of terrorism--state sponsors and formalized
terrorist organizations--to loosely affiliated extremists. This trend
has been paralleled by a general shift in tactics and methodologies
among international terrorists that focus on producing mass casualties.
These trends underscore the serious threat that international
terrorists continue to pose to nations around the world, particularly
the United States.
At the same time, the United States also
faces significant challenges from domestic terrorists. In fact, between
1980 and 2000, the FBI recorded 335 incidents or suspected incidents of
terrorism in this country. Of these, 247 were attributed to domestic
terrorists, while 88 were determined to be international in nature.
Threats emanating from domestic and
international terrorists will continue to represent a significant
challenge to the United States for the foreseeable future. Further, as
terrorists continue to refine and expand their methodologies, the
threats they pose will become even greater.
Background
The FBI divides the terrorist threat
facing the United States into two broad categories--domestic and
international.
Domestic terrorism is the unlawful use,
or threatened use, of violence by a group or individual based and
operating entirely within the United States (or its territories) without
foreign direction committed against persons or property to intimidate or
coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in
furtherance of political or social objectives.
International terrorism involves violent
acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the
criminal laws of the United States or any state, or that would be a
criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of the United
States or any state. Acts are intended to intimidate or coerce a
civilian population, influence the policy of a government, or affect the
conduct of a government. These acts transcend national boundaries in
terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they
appear intended to intimidate, or the locale in which perpetrators
operate.
As events during the past several years demonstrate, both domestic and
international terrorist organizations represent threats to Americans
within the borders of the United States.
During the past decade we have witnessed
dramatic changes in the nature of the terrorist threat. In the 1990s,
right-wing extremism overtook left-wing terrorism as the most dangerous
domestic terrorist threat to the country. During the past several years,
special interest extremism--as characterized by the Animal Liberation
Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF)--has emerged as a
serious terrorist threat. The FBI estimates that ALF/ELF have committed
approximately 600 criminal acts in the United States since 1996,
resulting in damages in excess of 42 million dollars.
However, as the events of September 11
demonstrated with horrible clarity, the United States also confronts
serious challenges from international terrorists. The transnational
Al-Qaeda terrorist network headed by Usama Bin Laden has clearly emerged
as the most urgent threat to U.S. interests. The evidence linking
Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden to the attacks of September 11 is clear and
irrefutable. The law enforcement and military response mounted by the
United States has done much to weaken the organizational structure and
capabilities of Al-Qaeda. Despite the military setbacks suffered by
Al-Qaeda, however, it must continue to be viewed as a potent and highly
capable terrorist network with cells around the world. As we hold this
hearing, Al-Qaeda is clearly wounded, but not dead; down but not out.
The FBI has moved aggressively during
the past decade to enhance its abilities to prevent and investigate acts
of terrorism against U.S. interests wherever they are planned. The FBI
operates 44 Legal Attache offices (Legats) in countries around the world
to help ensure that investigative resources are in place to support the
FBI's expanding focus on counterterrorism and international organized
crime. In the 20 years since President Reagan designated the FBI as the
lead agency for countering terrorism in the United States, Congress and
the Executive Branch have taken important steps to enhance the federal
government's counterterrorism capabilities. The FBI's counterterrorism
responsibilities were expanded in 1984 and 1986, when Congress passed
laws permitting the Bureau to exercise federal jurisdiction overseas
when a U.S. national is murdered, assaulted, or taken hostage by
terrorists, or when certain U.S. interests are attacked. Since the
mid-1980s, the FBI has investigated more than 500 extraterritorial
cases. In addition to the investigation into the September 11 attack,
several other ongoing extraterritorial investigations rank among the
FBI's most high profile cases, including our investigation into the 1996
bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 U.S.
servicemen; the bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania,
which killed 12 Americans; and the bombing of the USS Cole, which
claimed the lives of 17 U.S. sailors.
As evidenced by our enhanced ability to
conduct counterterrorism investigations overseas, the evolution of the
FBI's response to terrorism during the past decade reflects the changing
dynamics of terrorism. In the direct aftermath of the 1993 World Trade
Center bombing the FBI began to focus investigative attention on the
then-emerging phenomenon of Sunni extremism and its operational
manifestation in the radical international jihad movement. This effort
paid almost immediate dividends when investigators uncovered and
thwarted a plot by a loosely affiliated group of international
terrorists led by Shaykh Omar Abdel Rahman to bomb landmarks throughout
New York City during the summer of 1993.
This morning, I would like to briefly
discuss the current terrorist threat in the United States, as well as
the FBI's efforts to address the threat posed by domestic and
international terrorists.
Terrorist Threat in the United States
The threat of terrorism to the United
States remains despite proactive law enforcement efforts and significant
legislative counterterrorism initiatives. The overall level of
terrorist-related acts in the United States declined in the early 1990s,
when compared to figures for the 1970s and 1980s, but has increased
steadily during the past five years. There were two terrorist acts
recorded in the United States in 1995, three in 1996, four in 1997, five
in 1995, 12 in 1999 and 8 in 2000 (FIGURES COMBINE TERRORIST INCIDENTS
AND SUSPECTED TERRORIST INCIDENTS). While terrorist designations for the
year 2001 are currently being finalized, one incident, the attack of
September 11, produced higher casualty figures than all previous
terrorist incidents in the United States combined. Relatively high
numbers of terrorist plots prevented by law enforcement in recent years
further underscore the continuing terrorist threat.
Domestic Terrorism
Domestic right-wing terrorist groups
often adhere to the principles of racial supremacy and embrace
antigovernment, antiregulatory beliefs. Generally, extremist right-wing
groups engage in activity that is protected by constitutional guarantees
of free speech and assembly. Law enforcement becomes involved when the
volatile talk of these groups transgresses into unlawful action.
On the national level, formal right-wing
hate groups, such as the National Alliance, the World Church of the
Creator (WCOTC) and the Aryan Nations, represent a continuing terrorist
threat. Although efforts have been made by some extremist groups to
reduce openly racist rhetoric in order to appeal to a broader segment of
the population and to focus increased attention on antigovernment
sentiment, racism-based hatred remains an integral component of these
groups' core orientations.
Right-wing groups continue to represent
a serious terrorist threat. Two of the seven planned acts of terrorism
prevented in 1999 were potentially large-scale, high-casualty attacks
being planned by organized right-wing extremist groups.
The second category of domestic terrorists, left-wing groups, generally
profess a revolutionary socialist doctrine and view themselves as
protectors of the people against the "dehumanizing effects" of
capitalism and imperialism. They aim to bring about change in the United
States and believe that this change can be realized through revolution
rather than through the established political process. From the 1960s to
the 1980s, leftist-oriented extremist groups posed the most serious
domestic terrorist threat to the United States. In the 1980s, however,
the fortunes of the leftist movement changed dramatically as law
enforcement dismantled the infrastructure of many of these groups, and
the fall of communism in Eastern Europe deprived the movement of its
ideological foundation and patronage.
Terrorist groups seeking to secure full
Puerto Rican independence from the United States through violent means
represent one of the remaining active vestiges of left-wing terrorism.
While these groups believe that bombings alone will not result in
change, they view these acts of terrorism as a means by which to draw
attention to their desire for independence. During the 1970s and 1980s
numerous leftist groups, including extremist Puerto Rican separatist
groups such as the armed forces for Puerto Rican National Liberation (FALN--Fuerzas
Armadas de Liberacion Nacional Puertorriquena), carried out bombings on
the U.S. mainland, primarily in and around New York City. However, just
as the leftist threat in general declined dramatically throughout the
1990s, the threat posed by Puerto Rican extremist groups to mainland
U.S. communities decreased during the past decade.
Acts of terrorism continue to be
perpetrated, however, by violent separatists in Puerto Rico. As noted,
three acts of terrorism and one suspected act of terrorism have taken
place in various Puerto Rican locales during the past four years. These
acts (including the March 31, 1998 bombing of a superaquaduct project in
Arecibo, the bombings of bank offices in Rio Piedras and Santa Isabel in
June 1998, and the bombing of a highway in Hato Rey in 1999) remain
under investigation. The extremist Puerto Rican separatist group, Los
Macheteros, is suspected in each of these attacks. The FBI has not
recorded any acts of terrorism in Puerto Rico since 1999.
Anarchists and extremist socialist
groups--many of which, such as the workers' world party, reclaim the
streets, and carnival against capitalism, have an international
presence--at times also represent a potential threat in the United
States. For example, anarchists, operating individually and in groups,
caused much of the damage during the 1999 WTO ministerial meeting in
Seattle.The third category of domestic terrorism, special interest
terrorism differs from traditional right-wing and left-wing terrorism in
that extremist special interest groups seek to resolve specific issues,
rather than effect widespread political change. Special interest
extremists continue to conduct acts of politically motivated violence to
force segments of society, including the general public, to change
attitudes about issues considered important to their causes. These
groups occupy the extreme fringes of animal rights, pro-life,
environmental, anti-nuclear, and other movements. Some special interest
extremists--most notably within the animal rights and environmental
movements--have turned increasingly toward vandalism and terrorist
activity in attempts to further their causes.
In recent years, the Animal Liberation
Front (ALF)--an extremist animal rights movement--has become one of the
most active extremist elements in the United States. Despite the
destructive aspects of ALF's operations, its operational philosophy
discourages acts that harm "any animal, human and nonhuman."
Animal rights groups in the United States, including ALF, have generally
adhered to this mandate. A distinct but related group, the Earth
Liberation Front (ELF), claimed responsibility for the arson fires set
at a Vail (Colorado) ski resort in October 1998, which caused 12 million
dollars in damages. This incident remains under investigation. Seven
terrorist incidents occurring in the United States during 2000 have been
attributed to either ALF or ELF. Several additional acts committed
during 2001 are currently being reviewed for possible designation as
terrorist incidents.
International Terrorism
The United States faces a formidable
challenge from international terrorists. The September 11 attack and the
bombing of the USS Cole in the Yemenese port of Aden in October 2000, as
well as the prevention of an apparent attempt by Richard Reid to destroy
a Paris-to-Miami flight in December 2001, underscore the range of
threats to U.S. interests posed by international terrorism.
In general terms, the international
terrorist threat to U.S. interests can be divided into three categories:
the radical international jihad movement, formalized terrorist
organizations, and state sponsors of international terrorism. Each of
these categories represents a threat to U.S. interests abroad and in the
United States.
The most serious international terrorist
threat to U.S. interests today stems from Sunni Islamic extremists, such
as Usama Bin Laden and individuals affiliated with his
Al-Qaeda organization. Al-Qaeda leaders, including Usama Bin Laden, had
been harbored in Afghanistan since 1996 by the extremist Islamic regime
of the Taliban. Despite recent military setbacks suffered by the Taliban
and the apparent death of Al-Qaeda operational commander Mohamed Atef
resulting from a U.S. bombing raid, Al-Qaeda must continue to be viewed
as a potent and highly capable terrorist network. The network's
willingness and capability to inflict large-scale violence and
destruction against U.S. persons and interests--as it demonstrated with
the September 11 attack, the bombing of the USS Cole in October 2000,
and the bombings of two U.S. embassies in east Africa in August 1998,
among other plots--makes it a clear and imminent threat to the United
States.
However, the threat from Al-Qaeda is
only a part of the overall threat from the radical international jihad
movement, which is composed of individuals of varying nationalities,
ethnicities, tribes, races, and terrorist group memberships who work
together in support of extremist Sunni goals. One of the primary goals
of Sunni extremists is the removal of U.S. military forces from the
Persian gulf area, most notably Saudi Arabia. The single common element
among these diverse individuals is their commitment to the radical
international jihad movement, which includes a radicalized ideology and
agenda promoting the use of violence against the "enemies of
Islam" in order to overthrow all governments which are not ruled by
Sharia (conservative Islamic) law. A primary tactical objective of this
movement has been the planning and implementation of large-scale,
high-profile, high-casualty terrorist attacks against U.S. interests and
citizens, and those of its allies, worldwide.
Richard Reid
On December 22, 2001, Richard C. Reid was arrested after a flight
attendant on American Airlines Flight 63 observed him attempting to
apparently ignite an improvised explosive in his sneakers while onboard
the Paris-to-Miami flight. Aided by passengers, attendants overpowered
and subdued Reid and the flight was diverted to Logan International
Airport in Boston, Massachusetts.
Evidence strongly suggests that Reid,
who was traveling on a valid British passport, is affiliated with the
Al-Qaeda network. Reid has been indicted on nine counts, including
placing an explosive device on an aircraft and attempted murder. FBI
investigation has determined that the explosives in Reid's shoes, if
detonated in certain areas of the passenger cabin, could have blown a
hole in the fuselage of the aircraft.
Zacarias Moussaoui
Investigation also has revealed that Reid and another indicted subject,
Zacarias Moussaoui, were known associates. Moussaoui came to the
attention of the FBI while taking flight training classes in Minnesota
in August 2001. Moussaoui had paid over $8,000 in cash for flight
simulator lessons on a 747-400, which far exceeded his training level as
a pilot. Moussaoui showed unusual interest in the instructor's comment
that airplane cabin doors could not be opened during flight. In
addition, his flight instructor was concerned that Moussaoui expressed
interest only in learning how to take off and land the 747-400. In
preparation for high fidelity simulator training, he expressed strong
interest in "piloting" a simulated flight from London's
Heathrow Airport to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. When the
instructor took his concerns to the FBI, Moussaoui was interviewed by
Special Agents from the FBI and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization
Service (INS). He was determined to be an INS overstay and was detained
by the INS on August 16, 2001. Following his detention, Moussaoui
refused to allow a search to be conducted of his possessions, to include
a laptop computer and a computer disc. Attempts were made to obtain
authority to conduct a search of this computer. However, due to the lack
of probable cause and lack of predication, neither a criminal nor
intelligence search could be conducted. Following the September 11
attack a criminal search of the computer was conducted. Nothing was
located which connected Moussaoui with the events of September 11;
however, information about crop-dusting was located on the computer. As
a result, crop dusting operations in the United States were grounded
briefly on two occasions in September 2001. On December 11, 2001, the
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
indicted Moussaoui on six counts of conspiracy for his role in the
events of September 11, 2001.
The second category of international
terrorist threat is made up of formal terrorist organizations. These
autonomous, generally transnational, groups have their own personnel,
infrastructures, financial arrangements, and training facilities. They
are able to plan and mount terrorist campaigns on an international
basis, and several actively support terrorist-related activities in the
United States. Extremist groups such as Palestinian Hamas, the Irish
Republican Army, the Egyptian El-Gama Al-Islamiyya (IG), and Lebanese
Hizballah have supporters in the United States, though the activities of
these U.S.-based cells revolve primarily around fund-raising,
recruiting, and low-level intelligence gathering.
Hizballah is a formal organization that
has carried out numerous anti-U.S. attacks overseas, including the
October 1983 vehicle bombing of the U.S. Marine Barracks in Lebanon.
With the exception of the Al-Qaeda network, Hizballah is responsible for
the deaths of more Americans than any other terrorist group in the
world. On June 21, 2001, the United States indicted 14 subjects--13
Saudis and 1 Lebanese national--for their suspected involvement in the
June 1996 bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. Nineteen U.S. airmen
died in the blast; Saudi Hizballah is suspected of carrying out the
attack. To date, Hizballah has never carried out a terrorist attack in
the United States.
State sponsors of terrorism make up the
third category of international terrorist threat. The primary state
sponsors are Iran, Iraq, Sudan, and Libya. These countries view
terrorism as a tool of foreign policy. Syria, which is also on the U.S.
Department of State's list of state sponsors of terrorism, has not been
directly involved in conducting terrorist activity for a number of years
but still provides a safe haven to international terrorist groups and
loosely affiliated extremists. North Korea and Cuba--also on the
Department of State's list of state sponsors--have significantly reduced
their direct involvement with terrorism due, in part, to the rapidly
diminishing capacity of their economies to support such activity.
In perhaps the most infamous case of
state sponsored terrorism, Libya is believed to be behind the December
1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed
270 people (259 people on the plane and 11 on the ground). On April 5,
1999, the Libyan government turned over two former intelligence
operatives, Abd al Basit al-Megrahi and Lamin Kalifah Fhima, to be tried
in the Netherlands by a special Scottish court for the bombing. Several
years earlier, the FBI had placed al-Megrahi and Fhima on its Top Ten
Most Wanted Fugitives list, marking the only time that officers of a
foreign government were placed on the list. On January 31, 2001, the
three-judge court convicted al-Megrahi of murder for his role in the
bombing. Fhima was acquitted by the court and released.
Of the seven nations listed by the
United States as state sponsors of terrorism, Iran represents the
greatest threat to the United States. Despite a moderation in its public
anti-U.S. rhetoric since the 1997 election of Mohammed Khatemi as
president, the government of Iran, which is controlled by conservative
clerics opposed to Khatemi, continues to target dissidents and support
anti-western terrorism, both financially and logistically.
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
The trend toward high-profile,
high-impact attacks comes at a time when interest is growing among
domestic and international extremists in weapons of mass destruction
(WMD). A series of anthrax-related cases and threats occurring since
September 2001 provide a glimpse into emerging terrorist scenarios of
the 21st century.
A series of bioterrorism incidents using
b. anthracis spores sent through the mail have resulted in 22 anthrax
cases and five deaths since October 3, 2001. The initial anthrax cases
occurred among persons with known or suspected contact with opened
letters contaminated with b. anthracis spores. Later, investigations
identified four confirmed cases and one suspected case among postal
workers who had no known contact with contaminated opened letters. This
suggests that sealed envelopes contaminated with anthrax passing through
the postal system may be the source of these exposures. The number of
contaminated envelopes passing through the postal system is under
investigation.
Leads continue to be investigated;
however, no suspect has been identified. On November 9, 2001, the FBI
issued a behavioral/linguistic assessment of the offender based on the
known anthrax parcels. As stated in this assessment, the offender is
believed to be an adult male who has access to a source of anthrax and
possesses the knowledge and expertise to refine it. The FBI heads a
multi-agency effort to identify the perpetrator of these deadly attacks.
Since October 2001 the FBI has responded
to over 8,000 reports of use or threatened use of anthrax or other
hazardous materials. The current rash of anthrax threats represents a
large spike in a trend of increased WMD cases that began in the
mid-1990s. During the past four years, there has been a very limited
number of cases in the United States that actually involved use or
threatened use of ricin. There had been no criminal cases involving
actual use of anthrax in the United States prior to October 2001. To
date, no evidence definitely links Al-Qaeda or any other terrorist
organization to these cases.
Cyber / National Infrastructure
During the past several years the FBI
had identified a wide array of cyber threats, ranging from defacement of
web sites by juveniles to sophisticated intrusions sponsored by foreign
powers. Some of these incidents pose more significant threats than
others. The theft of national security information from a government
agency or the interruption of electrical power to a major metropolitan
area obviously would have greater consequences for national security,
public safety, and the economy than the defacement of a web-site. But
even the less serious categories have real consequences and, ultimately,
can undermine public confidence in web-based commerce (E-commerce) and
violate privacy or property rights. An attack (or "hack") on a
web site that closes down an e-commerce site can have disastrous
consequences for a web-based business. An intrusion that results in the
theft of millions of credit card numbers from an online vendor can
result in significant financial loss and, more broadly, reduce
consumers' willingness to engage in e-commerce.
Beyond criminal threats, cyber space
also faces a variety of significant national security threats, including
increasing threats from terrorists.
Terrorist groups are increasingly using
new information technology and the Internet to formulate plans, raise
funds, spread propaganda, and engage in secure communications.
Cyberterrorism-–meaning the use of cyber tools to shut down critical
national infrastructures (such as energy, transportation, or government
operations) for the purpose of coercing or intimidating a government or
civilian population–-is clearly an emerging threat.
On January 16, 2002, the FBI
disseminated an advisory via the National Law Enforcement
Telecommunications System regarding possible attempts by terrorists to
use U.S. municipal and state web sites to obtain information on local
energy infrastructures, water reservoirs, dams, highly enriched uranium
storage sites, and nuclear and gas facilities. Although the FBI
possesses no specific threat information regarding these apparent
intrusions, these types of activities on the part of terrorists pose
serious challenges to our national security.
The FBI Response to Terrorism
The FBI has developed a strong response
to the threats posed by domestic and international terrorism. Between
fiscal years 1993 and 2003, the number of Special Agents dedicated to
the FBI's counterterrorism programs grew by approximately 224 percent
(to 1,669--nearly 16 percent of all FBI special agents). In recent
years, the FBI has strengthened its counterterrorism program to enhance
its abilities to carry out these objectives.
The FBI Counterterrorism Center
As you are aware, congressional
appropriations have helped strengthen and expand the FBI's
counterterrorism capabilities. To enhance its mission, the FBI
centralized many specialized operational and analytical functions in the
FBI Counterterrorism Center.
Established in 1996, the FBI
Counterterrorism Center combats terrorism on three fronts: international
terrorism operations both within the United States and in support of
extraterritorial investigations, domestic terrorism operations, and
countermeasures relating to both international and domestic terrorism.
Eighteen federal agencies maintain a
regular presence in the center and participate in its daily operations.
These agencies include the Central Intelligence Agency, the Secret
Service, and the Department of State, among others. This multi-agency
arrangement provides an unprecedented opportunity for information
sharing, warning, and real-time intelligence analysis.
Interagency Cooperation
This sense of cooperation also has led
to other important changes. During the past several years, the FBI and
CIA have developed a closer working relationship that has strengthened
the ability of each agency to respond to terrorist threats and has
improved the ability of the U.S. government to respond to terrorist
attacks that do occur.
An element of this cooperation is an
ongoing exchange of personnel between the two agencies. Included among
the CIA employees detailed to the FBI's Counterterrorism division is a
veteran CIA case officer who serves as the Deputy Section Chief for
International Terrorism. Likewise, FBI agents are detailed to the CIA,
and a veteran special agent serves in a comparable position in the CIA's
Counterterrorist center.
The National Infrastructure
Protection Center
Created in 1998, the National
Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) is an interagency center housed
at FBI headquarters that serves as the focal point for the government's
effort to warn of and respond to cyber intrusions, both domestic and
international. NIPC programs have been established in each of the FBI's
56 field offices.
The FBI Laboratory
The FBI Laboratory division has
developed a robust response capability to support counterterrorism
investigations worldwide. The FBI's mobile crime laboratory provides the
capability to collect and analyze a range of physical evidence on-scene,
and has been deployed at major crime scenes, including the World Trade
Center bombing, Khobar Towers, and the East African Embassy bombings.
The mobile crime laboratory contains analytical instrumentation for
rapid screening and triage of explosives and other trace evidence
recovered at crime scenes.
The Laboratory also provides the
capacity to rapidly respond to criminal acts involving the use of
chemical or biological agents with the mobile, self-contained Fly Away
Laboratory (FAL). The FAL consists of twelve suites of analytical
instrumentation supported by an array of equipment which allows for safe
collection of hazardous materials, sample preparation, storage, and
analysis in a field setting. The major objectives of the mobile crime
laboratory and the FAL are to enhance the safety of deployed personnel,
generate leads through rapid analysis and screening, and to preserve
evidence for further examination at the FBI Laboratory. In addition, the
Laboratory has developed agreements with several other federal agencies
for rapid and effective analysis of chemical, biological, and
radiological materials. One partnership, the Laboratory Response
Network, is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and the Association of Public Health Laboratories for the analysis of
biological agents.
Threat Warning
Because warning is critical to the
prevention of terrorist acts, the FBI also has expanded the terrorist
threat warning system first implemented in 1989. The system now reaches
all aspects of the law enforcement and intelligence communities.
Currently, sixty federal agencies and their subcomponents receive
information via secure teletype through this system. The messages also
are transmitted to all 56 FBI field offices and 44 Legats.
If threat information requires
nationwide unclassified dissemination to all federal, state, and local
law enforcement agencies, the FBI transmits messages via the National
Law Enforcement Telecommunications System. In addition, the FBI
disseminates threat information to security managers of thousands of
U.S. commercial interests around the country through the Awareness of
National Security Issues and Response (ANSIR) program. If warranted, the
expanded NTWS also enables the FBI to communicate threat information
directly to the American people.
On September 11, the FBI issued a
nationwide terrorist threat advisory via the National Threat Warning
System; this advisory is in place through March 11, 2002, unless
extended by the FBI. Since the terrorist attack of September 11, the FBI
has disseminated 37 warnings via the NTWS. The FBI also has issued over
40 be on the lookout (BOLO) alerts via the NLETS system. BOLO alerts
provide the names of individuals who are of investigative interest to
the FBI.
Through a 24-hour watch and other
initiatives, the NIPC also has developed processes to ensure that it
receives relevant information in real-time or near-real-time from all
relevant sources, including the U.S. intelligence community, FBI
criminal investigations, other federal agencies, the private sector,
emerging intrusion detection systems, and open sources. This information
is quickly evaluated to determine if a broad-scale attack is imminent or
underway. If a chemical, biological, nuclear or radiological material is
threatened, the FBI Weapons of Mass Destruction Operations Unit (WMDOU)
conducts an interagency assessment to determine the credibility of the
threat, utilizing subject matter experts and federal agencies with
relevant authorities. Based on the credibility of the threat, the WMDOU
will coordinate the appropriate response by federal assets. As a result
of this analysis, the FBI can issue warnings using an array of
mechanisms, and disseminate warnings to appropriate entities in the U.S.
government and the private sector so that they can take immediate
protective steps.
The Future
I would like to conclude by talking
briefly about steps we can take to further strengthen our abilities to
prevent and investigate terrorist activity.
Encryption
One of the most important of these steps
involves the FBI's encryption initiative. Communication is central to
any collaborative effort--including criminal conspiracies. Like most
criminals, terrorists are naturally reluctant to put the details of
their plots down on paper. Thus, they generally depend on oral or
electronic communication to formulate the details of their terrorist
activities.
Although the FBI, and the law
enforcement community at large, fully supports the development and use
of innovative technologies to ensure that the United States remains
competitive in today's global market, we remain extremely concerned
about the serious public safety threat posed by the proliferation and
misuse of technologies that prevent law enforcement from gaining access
to the plaintext of terrorist and/or serious criminal-related evidence
obtained through either court-authorized electronic surveillance or the
search and seizure of digital evidence.
The use of commercially available,
non-recoverable encryption products by individuals engaged in terrorist
and other serious criminal activity can effectively prevent law
enforcement access to this critical evidence. Law enforcement's
inability to gain access to the plaintext of encrypted communications
and/or computer evidence in a timely manner seriously impairs our
ability to successfully prevent and prosecute terrorist and/or other
serious criminal acts.
This significant challenge to effective
law enforcement poses grave and serious public safety consequences.
Unless the FBI enhances its ability for gathering and processing
computer data obtained through electronic surveillance, search and
seizure of computer evidence, and its ability to gain access to the
plain text of encrypted evidence, investigators and prosecutors will be
denied timely access to valuable evidence that could be used to prevent
and solve terrorist and other serious criminal acts.
Joint Terrorism Task Forces
Cooperation among law enforcement
agencies at all levels represents an important component of a
comprehensive response to terrorism. This cooperation assumes its most
tangible operational form in the Joint Terrorism Task Forces that are
authorized in 44 cities across the nation. These task forces are
particularly well-suited to responding to terrorism because they combine
the national and international investigative resources of the FBI with
the street-level expertise of local law enforcement agencies. This
cop-to-cop cooperation has proven highly successful in preventing
several potential terrorist attacks. Perhaps the most notable cases have
come from New York City, where the city's Joint Terrorism Task Force has
been instrumental in thwarting two high-profile international terrorism
plots--the series of bombings planned by Shaykh Rahman in 1993 and the
attempted bombing of the New York City subway in 1997.
Not only were these plots prevented, but
today, the conspirators who planned them sit in federal prisons thanks,
in large part, to the comprehensive investigative work performed by the
Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Given the success of the Joint Terrorism
Task Force concept, the FBI has established 15 new JTTFs since the end
of 1999. By the end of 2002 the FBI plans to have established or
authorized JTTFs in each of its 56 field divisions. By integrating the
investigative abilities of the FBI and local law enforcement agencies
these task forces represent an effective response to the threats posed
to U.S. communities by domestic and international terrorists.
Expansion of FBI Legats
The FBI's counterterrorism capabilities
also have been enhanced by the expansion of our Legat offices around the
world. These small offices can have a significant impact on the FBI's
ability to track terrorist threats and bring investigative resources to
bear on cases where quick response is critical. As I've mentioned, the
FBI currently operates 44 such Legat offices. Many of these have opened
within the past five years in areas of the world where identifiable
threats to our national interests exist. We cannot escape the
disquieting reality that in the 21st century, crime and terrorism are
carried out on an international scale. The law enforcement response must
match the threat. By expanding our first line of defense, we improve the
ability of the United States to prevent attacks and respond quickly to
those that do occur. Given the nature of the evolving terrorist threat
and the destructive capabilities now available to terrorists, the
American people deserve nothing less. The expansion of the number of FBI
Legal Attache offices (Legats) around the world has enhanced the ability
of the FBI to prevent, respond to, and investigate terrorist acts
committed by international terrorists against U.S. interests worldwide.
As evidenced by developments in the Embassy Bombing cases in East
Africa, the ability to bring investigative resources to bear quickly in
the aftermath of a terrorist act can have significant impact on our
ability to identify those responsible. I encourage Congress to support
our efforts to counter the international terrorist threat by continuing
to support expansion of our Legat program.
Results
Improved analysis and operational
capabilities combined with increased cooperation and integration have
enhanced the FBI's ability to investigate and prevent acts of terrorism.
Dozens of domestic extremists have been indicted and prosecuted during
the past ten years. Among these are Timothy McVeigh, who carried out the
bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. McVeigh
was executed in June 2001 for perpetrating the worst act of domestic
terrorism ever conducted in the United States. More recently, on January
25, 2002, anti-abortion extremist Clayton Lee Waagner was given a
combined sentence of over 30 years in prison for various theft and
firearms violations. Waagner is also suspected of sending over 250 hoax
anthrax letters to reproductive services clinics in October and November
2001.
During the past ten years, more than 60
subjects associated with international terrorism have been prosecuted in
the United States. These include Ramzi Yousef, operational mastermind of
the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a plot to bomb U.S. airliners
transiting the far east (convicted in May 1997); Tsutomu Shirosaki,
Japanese Red Army member who fired rockets at the U.S. Embassy compound
in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1986 (convicted in November 1997); and Gazi-Abu
Mezer and Lafi Khalil, extremists who, in 1997, nearly carried out a
plan to bomb the New York City subway system (convicted in July 1998).
Yousef and Shirosaki were among the 16 fugitives indicted for
terrorist-related activities that have been rendered to the United
States from overseas since 1987. The 1997 plot to bomb the New York
subway was narrowly averted by the FBI/New York City Police Department
Joint Terrorism Task Force.
On October 18, 2001, four Al-Qaeda
members received life sentences for their roles in a conspiracy to kill
Americans which resulted in the August 1998 embassy bombings in East
Africa. Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-Owhali, Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, Wadih
el-Hage, and Mohamed Sadeek Odeh were convicted earlier in 2001 in the
Southern District of New York (SDNY) on a variety of charges related to
the embassies bombing plot. Two other subjects in this case are awaiting
trial in the SDNY.
In December 1999 the coordinated efforts
of the FBI and other law enforcement/intelligence agencies were
instrumental in responding to the millennium threat exposed when Ahmed
Ressam was apprehended attempting to smuggle explosives across the
U.S.-Canadian border near Seattle. On April 6, 2001, after a three-week
trial in Los Angeles, Ressam was found guilty on all counts brought
against him. On March 7, 2001, Abdelghani Meskini, another individual
suspected of involvement in the plot to bomb the Los Angeles airport,
had pled guilty in the Southern District of New York to charges of
providing material support to Ressam. On July 13, 2001, a third suspect
subject, Mokhtar Haouari, was convicted of charges related to the plot.
In January of this year, Haouari was sentenced to 24 years in prison for
his role in supporting Ressam's plot to carry out terrorist activity in
the United States. One indicted subject, Abdelmajid Dahoumane, is in
Algerian custody.
In addition, numerous individuals have
been indicted for their involvement in terrorist activities and are
currently being sought by the FBI. Usama Bin Laden and 15 other subjects
stand indicted for their roles in Al-Qaeda and the 1998 U.S. embassy
bombings in East Africa. Three additional subjects are in custody in the
United Kingdom but are expected to be extradited soon to stand trial in
the SDNY.
In October 2001 the FBI established the
Most Wanted Terrorists program to focus expanded attention on indicted
terrorist suspects. Usama Bin Laden was among the first 22 names placed
on this list. In June 1998 Bin Laden had been named to the FBI's Top Ten
Most Wanted Fugitives list.
Conclusion
Despite the current focus on
international terrorism, it is important to remain cognizant of the full
range of threats that confront the United States. These threats continue
to include domestic and international terrorists. While the majority of
attacks perpetrated by domestic terrorists have produced low casualty
figures, the 169 lives claimed in the Oklahoma City bombing and the
potential very heavy loss of lives that could have resulted from various
thwarted plots demonstrate the interest among some domestic extremists
in inflicting mass casualties.
On September 11, 2001, the scope and
sophistication of the international radical jihad movement was
demonstrated with horrendous clarity when 19 hijackers commandeered four
commercial airliners, crashing two of them into the World Trade Center,
one into the Pentagon, and the other into a remote field in
Pennsylvania. This attack resulted in more casualties than any other
terrorist act ever recorded.
Even as the Al-Qaeda command structure
in Afghanistan is destroyed, Al-Qaeda cells in countries around the
world will continue to pose a threat to U.S. and other western
interests. The plotters who carried out the September 11, 2001 attack
maintained a low profile and appeared to actively avoid coming to the
attention of law enforcement agencies. Such operational discipline
underscores the challenge to U.S. law enforcement agencies in uncovering
and disrupting Al-Qaeda cells in the United States. Although the public
mind often groups international terrorists into a standard stereotype,
such a view fails to accommodate subtle but important differences in
goals and tactics among different extremist movements. For example, the
low-level operational scope of 17 November (assassinations, small-scale
bombings centered primarily in Athens) reflects the limited,
ethnocentric strategic goal of the organization (a nationalist Greek
state). By contrast, the high-impact, transnational operational focus of
Al-Qaeda and other groups associated with the international radical
jihad movement clearly underscores a strategic goal to confront the
United States and other western interests with high-casualty attacks on
a global scale. Despite the military setbacks suffered by Al-Qaeda,
extremists adhering to the international jihad movement will continue to
focus on attacks that yield significant destruction and high casualties,
thus maximizing worldwide media attention and public anxiety. It also
appears likely that as governments "harden" (or make more
secure) official targets, such as embassies and international schools,
these terrorists will increasingly seek out more vulnerable
"softer" targets, such as high-profile offices of
multinational firms and Americans traveling and working abroad.
Terrorism represents a continuing threat
to the United States and a formidable challenge to the FBI. In response
to this threat, the FBI has developed a broad-based counterterrorism
program, based on robust investigations to disrupt terrorist activities,
interagency cooperation, and effective warning. While this approach has
yielded many successes, the dynamic nature of the terrorist threat
demands that our capabilities continually be refined and adapted to
continue to provide the most effective response.
