A May 2000 report on Terrorism --- STATEMENT REP. JAMES SAXTON
CHAIRMAN, SPECIAL OVERSIGHT PANEL ON TERRORISM
Oh, the Democrats and the Republicans know, and have known, for a long time.
armedservices.house.gov
For Immediate Release:
May 22, 2001 Contact:
Ryan Vaart
(202) 225-2539
STATEMENT REP. JAMES SAXTON
CHAIRMAN, SPECIAL OVERSIGHT PANEL ON TERRORISM
This morning, the Special Oversight Panel on Terrorism convenes in open session to hold a hearing on Patterns of Global Terrorism and threats to the U.S. homeland. This hearing marks, or nearly marks, the first anniversary of the Special Oversight Panel on Terrorism.
As I reflect on the many hearings and briefings we have had over the course of the last year, I am pleased with how far we have come and with how much substantive territory we have covered. The Special Oversight Panel on Terrorism has examined the leading terrorist groups, their motives and methods of operation, and the kinds of threats they can pose to the United States. We have examined the terrorist problem in its geographic context. We have covered in our hearings and briefings many of the regions of the world that are plagued by terrorism, where U.S. and allied interests are at risk, and where the terrorism of the future may be evolving.
This panel has also treated terrorism in its technological context. We have examined WMD terrorism, the accessibility of terrorists to nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons of mass destruction. We have examined cyberterrorism and the threat that could be posed to our society that is increasingly dependent upon electronic information systems and the supporting infrastructure. We have examined radiofrequency weapons as possible terrorist “weapons of mass disruption” that could potentially pose a graver threat than cyberterrorism to our electronic infrastructure. We have even witnessed a unique field demonstration of a radiofrequency weapon such as terrorists could actually build-the first time such an event was made open to the Congress and the public.
This has been a good start for the Special Oversight Panel on Terrorism, and I thank the members for their participation in the Panel’s work over the past year. I expect the expertise we develop from these events will be valuable as the Congress contemplates legislation and programs to protect our nation and our allies from the terrorist threat.
Yet, <b?the most important lesson I learned from our work last year is that our task is just beginning. Terrorism is branching into many possible directions. The implications for U.S. national security are very complex. We have come far in advancing our understanding of the terrorist threat, but we still have far to go.
Today, as we convene our first official hearing of 2001, it is appropriate that the subject matter of our first hearing is the Department of State’s recently published report Patterns of Global Terrorism 2000. Every year the Department of State, in collaboration with the intelligence community, produces this report. The report describes and analyzes terrorist events over the last year and attempts to identify trends in terrorism. Thus, Patterns of Global Terrorism 2000 is an unclassified and authoritative statement by the U.S. Government on the recent history and evolving nature of terrorist threats to the United States.
Some highlights of Patterns of Global Terrorism 2000, that I am sure our witnesses will be able to expand upon, include the following:
During the year 2000, compared to 1999, international terrorists inflicted an increased number of casualties worldwide increased the number of attacks against the United States specifically. Globally, the number of attacks by international terrorists rose from 392 in 1999 to 423 in the year 2000. Attacks against the United States increased from 169 in 1999 to 200 in the year 2000.
During the year 2000, the single deadliest attack against the United States by international terrorists was the bombing of the USS Cole. This terrorist attack, on October 12 in the Yemeni port of Aden, killed seventeen sailors and wounded dozens of others. The attack also incapacitated a sophisticated U.S. guided missile ship, valued at a billion dollars, that is vital to the security of our aircraft carrier groups and our presence in the Persian Gulf.
Who are the nations that sponsor international terrorism? Some states might resort to terrorism as a form of asymmetrical warfare against the United States in a future crisis or conflict. Or they might use terrorism as part of a protracted campaign to attempt to force the United States to abandon its global role and its regional interests and allies.
Patterns of Global Terrorism 2000 identifies seven governments that sponsor terrorism: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Cuba, North Korea, and Sudan. The report also identifies Pakistan and Libya as governments of concern.
Patterns of Global Terrorism 2000 also notes that state-sponsored terrorism is being superceded by non-state sponsored terrorists. These non-state terrorists constitute a web of informally linked individuals and groups that have been involved in most of the major terrorist attacks or plots against the United States over the past fifteen years. Non-state terrorists now collaborate in terrorist acts throughout the world. Their destructive influence literally spans the globe, reaching from the Phillipines to the Balkans, from Central Asia to the Persian Gulf, from Western China to Somalia, and from Western Europe to South Asia.
Finally, Patterns of Global Terrorism 2000 finds that, and I quote, “At the dawn of a new millennium, the possibility of a terrorist attack involving weapons of mass destruction-chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear…or large explosive weapons-remained real.” The report also predicts that cyberterrorism is likely to be a growing threat.
Patterns of Global Terrorism 2000 is an excellent report. I urge panel members and the public to read it.
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House Armed Services Committee
2120 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515 |
