DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE'S ROLE IN COMBATING TERRORISM AND FORCE PROTECTION LESSONS LEARNED SINCE THE ATTACK ON THE U.S.S. COLE For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office SPECIAL OVERSIGHT PANEL ON TERRORISM JIM SAXTON, NEW JERSEY, Chairman DUNCAN HUNTER, California VIC SNYDER, Arkansas LORETTA SANCHEZ, California JAMES R. LANGEVIN, Rhode Island DAVID TRACHTENBERG, Professional Staff Member Thursday, June 14, 2001 Department of Defense's Role in Combating Terror- ism and Force Protection Lessons Learned Since the Attack on the U.S.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE'S ROLE IN COMBATING TERRORISM AND STATEMENTS PRESENTED BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS Saxton, Hon. Jim, a Representative from New Jersey, Chairman, Special (III) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE'S ROLE IN COMBATING TERRORISM AND FORCE PROTECTION LESSONS LEARNED SINCE THE ATTACK ON THE U.S.S. COLE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, DC, Thursday, June 14, 2001. The panel met, pursuant to call, at 1:05 p.m. in room 2212, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Jim Saxton (chairman of the panel) presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JIM SAXTON, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM NEW JERSEY, CHAIRMAN, SPECIAL OVERSIGHT PANEL ON TERRORISM Mr. SAXTON. This afternoon the Special Oversight Panel on Terrorism convenes an open session to hold a hearing on the Department of Defense's antiterrorism and force protection program. The problem of combating terrorism, including terrorism directed against U.S. military personnel and interests abroad, is one of the most serious and challenging problems confronting the United States. This fact has been brought home in recent years by several terrorist attacks against the U.S. interests abroad. Five years ago the Khobar Towers compound in Saudi Arabia was bombed, killing 19 American service personnel. Two years later, simultaneous attacks against U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania left hundreds of people dead and injured, including Americans. And most recently in October of 2000, terrorists attacked the U.S.S. Cole in the Aden harbor, Yemen, during a scheduled refueling stop. The Department of Defense has a critical role to play in preventing these kinds of terrorist attacks directed against Americans and in ensuring the safety and security of American personnel who are deployed abroad, often in dangerous and potentially hostile environments in support of this country's national security. Within the Department of Defense, the responsibility of protecting U.S. personnel from terrorist attacks is divided among various entities. Because of the magnitude of the task and the importance of ensuring effective coordination between those entities and other Federal agencies with antiterrorism and force protection responsibilities, the Congress in the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 directed the Secretary of Defense to designate an assistant secretary as the Department's focal point for DOD's efforts in combating terrorism. Last month, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld designated the Assistant Secretary (1) |