Fact Sheet: Three Years of Progress in the War on Terror
“In the three years since our country
was attacked, we’ve taken steps to overcome new threats. We will continue
to do everything in our power to defeat the terrorist enemy and to protect
the American people. Recently, the Commission on the Terrorist Attacks
Upon the United States came to a conclusion that I share:! that our country
is safer than it was on September the 11th, 2001, yet, we’re still not
safe. . . . We are a Nation in danger. We’re doing everything we can in
our power to confront the danger. We’re making good progress in protecting
our people and bringing our enemies to account. But one thing is for certain:
We’ll keep our focus and we’ll keep our resolve and we will do our duty
to best secure our country.”
– President George W. Bush
(August 2, 2004)
Three years have passed since the attacks
of September 11, 2001. While the danger has not passed, America today
is safer and stronger because of the actions taken by President Bush and
his Administration to protect our country.
Protecting Our Homeland
The Bush Administration has made an unprecedented
commitment to homeland security. Already, the President has led the largest
reorganization of government in more than 50 years; strengthened our intelligence
capabilities; expanded support for first responders and state homeland
security efforts; and increased protection of our transportation systems,
borders, ports, and critical infrastructure.
Ø Creating the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS): The President has led the most extensive reorganization
of the Federal Go! vernment in more than 50 years by creating DHS. DHS
brought together 22 entities and over 180,000 employees with critical
homeland security missions and provided the Nation with a single Federal
department with the primary mission to protect the homeland against terrorist
threats.
Ø Leading the Way on Reforming and
Strengthening Intelligence and Coordination: President Bush has led the
way on intelligence reform and has already undertaken a number of major
reforms to improve intelligence ! collection, analysis, and sharing to
obtain the best information on the terrorist threat to the Nation – including:
§ Acting on 36 of the 9/11 Commission’s
41 recommendations: The President, on August 27, signed executive orders
giving the Director of Central Intelligence many of the strengthened management
powers over the Intelligence Community that will eventually belong to
the National Intelligence Director (NID) proposed by the 9/11 Commission.
He ! also established a National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) to serve
as a central knowledge bank on known and suspected terrorists and international
terror groups, as well as their goals, strategies, capabilities, and networks
of contacts. The NCTC will also provide strategic planning for U.S. government-wide
counterterrorism activities. The President also ordered that additional
actions be taken to continue to improve the sharing of terrorism information
among agencies and to improve our information technology architecture.
§ Proposing the creation of a National
Intelligence Director (NID) with the authority needed to get the job done.
The President intends to give the NID budget authority over the National
Foreign Intelligence Program appropriation and the management tools necessary
to successfully oversee the Intelligence Community, including ensuring
the full integration of foreign and domestic intelligence. The President
seeks intelligence reform legislation that is consistent with the recommendations
of the 9/11 Commission.
§ Transforming the FBI: For three years,
the President has led the effort to transform the FBI into an agency focused
on preventing terrorist attacks through intelligence collection and other
key efforts, while improving its ability to perform its traditional role
as a world-class law enforcement agency.
§ Establishing the Terrorist Threat
Integration Center (TTIC) to integrate and analyze terrorism threat-related
information collected domestically and abroad, ensuring that intelligence
and law enforcement entities are working together. Elements of the CIA,
the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Justice, DHS, and the
FBI work to close the “seams” in our intelligence analysis.
Launched in early 2003, the TTIC has! been regarded by the 9/11 Commission
as the foundation for the newly established NCTC.
§ Creating the Terrorist Screening Center
to consolidate terrorist watchlists and provide 24/7 operational support
for Federal and other government law enforcement personnel across the
country and around the world. The Center ensures that government investigators,
screeners, and agents are working with the same unified, comprehensive
set of information about terrorists – and that they have access to information
and expertise that will allow them to act quickly when a ! suspected terrorist
is screened or stopped.
§ Creating U.S. Northern Command to
provide for integrated homeland defense and coordinated DoD support to
Federal, State, and local civilian governments.
§ Proposing and signing into law the
USA PATRIOT Act, which strengthens law enforcement’s abilities to prevent,
investigate, and prosecute acts of terror, facilitating Federal government
efforts to thwart potential terrorist activity throughout the United States.
President Bush continues to call on Congress t! o take action to ensure
that these vital law enforcement tools do not expire.
§ Creating a White House Homeland Security
Council, led by a homeland security advisor who reports directly to the
President, to coordinate homeland security policy across multiple departments
and agencies – modeled on the National Security Council.
§ Creating the President’s Board on
Safeguarding American’s Civil Liberties to continue to carry out the President’s
commitment to protecting the privacy and other rights of all Americans.
Ø Significantly Increasing Homeland
Security Funding: Since 2001, the President has:
§ Proposed a near tripling of funding
for homeland security. The FY 2005 budget will increase homeland security
funding by 9.7% over FY 2004 – not counting homeland security funding
in the Department of Defense and Project BioShield.
§ Strengthened counterterrorism efforts
through the Department of Justice (DOJ), proposing a 19% increase in homeland
security funding for programs within DOJ over FY 2004 to $2.6 billion.
The FY 2005 budget also brings overall FBI funding to $5.1 billion, a
$1.9 billion (almost 60%) increase over t! he FY 2001 level.
§ Allocated more than $13 billion to
help State and local governments prepare for terrorism. President Bush
has sought and secured historic and massive increases in funding for first
responder preparedness since September 11, 2001. These funds should be
spent on training and equipping first responders for terrorism preparedness
and response.
Ø Bringing Terrorists to Justice and
Disrupting Terror Cells Inside the United States: The Department of Justice
has charged over 350 individuals uncovered in the course of terrorist
investigations, and convicted or secured guilty pleas from over 185 individuals.
The U.S. government has disrupted alleged terrorist cells in New York,
Washington, Oregon, Northern Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida.
Ø Strengthening Transportation Security:
The Administration instituted a multi-layered strategy to enhance aviation
security from the curb to the cockpit. The Transportation Secu! rity Administration
(TSA) screens 100% of commercial air passengers and bags. TSA has trained
and authorized hundreds of pilots to carry firearms in the cockpit, directed
the hardening of cockpit doors on 6,000 commercial aircraft, and stationed
explosives-detection canine teams at each of the Nation’s largest airports.
Federal Air Marshals ride aboard our Nation’s aircrafts, protecting passengers
and crew. The President’s FY 2005 budget proposes $5.3 billion for transportation
security funding, a 93% ($4.9 billion) increase over FY 2001 levels.
Ø Improving Border Security:
§ Three years ago, there were inspectors
from three different Federal agencies at our ports of entry. Today, the
Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
consolidates all port inspection activities into a single workforce to
create “one face at the border.” The Border Patrol is also part
of CBP, creating synergy between inspectors at the ports and those patrolling
between them. More than 18,000 CBP Officers, 1,400 CBP Agriculture Specialists,
and 11,000 Border Patrol Agents guard our Nation’s borders.
§ The US-VISIT entry-exit system uses
cutting-edge biometric technology to help ensure that our borders remain
open to legitimate travelers but closed to terrorists. US-VISIT was launched
at 116 airports and 16 seaports across the country and the program is
expanding to land ports of entry. This program has been very su! ccessful,
processing more than 8.5 million travelers since January.
§ The President’s FY 2005 budget includes
$7.1 billion for border security funding, a $3 billion increase over FY
2001 levels.
Ø Increasing Port and Cargo Security:
§ The President has significantly increased
funding for the Coast Guard, including dramatic increases for port security
and acquisition of new resources. The Coast Guard is creating over a dozen
100-person Maritime Safety and Security Teams, to provide point defense
for critical infrastructure and high-value shipping; employing armed helicopters
to provide waterside security; and reviewin! g thousands of new vessel,
facility, and port security plans. Funding for Coast Guard port security
efforts has increased over 500% from the beginning of this Administration
through 2004. The Coast Guard’s Deepwater fleet modernization project
has received a total of $1.5 billion over the last three years, and the
President has requested $678 million in his FY 2005 budget.
§ DHS has strengthened measures to protect
the Nation from smuggled radioactive materials and nuclear devices, by
equipping CBP inspectors, Coast Guard boarding personnel, and Border Patrol
agents with portable radiation detectors and installing radiation detection
portals at sea, land, rail, and air ports of entry, including mail processing
facilities. The first radiation portals were in! stalled in March 2003.
§ DHS established the National Targeting
Center (NTC), which uses computer-assisted analytical protocols to determine
which cargo and passengers destined for the United States present the
greatest threat, focusing examinations and inspections on them. Th! e
NTC screens data on 100% of inbound seaborne shipping containers (6 million
per year) to identify those posing a “high risk”; CBP personnel
conduct examinations of 100% of high-risk containers.
§ DHS established the Container Security
Initiative (CSI), deploying CBP officials to 25 major international seaports
to pre-screen shipping containers for illicit or dangerous materials before
they are loaded on vessels bound for the United States. CSI ! includes
the ports that ship roughly two-thirds of inbound containers to the United
States. Additional ports are being added over the next two years.
Ø Significantly Expanding Our Biodefense
Capabilities: Keeping Americans safe from the threat of bioterrorism has
been a priority since the outset of the Administration. ! Since 2001,
over $10 billion has been invested across all aspects of biodefense –
and NIH bioterrorism funding alone has increased by more than 3,000 percent.
The President and the Administration have:
§ Approved “Biodefense for the
21st Century” – the first-ever national strategy against bio threats
– that provides a roadmap for developing comprehensive U.S. biodefense
capabilities.
§ Proposed and signed into law Project
BioShield, which provides new tools to acquire medical countermeasures
protecting Americans against a chemical, biological, radiological, or
nuclear attack. Project BioShield is a comprehensive effort that will
ensure that resources ($5.6 billion) are available to pay for “next-generation”
medical countermeasures, expedite the conduct of NIH research and development
on medical countermeasures based on the most promising recent scienti!
fic discoveries, and give FDA the ability to make promising treatments
quickly available in emergency situations.
§ Expanded international efforts to
secure and keep dangerous biological materials out of the hands of terrorists.
§ Deployed early warning environmental
sampling systems – the BioWatch program – making it possible to detect
biological weapons attacks against major cities. To date, the BioWatch
program has analyzed more than one million samples.
§ Increased biodefense medical research
and development within the Department of Health and Human Services to
more than $1.5 billion per year since 2003, thirty times the investment
in 2001.
§ Expanded funding five-fold for the
Strategic National Stockpile of medicines for treating victims of terror
attacks, ensuring that “push packages” can be anywhere in the
United States within 12 hours.
§ Stockpiled enough smallpox vaccine
for every American and vaccinated over 600,000 members of the armed services.
§ Trained hundreds of thousands of first
responders to recognize and respond to the effects of WMD.
§ Created the National Biodefense Analysis
and Countermeasure Center to systematically apply, for the first time,
cutting-edge sc! ience to the study of classified intelligence about foreign
weapons programs and develop first-class forensics in support of law enforcement
investigations of biological crimes.
§ Initiated a major new agriculture
and food program to defend against diseases, pests, or poisons that could
intentionally by delivered by acts of terrorism.
Ø Protecting Critical Infrastructure:
The Administration has made unprecedented efforts to protect America’s
critical infrastructure against the threat of terrorism – including strengthened
security for chemical plants, nuclear facilities, and other potential
targets of terrorists. The President’s FY 2005 budget includes $864 million
for DHS information analysis and critical infrastructure protection –
a seven-fold increase over FY 2002 levels.
Progress in the Global War on Terror
Ø Three Commitments in Our Strategy
for Peace: To overcome the dangers of our time, America is also taking
a new approach in the world. We are determined to challenge new threats
– not ignore them and simply wait for future tragedy. Our strategy for
peace has three commitments:
o First, we are defending the peace by taking
the fight to the enemy – confronting them overseas so we do not have to
confront them here at home. We are destroying the leadership of terrorist
networks in sudden raids, disrupting their planning and financing, and
shrinking the space in which they can freely operate by denying them territory
and ! the support of governments.
o Second, we are protecting the peace by
working with friends and allies and international institutions to isolate
and confront terrorists and outlaw regimes. America is leading a broad
coalition of nations to disrupt WMD proliferation. We are working with
the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and other
international organizations to take action to preserve our common security.
o Third, we are extending the peace by supporting
the rise of democracy – and the hope and progress that democracy brings
– as the alternative to hatred and terror in the broader Middle East.
In democratic and successful societies, men and women do not swear allegiance
to malcontents and murderers; they turn their hearts and labor to building
better lives. And democratic governments do not shelter terrorist camps,
or attack their peaceful neighbors.
Ø Three Years of Progress: We have
followed this strategy – defending the peace, protecting the peace, and
extending the peace – for nearly three years, and the results are now
clear for all to see.
o Afghanistan: Three years ago, Afghanistan
was the home base of al-Qaida – a country ruled by the Taliban, one of
the most backward and brutal regimes of modern history. Today, a presidential
election is scheduled for this fall, the terror camps are closed, and
the Afghan government is helping us to hunt the Taliban and terrorists
in remote regions. Today, because we acted to liberate Afghanistan, a
threat has been removed, and the American people are safer.
o Pakistan: Three years ago, Pakistan was
one of the few countries in the world! that recognized the Taliban regime,
and al-Qaida was active and recruiting in Pakistan without serious opposition.
Yet the United States was not on good terms with key Pakistani leaders
– the very people we would need to help shut down al-Qaida operations
in that part of the world. Today, the United States and Pakistan are working
closely in the fight against terror, and Pakistani forces are rounding
up terrorists along their nation’s western border. President Musharraf
is a friend of our country who helped us capture Khalid Sheik Mohammed,
the operational planner behind the 9/11 attacks. Today, because we are
working with Pakistani leaders, Pakistan is an ally in the war on terror,
and the American people are safer.
o Saudi Arabia: Three years ago, terrorists
were well-established in Saudi Arabia. Inside that country, fundraisers
and other facilitators gave al-Qaida financial and logistical help – with
little scrutiny or opposition. Today, after attacks in Riyadh and elsewhere,
the Saudi government knows that al-Qaida is its enemy. Saudi Arabia is
working hard to shut down the facilitators and financial supporters of
terrorism, and they have captured or killed many first-tier leaders of
the al-Qaida organization in Saudi Arabia. Today, because Saudi Arabia
has seen the danger and joined the war on terror, the American people
are safer.
o Iraq: Three years ago, the ruler of Iraq
was a sworn enemy of America, who provided a safe haven for terrorists,
had used weapons of mass destruction, and turned his nation into a prison.
Saddam Hussein was a proven mass murderer who refused to account for his
weapons of mass murder.
§ The Bush Administration, Members of
Congress, and the United Nations Security Council looked at the intelligence
on Iraq and saw a threat. The previous Administration and the Congress
looked at the intelligence – and made regime change in Iraq the policy
of our country.
§ In 2002, the UN Security Council yet
again demanded a full accounting of Saddam Hussein’s weapons programs.
As he had for 12 years, Saddam Hussein refused to comply. So President
Bush had a choice to make: either take the word of a ruthless dictator,
or take action to defend America. Faced with that choice, President Bush
will defend America every time.
§ We were right to go into Iraq. We
removed a declared enemy of America, who had defied the international
community for 12 years, and who had the capability of producing weapons
of mass murder, and could have passed that capability to terrorists bent
on acquiring them. Although we have not found stockpiles of weapons of
mass destruction, in the world after September 11th, that was a risk we
could not afford to take.
§ Today, the dictator who caused decades
of death and turmoil – who twice invaded his neighbors, who harbored terrorist
leaders, and used chemical weapons, is finally before the bar of justice.
Iraq is now becoming an example of reform to the region. Iraqi security
forces are fighting beside coalition troops to defeat terrorists and foreign
fighters. Today, because America and our coalition helped to end the violent
regime of Saddam Hussein, and because we are helping to raise a peaceful
democracy in its place, the American people are safer.
o Libya: Three years ago, Libya, a longtime
supporter of terror, was spending millions to acquire chemical and nuclear
weapons. Today, thousands of Libya’s chemical munitions have been destroyed,
and equipment to produce nuclear materials that could ultimately have
threatened the lives of hundreds of thousands is stored in Oak Ridge,
Tennessee. Today, because the Libyan government saw the determination
of the civilized world, and correctly judged its own interests, the American
people are safer.
o Weapons Proliferation: Three years ago,
a private weapons proliferation network, operated by Pakistani nuclear
scientist A.Q. Khan, was se! lling nuclear plans and equipment to countries
like Libya, Iran, and North Korea. Today, the A.Q. Khan network has been
exposed, we have ended one of the most dangerous sources of proliferation
in the world, and the American people are safer.
§ Breaking this proliferation network
was possible because of outstanding work by the CIA. Dedicated intelligence
officers were tireless in obtaining vital information, sometimes at great
personal risk. Our intelligence services do an essential job for America.
§ The Senate Intelligence Committee
has identified some shortcomings in our intelligence capabilities – and
the Committee’s report will help us in the work of reform. President Bush
believes that intelligence reform efforts should: 1) increase the number
of intelligence agents to cover the globe; 2) invest in the best, cutting-edge
technology to listen and look for dangers; and 3) result in better coordination
among intelligence! services.
§ The President proposed the establishment
of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). PSI is a broad international
partnership of countries which, using their own laws and resources, will
coordinate their actions to interdict shipments of dangerous technologies
to and from states and non-state actors of prol! iferation concern – at
sea, in the air, and on land.
§ The President proposed and the United
States led the effort to pass UN Security Council Resolution 1540, which
requires states to criminalize proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
and their means of delivery ! by non-state actors, enact and implement
effective export controls, and secure proliferation-sensitive materials.
o Missile Defense: The United States will
soon begin the operational deployment of an in! itial capability to defend
against long-range ballistic missiles from rogue states such as North
Korea. While this initially will be a limited capability, it will provide
a basis for improvements as the threats and technologies evolve.
o Terrorist Financing: On September 23, 2001,
President Bush opened a new front in the war on terror by signing an Executive
Order to freeze th! e U.S.-based assets of individuals and organizations
involved with terrorism, and authorizing the Secretaries of State and
the Treasury to identify, designate, and freeze the U.S.-based assets
of terrorists and their supporters. Since September 11, 2001:
§ The United States has designated 387
ent! ities as terrorists or supporters of designated terrorists and frozen
nearly $142 million in terrorist-related assets. More than $37 million
has been frozen in the United States.
§ The U.S. Government has identified
and frozen over $4.5 million in al-Qaida-related funds. In addition, almost
$72 million has been frozen by other governments worldwide.
§ Almost 1,500 terrorist-related accounts
and transactions have been blocked around the world, including 151 in
the United States.
§ Over 80 countries have also introduced
new terrorism-related legislation, and 94 have established Financial Intelligence
Units.
§ Consistent with applicable UN Security
Council Resolutions, more than 170 countries and jurisdictions have issued
freezing orders.
| CAPTAIN STEPHEN M. BROWN, USAF RET. Subject: FW: WHITE HOUSE FACT SHEET: Three Years of Progress in the War |