NewsMax.com Wires
Friday, Nov. 16, 2001

The discovery shows that the United States has to be prepared for a variety of terrorist threats, Ridge said.

"Well, one of the challenges as we have faced a bioterrorist threat over the past four or five weeks is the notion that our responsibility as a country is to be prepared for a biological and chemical and radiological and nuclear. And the mission of providing homeland security is to enhance our capacity to detect, prevent and then respond to those kinds of events," Ridge said during a visit to the U.S. Department of Energy earlier in the day.

Yet he downplayed the material's significance by saying much of it could have been taken off the Internet.

"The fact that we have discovered bin Laden's associates or al-Qaeda had some materials relative to a nuclear threat is certainly consistent with his statements that he would like to acquire that capacity," Ridge told reporters after a tour of the Energy Department with Secretary Spencer Abraham.

"That does not confirm that he has the capacity," he added. "It just says that whether it's bin Laden or some other potential foes of this country, we have to be prepared for all eventualities, including a nuclear threat."

Also Thursday, Ridge said his national anti-terrorism strategy could lead to the merger of some federal agencies to streamline government functions.

"We must focus on the larger mission of the Office of Homeland Security, and that is to create a comprehensive national strategy for homeland defense," Ridge said during an anti-terrorism conference at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

Ridge, who was appointed to his post by President Bush five weeks ago, spoke to military leaders and foreign policy analysts during a session "National Security for a New Era." His challenge has been to coordinate the 14 Cabinet-level agencies to develop strategies to protect the American public and U.S. infrastructure in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Washington and New York.

Addressing the nation's long-term strategy for anti-terrorism planning would include possibly merging some of the federal agencies, which overlap in function. He pointed to departments such as those that inspect food and agricultural products.

"So as far as I'm concerned, wherever you have multiple organizations that seem to be tasked to the same general area, for functional improvement, for economic improvement, for security enhancement, we ought to at least take a look at whether or not we need to merge functions, merge agencies," Ridge said.

Ridge said he wanted to draft a multi-year budget for all the federal agencies that address urgent demands, but also create a blueprint for future agency needs.

"What the president has asked and instructed me to do is, having identified the immediate needs of the agencies, take a look at the budget that the White House is preparing now for fiscal year '03, and take a look at that," Ridge said. He said the president signaled that if there were immediate needs that could be considered in an early-year supplemental budget request, it would be considered.

Ridge said that as he examines the role of the U.S. Department of Defense in homeland security, the most obvious component would be to give the National Guard a part in domestic security.

"We're not going to resolve it right now, but clearly, integrating in a more complete and perhaps even in some aspects a different way, the National Guard into homeland security is something we need to consider and will consider," Ridge said.

After the attacks, 7,000 National Guard troops were deployed to assist with security at airports. Last week, the president increased that number to nearly 9,000 troops providing aviation support during the holiday season. The states would be reimbursed $205 million for the deployment out of the $40 billion emergency appropriation approved by Congress in the days following the attacks.

Ridge said his office would review the role of the nation's first responders – the firefighters, police, medical professionals and other emergency officials – and equip them with the tools to do their jobs better.

"We would never send soldiers into harm's way without proper training and without proper equipment. We owe the same commitment to our domestic first responders, our domestic first line. Our first responders nationwide need standardized training, procedures and equipment that allow them to communicate with each other in a crisis," Ridge said.

American people have been on edge as Ridge and Attorney General John Ashcroft have issued two terrorist alert warnings of additional imminent attacks on U.S. soil. Neither alert has yet been rescinded.

And four people have died, two of them postal workers, after anthrax-tainted letters were sent to media organizations and government offices in Florida, New York and Washington. The U.S. Center for Disease Control confirmed 17 anthrax cases, of which seven were cutaneous, or skin, forms of the disease.

Federal authorities blame Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden and his Muslim extremist group al-Qaeda for the Sept. 11 attacks, but no credible evidence has been obtained to link them with the anthrax-tainted letters. Last week President Bush told foreign leaders at the United Nations that bin Laden had been trying to obtain nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.

Copyright 2001 by United Press International.

All rights reserved.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Al-Qaeda

Bioterrorism

Bush Administration

Homeland/Civil Defense

War on Terrorism

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