Report of the National Commission on Terrorism
Encyclopedia
The Report of the National Commission on Terrorism, also known as the Bremer Commission, "Countering The Changing Threat of International Terrorism", Pursuant to Public Law 277, 105th Congress, was published June 2000. Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III served as Chairman, and Maurice Sonnenberg served as Vice Chairman.

Conclusions

  • International terrorism poses an increasingly dangerous and difficult threat to America.
  • Countering the growing danger of the terrorist threat requires significantly stepping up U.S. efforts.
  • Priority one is to prevent terrorist attacks. U.S. intelligence and law enforcement communities must use the full scope of their authority to collect intelligence regarding terrorist plans and methods.
  • U.S. policies must firmly target all states that support terrorists.
  • Private sources of financial and logistical support for terrorists must be subjected to the full force and sweep of U.S. and international laws.
  • A terrorist attack involving a biological agent, deadly chemicals, or nuclear or radiological material, even if it succeeds only partially, could profoundly affect the entire nation. The government must do more to prepare for such an event.
  • The President and Congress should reform the system for reviewing and funding departmental counterterrorism programs to ensure that the activities and programs of various agencies are part of a comprehensive plan.


The most controversial conclusions included the Report's call "for the monitoring of all foreign students, using criminals and terrorists as American spies, and making wiretapping easier" (Lodal, 2001, p. 100).

The report clearly names state sponsors of terrorism including Iran and Syria. It specifically says this about Iran's involvement:

The Department of State's 1999 "Patterns of Global Terrorism" provides the following account of Iranian support for terrorism:
  • Iran's security forces conducted several bombings against Iranian dissidents abroad.
  • Iran has increasingly encouraged and supported—with money, training, and weapons—terrorist groups such as Hizballah, HAMAS, the PIJ, and Ahmed Jibril's PFLP-GC.
  • Iran continues to provide a safehaven to elements of PKK, a Kurdish terrorist group that has conducted numerous terrorist attacks in Turkey and against Turkish targets in Europe.
  • Iran also provides support to terrorist groups in North Africa and South and Central Asia, including financial assistance and training.


It recommends name Afghanistan, under the Taliban, as a state sponsor:

"Recommendation:
  • The Secretary of State should designate Afghanistan as a sponsor of terrorism and impose all the sanctions that apply to state sponsors. "

Commissioners

(See Appendix C of the Report)
  • L. Paul Bremer III, Chairman; Managing Director of Kissinger Associates
  • Maurice Sonnenberg, Vice Chairman
  • Richard K. Betts
    Richard K. Betts
    Richard K. Betts is the Arnold Saltzman Professor of War and Peace Studies in the Department of Political Science, the director of the Institute of War and Peace Studies, and the director of the International Security Policy Program in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia...

  • Wayne A. Downing
    Wayne A. Downing
    Wayne Allan Downing was a retired four-star United States Army general born in Peoria, Illinois. He graduated from the United States Military Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1962 and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Tulane University.-Military career:*Sep 62 - Feb...

  • Jane Harman
    Jane Harman
    Jane Margaret Lakes Harman is the former U.S. Representative for , serving from 1993 to 1999, and from 2001 to 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party....

  • Fred Ikle
    Fred Ikle
    Dr. Fred Charles Iklé was a United States Department of Defense official during the presidency of Ronald Reagan who is credited with a key role in increasing U.S. aid to anti-Soviet rebels in the Soviet War in Afghanistan...

  • Juliette N. Kayyem
    Juliette N. Kayyem
    Juliette N. Kayyem is a columnist at The Boston Globe, writing about issues of national security and foreign affairs for the op-ed page. She is also a lecturer at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard....

  • John F. Lewis, Jr.
  • Gardner Peckham
  • R. James Woolsey, Jr.
    R. James Woolsey, Jr.
    Robert James Woolsey Jr. is a foreign policy specialist and former Director of Central Intelligence and head of the Central Intelligence Agency .-Early life:...


See also

  • Hart-Rudman Task Force on Homeland Security
  • Homeland security
    Homeland security
    Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect states against terrorist activity. Specifically, is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the U.S., reduce America’s vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do...

  • National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
  • U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century / Hart-Rudman Commission

External links

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