https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

content


A year after 9/11, America still unprepared for a terrorist attack, warns new Hart-Rudman task force on homeland security

A year after 9/11, America still unprepared for a terrorist attack, warns new Hart-Rudman task force on homeland security

Highlight: "First responders' … radios can't talk with one another, and they lack the training and protective gear to protect themselves and the public
  • Written by Urgent Communications Administrator
  • 1st November 2002

Highlight:

“First responders’ … radios can’t talk with one another, and they lack the training and protective gear to protect themselves and the public in an emergency. The consequence of this could be the unnecessary loss of thousands of American lives.” — task force report

A year after Sept. 11, 2001, America remains dangerously unprepared to prevent and respond to a catastrophic attack on U.S. soil. That’s the conclusion drawn by a blue-ribbon panel led by former Senators Warren Rudman and Gary Hart—co-chairs of the Commission on National Security that warned of such a terrorist attack three years ago.

The independent task force that came to this conclusion and that makes recommendations for emergency action, included two former secretaries of state, three Nobel laureates, two former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a former director of the CIA and FBI, and financial, legal, and medical experts. Stephen Flynn, a senior fellow of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, directed the Task Force.

If the nation does not respond more urgently to address its vulnerabilities, the task force warned, “the next attack could result in even greater casualties and widespread disruption to our lives and economy.”

The task force warned that the need for specific preparatory acts is made even more imperative by the prospect that the United States might go to war with Iraq, and that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein might threaten the use of weapons of mass destruction in America.

The task force credited the Bush administration, Congress, governors and mayors for taking important measures since Sept. 11, 2001, to respond to the risk of catastrophic terrorism, and said that it does not seek to apportion blame about what has not been done or not done quickly enough. The task force said that its report is aimed instead at closing the gap between U.S. intelligence estimates and analysis—which it said acknowledge immediate danger on the one hand—and the country’s capacity to prevent, mitigate and respond to these attacks on the other.

Among the risks that the task force said still confront the United States are

  • 650,000 local and state police officials continue to operate in a virtual intelligence vacuum including having no access to terrorist watch lists provided by the U.S. Department of State to immigration and consular officials.

  • While 50,000 federal screeners are being hired at the nation’s airports to check passengers, only the tiniest percentage of containers, ships, trucks, and trains that enter the United States each day are subject to examination-and a weapon of mass destruction could well be hidden among this cargo.

  • First responders—police, fire, emergency medical personnel—are not ready to respond to a chemical or biological attack. Their radios can’t talk with one another and they lack the training and protective gear to protect themselves and the public in an emergency. The consequence of this could be the unnecessary loss of thousands of American lives.

  • An adversary intent on disrupting America’s reliance on energy need not target oilfields in the Middle East. The homeland infrastructure for refining and distributing energy to support our daily lives remains largely unprotected to sabotage.

  • Our own ill-prepared response has the capacity to hurt us to a much greater extent than any single attack by a terrorist. America is a powerful and resilient nation and terrorists are not supermen. But the risk of self-inflicted harm to our liberties and way of life is greatest during and immediately following a national trauma.

To deal with these and other weaknesses, the task force made a number of recommendations for emergency action, including the following:

  • Make first responders ready to respond by immediately providing federal funds to clear the backlog of requests for protective gear, training, and communications equipment. State and local budgets cannot bankroll these necessities in the near term.

  • Recalibrate the agenda for transportation security; the vulnerabilities are greater and the stakes are higher in the sea and land modes than in commercial aviation.

  • Strengthen the capacity of local, state, and federal public heath and agricultural agencies to detect and conduct disease outbreak investigations. The key to mitigating casualties associated with a biological attack against people or the food supply is to identify the source of infection as early as possible.

  • Empower front line agents to intercept terrorists by establishing 24-hour operations centers in each state that can provide access to terrorist watch list information via real-time intergovernmental links between local and federal law enforcement.

  • Fund, equip, and train National Guard units around the country to ensure they can support the new state homeland security plans under development by each Governor. Also, triple the number of National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction Support Teams from 22 to 66.

To see the task force’s report, “America Still Unprepared — America Still in Danger,” click here

Tags: content

Most Recent


  • A year after 9/11, America still unprepared for a terrorist attack, warns new Hart-Rudman task force on homeland security
    Newscan: Securing the Internet of Things is quite a challenge
    Also: EWA requests dismissal of 900 MHz applications; TIA names tech and policy priorities for 2014; IJIS Institute names Shumate Award winner; App makes bus waits more tolerable; a Blackberry comeback may be in the offing.
  • A year after 9/11, America still unprepared for a terrorist attack, warns new Hart-Rudman task force on homeland security
    Newscan: FCC certifies Carlson Wireless's white-space radio
    Also: Congress looks to revamp telecom law; Obama to place some restraints on surveillance; IEEE to study spectrum-occupancy sensing for white-spaces broadband; Major Swedish transport operator opts for Sepura TETRA radios; RFMD to partner on $70 million next-generation power grid project; NENA opens registratiuon for "911 Goes to Washington."
  • A year after 9/11, America still unprepared for a terrorist attack, warns new Hart-Rudman task force on homeland security
    Newscan: A look at the critical job of 911 dispatchers
    Also: NYC launches website for tracking 911 response times; Oregon implements 911 on pre-paid cell phones; LightSquared wants to keep spectrum assets; Harris receives multiple government orders; FCC extends rebanding financial reconciliation deadline; Zetron gear at core of communications system upgrade; Ritron debuts wireless access control system; EWA seeks policy review of VHF vehicular repeater system deployments.
  • A year after 9/11, America still unprepared for a terrorist attack, warns new Hart-Rudman task force on homeland security
    Newscan: Average peak data rates of 144 MB/s average realized in tests with CAT 4 LTE device
    Also: Verizon, T-Mobile to swap unused spectrum to improve coverage; Internet giants oppose surveillance--but only when the government does it; FCC Chairman says incentive auction will be delayed until middle of 2015; FCC chair announces staff appointments; Alcatel-Lucent names Tim Krause as chief marketing officer; New Jersey county deploys TriTech CAD system; Toronto airport deploys 26-position Zetron console system;

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • RugGear: Contributing to the future of mission-critical broadband communication review and market vision
  • Photo gallery: 2014 Communications Marketing Conference (CMC) in Tucson
  • A year after 9/11, America still unprepared for a terrorist attack, warns new Hart-Rudman task force on homeland security
    Top 5 Stories - Week of Sept. 22
  • A year after 9/11, America still unprepared for a terrorist attack, warns new Hart-Rudman task force on homeland security
    RCA plans to expand this year's Technical Symposium

Commentary


How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient

26th January 2023

3GPP moves Release 18 freeze date to March 2024

18th January 2023

Do smart cities make safer cities?

  • 1
6th January 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

AT&T wireless growth keyed by FirstNet—now provides 24,000 agencies with 4.4 million connections dlvr.it/ShY5qH

27th January 2023
UrgentComm

Report: Remote work causing offices to empty, but walkable cities still in high demand dlvr.it/ShXM7Z

27th January 2023
UrgentComm

AT&T FirstNet unleashes robotic dogs for emergency services dlvr.it/ShW7p8

27th January 2023
UrgentComm

Federal agencies infested by cyberattackers via legit remote-management systems dlvr.it/ShVhn3

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient dlvr.it/ShVS1h

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

MCPTT interworking for critical communications dlvr.it/ShTm3P

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

Self-driving cars present terrorism risk, FBI director says dlvr.it/ShTTHx

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

UK Home Office officially will cut ESN ties with Motorola Solutions in December dlvr.it/ShNjfN

24th January 2023

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.