Posted on 01/26/2007 7:11:36 PM PST by FairOpinion
Washington –- Today, the international community faces a test of its willingness to stop nuclear terrorism, says Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
“You can’t put that genie back in the bottle once a weapon of mass destruction or a nuclear bomb gets into the hands of a terrorist,” Chertoff said in a January 26 panel discussion at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
Terrorism is high on the forum’s agenda this year. It constitutes one of the top threats to global security, according to a survey of international business and political leaders attending the event.
“What we face in the 21st century is the ability of even a single individual, and certainly a group, to leverage technology in a way to cause a type of destruction and a magnitude of destruction that would have been unthinkable a century ago,” Chertoff said.
As the destructive potential of the next large-scale terrorist attack grows with every technological advance, Chertoff said, so too does the risk of failing to detect terrorists before they strike.
Governments thus are faced with the challenge of striking the right balance among providing security, facilitating free flow of goods and services, and protecting citizens’ civil liberties.
It is for this reason, Chertoff said, the United States approaches counterterrorism from the perspective of risk management. Because working to prevent every conceivable threat would be virtually impossible, the United States focuses its efforts on identifying and preventing the greatest threats.
Countries must be willing to stand together and take decisive action against hostile regimes and nonstate entities seeking to acquire weapons of mass destruction for future attacks, he said.
“At the end of the day, if those who are trafficking in this activity don’t take seriously our will to enforce the rules, all the paperwork in the world is not going to make a difference,” Chertoff said.
PANELISTS CONSIDER ROOT CAUSES OF TERRORISM
Chertoff joined Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukut Aziz, leader of the British Conservative Party David Cameron and the European Union’s counterterrorism coordinator, Gijs de Vries, who also discussed the root causes of terrorism and how best to confront them.
Tackling terrorism requires more than security operations and sophisticated technologies. Deprivation, in the form of poverty and the lack of basic political freedoms and economic opportunities, turns people into terrorists, Aziz said.
The international community must do more to help alleviate poverty and must redouble diplomatic efforts to promote a working Israeli-Palestinian peace, a settlement in Lebanon and progress in Iraq -- all causes exploited by terrorists to rationalize their attacks, he said.
The world must reject terrorists’ attempts to justify their murderous acts in the name of religion, the panelists said.
"Terrorism is not a friend of anybody. Terrorism is not linked to any faith," Aziz told the panel. “It is a mindset we are dealing with.”
“I accept that Islam is a peaceful religion and does not endorse this use of violence,” Chertoff said.
The panelists also agreed that a careful balance between security and civil liberties is essential.
“We’ve got to be very strong in combating terrorism but equally strong in defending liberty, democracy and the things we are actually fighting for,” Cameron said.
“That means that not everything is permitted in the War on Terror,” de Vries said. “To use detention without trial, or detention without charge, to use secret prisons, should not be acceptable.”
Chertoff, a former prosecutor and federal judge, agreed, but added that governments must weigh the potentially catastrophic consequences of a successful terrorist attack as they pursue terrorists. Because of “the complexity of global terrorism,” thwarting terrorism might require measures beyond those commonly utilized in prosecuting criminals, such as increased intelligence collection.
“We are going to have to come to a sustainable approach to this that safeguards fundamental liberties, but does not regard every security measure as inherently a civil liberties problem,” Chertoff said.
A video link to the panel discussion and more information on the 2007 annual meeting are on the World Economic Forum's Web site.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
ping
Well seal the damn then borders fool!
Let the terrorists on "24" bring some nukes across the border and watch the "drive by" media go bonkers.
Ditto.
A few facts about fallout: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzFbxsKA6uA&mode=related&search=
I nominate the Honorable Mr. Chertoff for today's venerable "Captain Obvious Award!"
Well,, Mr. Chertoff did appear on that 24 panel moderated by Rush last year, so folks best pay attention, he does or should have a little gravitas re: The Threat based on that alone.
and ya heard it from Davos, no less. ;-)
I thought the UN resolutions resolved this problem?
Problem number one.
What did you expect him to say -- a battle cry to eradicate the however many billion Muslims there are in the world?
I nominate the Honorable Mr. Chertoff for today's venerable "Captain Obvious Award!"
===
You might do so, but look at the Democrats, they don't seem to understand this.
There is no threat from any nuclear issue. I heard from the UN, they say Global Warming is the big threat.
The dems don't worry about thinsg liek nukes, when they need one , they'll just have Uncle Teddy borrow them from his buddies in Russia. He has their number or used to.
It's a mess tho, we have faced a potential for a small attack for years.
For all their clamor and flapping of gums, the dems cries ring hollow when it comes to defending this country.
Chertoff is very mayorial like in his proclamations. Drones on and on without stating anything more than the obvious dressed up with superflous nothings.
A bureaucrats bureaucrat. Dead last in the inspiring great deeds department. Give this guy a cb and set him on the loneliest spot on the border--at least a decent return on investment of his salary.
Man do I sleep calmly with Cherty at the helm. I am confident he is positioned such that nothing could ever be pinned on his poodle posterior when our world explodes.
I accept that in many places Islam is a peaceful religion and does not endorse this use of violence, however there is an urgent need to address radicalized Islamic states, terrorists, and their supporters in the Islamic world.”
What many on FR have long prayed for.
I accidentally posted to myself. I feel dirty now.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.