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WASHINGTON (Islam Online)-Sources from the Washington Post reported that the National Commission on Terrorism, is urging the United States government to take more aggressive steps to prevent terrorism, including monitoring all foreign students in the U.S., loosening restrictions on the CIA, and threatening sanctions against such friendly states as Greece and Pakistan. The proposals by the commission, created by Congress two years ago after the bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa, are sure to trigger controversy among civil libertarians, parts of the Arab American community, and others who question the government's expanding antiterrorist effort, already a $10 billion annual enterprise. In general, the commission's 64-page report, scheduled for release Monday, calls for fighting terrorism with more spending, tighter controls on suspected terrorist fundraising in the U.S. and increased pressure for cooperation from other countries. Among its specific recommendations are that President Clinton consider designating the U.S. military - not the FBI or the Federal Emergency Management Agency - as the organization that should lead the government's response in the event of a catastrophic terrorist attack on U.S. soil. "The threat is changing, and it's becoming more deadly," said L. Paul Bremer III, the commission's chairman and a former State Department ambassador-at-large for counter terrorism. He said the commission's six-month investigation, involving more than 130 interviews around the world, led to the conclusion that a well-financed, fanatical and global terrorist network such as al Qaeda, allegedly run by Saudi exile Osama bin Laden, poses exceedingly difficult problems for U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies. It is uncertain how much influence the commission will have on Capitol Hill and the Clinton administration, but the report clearly was written to spur maximum interest in reform of government counter terrorism policy. While generally complimentary of the FBI and the CIA, the 10-member commission recommended the repeal of regulations that require senior officials at CIA headquarters to approve the recruitment of any counter terrorist informant who may have committed serious criminal violations. Former CIA director John M. Deutch imposed restrictions on recruitment in 1995, after the agency admitted close ties to Guatemalan military officers who had committed human rights abuses. |
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