Anti-terror cooperation urged

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), May 4, 2005 | by PAM ZUBECK THE GAZETTE

Government officials must work more closely with business and industry to better protect the United States from terrorist attacks, the head of U.S. Northern Command said Tuesday.

That was a chief finding from the nation's largest terrorism exercise, TOPOFF 3, held April 4-8 on the East Coast, said Adm. Timothy Keating, who also heads the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

Keating's remarks gave the first hint of what officials learned from the $16 million drill. The official report isn't due for months.

The Department of Homeland Security exercise, the most comprehensive antiterrorism drill conducted in the United States, was held in New Jersey and Connecticut with cooperation from Canada and the United Kingdom. Roughly 300 agencies took part.

NorthCom and NORAD, based at Peterson Air Force Base, were extensively involved.

"We're finding we need to pay closer attention and develop closer bonds with industrial-commercial first responders," Keating told a news briefing welcoming Canadian U.S. Ambassador Frank McKenna.

"We at the federal level, DOD (Defense Department), need to undertake a very aggressive -- it is under way -- program to integrate all the capabilities throughout the country -- tribal, local, state, federal and commercial, so as to be able to tell the president and defense secretary we're capable of doing the job they expect us to do," Keating said.

Keating did not elaborate on what signaled weaknesses between government and commercial/industrial participants, and he noted TOPOFF 3 demonstrated the nation's readiness is "in much better shape today than we were five years ago."

He said NORAD/NorthCom hosts a meeting today of "very senior officials throughout all of government and industry" to discuss the exercise. They include officials from more than 50 agencies and commands, such as the Federal Aviation Administration, Homeland Security Department, U.S. Strategic Command, Canada and state and local officials.

TOPOFF 3 was the third congressionally mandated national weapons of mass destruction exercise.

McKenna emphasized Canada's commitment to the binational NORAD agreement, which expires next year and is being renegotiated for the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks.

He sidestepped whether Canada backs adding maritime oversight to NORAD's role to monitor space and land, a move the United States supports. He said negotiators will look at ways "it might be augmented that might make sense."

McKenna also restated "the official position" of Canada, which is to not participate in missile defense beyond launch detection.

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