Cato study: U.S. government leaves public unprepared for terrorism

[Patricia Mohr]

Cato Institute News Release

November 27, 2000

U.S. Government Leaves Public Unprepared For Terrorism
Preparation for nuclear, biological and chemical attacks is deeply flawed,
study says

WASHINGTON -- Many experts agree that the United States is likely to
experience a terrorist attack using a weapon of mass destruction, probably
within the next decade. But how prepared is America for a nuclear,
biological or chemical (NBC) attack on the homeland? Not very, according to
a new study from the Cato Institute. Despite spending tens of billions of
dollars annually on preparation programs, the federal government has failed
to take advantage of existing emergency management structures and to educate
the public about how to react to an attack, argues Eric. R. Taylor, a
chemistry professor and former officer in the Nuclear, Biological and
Chemical branch of the U.S. Army.

In "Are We Prepared for Terrorism Using Weapons of Mass Destruction?" Taylor
exposes the flaws in the federal Domestic Preparedness Program (DPP), which
was set up in 1997 and directs various federal agencies to train state and
local governments to deal with NBC terrorism. When the federal government
decided who should be trained, it targeted only cities, and then only
halfway, leaving "personnel in more than 50 percent of the major U.S.
population centers ... unprepared for such an attack," he says. But since
NBC contamination spreads quickly, it's not just cities that need to know
how to respond, Taylor argues.

State and regional structures such as the State Emergency Management
Agencies and National Guard units have been largely bypassed by the DPP,
Taylor says. Those agencies already have experience in coordinating
responses to terrorism and hazardous material disasters. Furthermore, they
could have been passing on acquired knowledge to subordinate groups while
the federal government moved on to other states, Taylor argues. The "pyramid
effect" has been reduced by focusing on cities in isolation, he says.

Even if the training programs were better targeted, Taylor argues, they are
useless without public involvement. "The lack of any organized program to
actively educate the public in matters of NBC awareness and preparedness is
the Achilles' heel of the entire national plan," he writes. Without
education, the government "will have two foes to combat during an attack:
the NBC agent and rampant civil panic," he says.

"The concepts and principles of NBC taught to the private first class
soldier can be understood by Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Public," Taylor says. But
they must be taught in advance. "Any official who thinks he can adequately
inform the public during an NBC incident will be preaching to the morgue,"
he says.

Policy Analysis no. 387 (http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-387es.html)

Contact:	Eric R. Taylor, associate professor of chemistry, University of
Louisiana, 337-482-6738
Ivan Eland, director of defense policy studies, 202-218-4630
		Randy Clerihue, director of public affairs, 202-789-5266

The Cato Institute is a nonpartisan public policy research foundation
dedicated to broadening policy debate consistent with the traditional
American principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets,
and peace.



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