Authors: Noam Chomsky
We do not have internal documents, but it is reasonable to speculate that such consequences were one primary goal of the bombing of Afghanistan: to warn the world of what the U.S. can do if someone steps out of line. The bombing of Serbia was undertaken for similar reasons. Its primary goal was to “ensure NATO’s credibility,” as Blair and Clinton explained—not referring to the credibility of Norway or Italy, but of the U.S. and its prime military client. That is a common theme of statecraft and the literature of international relations; and with some reason, as history amply reveals.
Without continuing, the basic issues of international society seem to me to remain much as they were, but 9-11 surely has induced changes, in some cases, with significant and not very attractive implications.
APPENDIX A
Department of State Report on Foreign Terrorist Organizations
Released by the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism October 5, 2001
BACKGROUND
The Secretary of State designates Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO’s), in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury. These designations are undertaken pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. FTO designations are valid for two years, after which they must be redesignated or they automatically expire. Redesignation after two years is a positive act and represents a determination by the Secretary of State that the organization has continued to engage in terrorist activity and still meets the criteria specified in law.
In October 1997, former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright approved the designation of the first 30 groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
In October 1999, Secretary Albright re-certified 27 of these groups’ designations but allowed three organizations to drop
from the list because their involvement in terrorist activity had ended and they no longer met the criteria for designation.
Secretary Albright designated one new FTO in 1999 (al Qa’ida) and another in 2000 (Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan).
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has designated two new FTO’s (Real IRA and AUC) in 2001.
In October 2001, Secretary Powell re-certified the designation of 26 of the 28 FTO’s whose designation was due to expire, and combined two previously designated groups (Kahane Chai and Kach) into one.
Current List of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (as of October 5, 2001):
NOTE: For descriptions of these foreign terrorist organizations, please refer to “Patterns of Global Terrorism: 2000.”
LEGAL CRITERIA FOR DESIGNATION
1. The organization must be foreign.
2. The organization must engage in terrorist activity as defined in Section 212 (a)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
*
(see below)
3. The organization’s activities must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security (national defense, foreign relations, or the economic interests) of the United States.
EFFECTS OF DESIGNATION
Legal
1. It is unlawful for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to provide funds or other material support to a designated FTO.
2. Representatives and certain members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, can be denied visas or excluded from the United States.
3. U.S. financial institutions must block funds of designated
FTO’s and their agents and report the blockage to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Other Effects
1. Deters donations or contributions to named organizations
2. Heightens public awareness and knowledge of terrorist organizations
3. Signals to other governments our concern about named organizations
4. Stigmatizes and isolates designated terrorist organizations internationally
The Process
The Secretary of State makes decisions concerning the designation and redesignation of FTO’s following an exhaustive interagency review process in which all evidence of a group’s activity, from both classified and open sources, is scrutinized. The State Department, working closely with the Justice and Treasury Departments and the intelligence community, prepares a detailed “administrative record” which documents the terrorist activity of the designated FTO. Seven days before publishing an FTO designation in the Federal Register, the Department of State provides classified notification to Congress.
Under the statute, designations are subject to judicial review. In the event of a challenge to a group’s FTO designation in federal court, the U.S. government relies upon the administrative record to defend the Secretary’s decision. These administrative records contain intelligence
information and are therefore classified.
FTO designations expire in two years unless renewed. The law allows groups to be added at any time following a decision by the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary may also revoke designations after determining that there are grounds for doing so and notifying Congress.
*
The Immigration and Nationality Act defines terrorist activity to mean: any activity which is unlawful under the laws of the place where it is committed (or which, if committed in the United States, would be unlawful under the laws of the United States or any State) and which involves any of the following:
(I) The highjacking or sabotage of any conveyance (including an aircraft, vessel, or vehicle).
(II) The seizing or detaining, and threatening to kill, injure, or continue to detain, another individual in order to compel a third person (including a governmental organization) to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the individual seized or detained.
(III) A violent attack upon an internationally protected person (as defined in section 1116(b)(4) of title 18, United States Code) or upon the liberty of such a person.
(IV) An assassination.
(V) The use of any—
(a) biological agent, chemical agent, or nuclear weapon or device, or
(b) explosive or firearm (other than for mere personal
monetary gain), with intent to endanger, directly or indirectly, the safety of one or more individuals or to cause substantial damage to property.
(VI) A threat, attempt, or conspiracy to do any of the foregoing.
(iii) The term “engage in terrorist activity” means to commit, in an individual capacity or as a member of an organization, an act of terrorist activity or an act which the actor knows, or reasonably should know, affords material support to any individual, organization, or government in conducting a terrorist activity at any time, including any of the following acts:
(I) The preparation or planning of a terrorist activity.
(II) The gathering of information on potential targets for terrorist activity.
(III) The providing of any type of material support, including a safe house, transportation, communications, funds, false documentation or identification, weapons, explosives, or training, to any individual the actor knows or has reason to believe has committed or plans to commit a terrorist activity.
(IV) The soliciting of funds or other things of value for terrorist activity or for any terrorist organization.
(V) The solicitation of any individual for membership in a terrorist organization, terrorist government, or to engage in a terrorist activity.
Department of State Country Reports on Terrorism 2009
Released by the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism August 5, 2010
REPLACING PATTERNS OF GLOBAL TERRORISM WITH COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM
Since September 11, 2001, changes in organization and responsibilities in the intelligence community, combined with the dynamic pace of the global war on terrorism, prompted the Department of State to take a fresh look at
Patterns of Global Terrorism
, its contents and its governing legislation.
For years, statistical data on global terrorism had been published as part of the annual
Patterns
report, the last of which was provided to Congress in April 2004. As the volume of such data began to grow exponentially after 9/11, and the methodologies for analyzing it became more focused, past practices for accumulating statistical information could no longer suffice.
In July 2004, the 9/11 Commission recommended creation of a National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) to provide an authoritative agency for all-source analysis of global terrorism. The President implemented the recommendation by executive order in August 2004, and the agency was created via the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act the following December.
That law designates the NCTC as the primary organization for analysis and integration of “all intelligence possessed or acquired by the United States government
pertaining to terrorism or counterterrorism.” It further states that the NCTC would be the government’s “shared knowledge bank on known and suspected terrorists and international terror groups, as well as their goals, strategies, capabilities, and networks of contact and support.”
Given NCTC’s mandate to be the U.S. Government’s “shared knowledge bank” for data on global terrorism, and the statutory requirements for the Department of State’s annual report to focus primarily on policy issues, it was appropriate to transfer the responsibilities for accumulating statistical information to NCTC. NCTC is already charged with compiling data on terrorist incidents and is the source of any data used to respond to the new statutory requirements.
To reflect the inclusion of NCTC statistical data in the Department of State’s annual report and to avoid any confusion resulting from comparing current data with that generated before NCTC’s participation, the name of the annual report was changed to
Country Reports on Terrorism
beginning with the 2004 document.
FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) are designated by the Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). FTO designations play a critical role in the fight against terrorism and are an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities.
IDENTIFICATION
The Department of State continually monitors the activities of terrorist groups around the world in order to
identify potential targets for designation. When reviewing potential targets, the Department considers terrorist attacks that a group has carried out, whether the group has engaged in planning and preparations for possible future acts of terrorism, or whether it retains the capability and intent to carry out such acts.
DESIGNATION
Once a target is identified, a detailed “administrative record” is prepared. This record demonstrates that the criteria for designation have been legally satisfied. If the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, decides to designate an organization, Congress is notified of the Secretary’s intent and given seven days to review the designation, as required by the INA. Upon the expiration of the seven-day waiting period, and in the absence of Congressional action to block the designation, notice of the designation is published in the
Federal Register
, at which point the designation becomes law. An organization designated as an FTO may seek judicial review of the designation in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit no later than 30 days after the designation is published in the
Federal Register
.
The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 provides that a designated FTO may file a petition for revocation two years after its designation date or two years after the determination date of its most recent petition for revocation. In order to provide a basis for revocation, the petitioning FTO must provide evidence that the circumstances forming the basis for the designation have sufficiently
changed as to warrant revocation. If no such petition has been filed within a five-year period, the Secretary of State is required to review the designation to determine whether revocation would be appropriate. In addition, the Secretary of State may at any time revoke a designation upon a finding that the circumstances forming the basis for the designation have changed, or that the national security of the United States warrants a revocation. Revocations made by the Secretary of State must undergo the same administrative review and Congressional processes as that of designations. A designation may also be revoked by an Act of Congress.