Inspection of the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism

The Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (S/CT) has too often been viewed as marginal to the Global War on Terror (GWOT). The reasons include a lack - until recently - of leadership, insufficient resources, and the difficulty of helping to coordinate the wide scope of counterterrorism efforts. This has eclipsed the hard work of dedicated employees.

In its inspection, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) found:

• Significant weaknesses in S/CT’s contract administration and funds management.

• S/CT has not fulfilled its oversight role in the large and important Anti-Terrorism Assistance program; its role needs to be clearly defined and strengthened.

• If S/CT were rightsized, it would have additional officers in various component units.

• S/CT has also suffered from a lack of management attention and insufficient administrative support. Its executive office is not staffed to support S/CT, which needs its own management unit.

• S/CT’s problems have engendered low morale and led to difficulty in recruiting and retaining employees.

The position of Coordinator for Counterterrorism was established in October 1972 and elevated to the rank of an Assistant Secretary of State in August 1976. According to statute, the Coordinator is the Department of State’s (Department) principal counterterrorism official and reports directly to the Secretary of State, a chain of command necessary to make the Coordinator fully effective. The experienced and dynamic new Coordinator has:

• Recruited an experienced management team that has begun to reinvigorate S/CT and raise morale.

• An intent to engage the Department’s missions to seek ideas and support; S/CT will need considerable additional resources to realize this vision.

• Requested 36 new domestic positions and a budget increase from $134 million in FY 2005 to more than $351 million in FY 2007.

• Energetically and effectively engaged Congress and domestic and international publics.

S/CT itself has usefully established an Office of Homeland Security Affairs to coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Security Council, the President’s Homeland Security Advisory Council, and other executive branch agencies on homeland security issues. However, the office needs additional staff.

Since September 11, 2001, winning the GWOT has been the nation’s highest priority. Terrorism is different from military conflict or isolated crime and the struggle against it differs from traditional war and from traditional law enforcement. For these reasons, the GWOT puts a premium on new strategies, tactics, and techniques. Policymakers in the United States government see terrorism as a phenomenon that will haunt the international scene for many years.

The war on terrorism involves many executive branch agencies. They include the Department of Defense (DOD), DHS, the National Counterterrorism Center, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Departments of the Treasury and Justice, among others. The Department’s bureaus with important policy and program roles in the GWOT include the six regional bureaus and the Bureaus of International Security and Nonproliferation, Political Military Affairs, Intelligence and Research, Diplomatic Security, Economic and Business Affairs, Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Consular Affairs, International Information Programs, Educational and Cultural Affairs, and others. Abroad, 58 percent of the Department’s employees at missions spend at least some time on counterterrorism, with the average Department employee spending 12 percent of the work year on counterterrorism. Overseas missions, however, include officers and employees of DHS, DOD, and other federal agencies. Including the employees of all agencies, 47 percent of all overseas missions’ employees spend part of their time on counterterrorism, and 11 percent of all staff time is devoted to efforts against terrorism. Various parts of this large array of organizations and people interact daily in myriad ways. S/CT is responsible for providing optimal coordination for the Department’s implementation of the national strategy against terrorism

March 22, 2006