Summary
Three U.S. national strategies, developed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, directed U.S. law enforcement agencies (LEA) to focus on the prevention of terrorist attacks. The strategies called for LEAs to intensify their efforts to help foreign nations identify, disrupt, and prosecute terrorists. GAO was asked to assess (1) the guidance for LEAs to assist foreign nations to identify, disrupt, and prosecute terrorists and (2) the extent to which LEAs have implemented this guidance.
Following the 9/11 attacks, the President issued a series of strategies that provided broad direction for overseas law enforcement efforts to assist foreign nations to identify, disrupt, and prosecute terrorists. However, these strategies did not articulate which LEAs should implement the guidance to enhance efforts to help foreign nations combat terrorism or how they should do so. While one of the strategies tasked State with developing and coordinating U.S. efforts to combat terrorism abroad, we found State did not develop or coordinate the development of a plan to use the combined capabilities of U.S. LEAs to help foreign nations identify, disrupt, or prosecute terrorists. In December 2004, Congress passed the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which charged the NCTC with developing a plan to use all elements of national power, including LEAs, to combat terrorism. NCTC officials told us they had drafted a general plan, which was approved by the President in June of 2006. According to NCTC, State, Justice, and DHS officials, implementing guidance for the plan is under development, and they would not discuss the contents of the plan or the guidance. Some LEAs have increased efforts to help foreign nations identify, disrupt, and prosecute terrorists. For example, DHS has implemented its Container Security Initiative to screen U.S.-bound cargo at foreign ports, and State has expanded its Antiterrorism Assistance (ATA) program. However, we found that because most LEAs, with the exception of the FBI, have not been given clear guidance, they lacked clearly defined roles and responsibilities on helping foreign nations identify, disrupt, and prosecute terrorists. In one country we visited, the lack of clear roles and responsibilities between two U.S. LEAs may have compromised several joint operations intended to identify and disrupt potential terrorist activities, according to the U.S. and foreign nation LEAs. In addition, we found LEAs generally lacked guidance on using resources to assist foreign nations in addressing terrorist vulnerabilities and generally lacked performance monitoring systems and formal structures for sharing information and collaborating. We also found that, because comprehensive needs assessments were not conducted, LEAs may not be tailoring their full range of training and assistance to address key terrorism vulnerabilities in foreign countries.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Jess T. Ford
Government Accountability Office: International Affairs and Trade
(202) 512-4268
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: The U.S. Attorney General and the Secretaries of Homeland Security and the Department of State (State) should issue clear guidance to their respective component agencies and bureaus on how those agencies and bureaus should implement the national security strategies' goal of using the full capabilities of LEAs to assist foreign nations to identify, disrupt, and prosecute terrorists.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security
Status: In process
Comments: In commenting on a draft of this report, DHS generally agreed with the findings and recommendations in the report. Update pending.
Agency Affected: Department of Justice: Office of the Attorney General
Status: In process
Comments: Update pending.
Agency Affected: Department of State
Status: In process
Comments: Update pending.
Recommendation: The U.S. Attorney General and the Secretaries of Homeland Security and State should establish a monitoring system that provides the respective department and Congress with accurate reporting on that department's accomplishments, impediments, and planned improvements in their LEAs' efforts to help foreign nations combat terrorism.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security
Status: In process
Comments: In commenting on a draft of this report, DHS generally agreed with the findings and recommendations in the report. Update pending.
Agency Affected: Department of Justice: Office of the Attorney General
Status: In process
Comments: Update pending.
Agency Affected: Department of State
Status: In process
Comments: Update pending.
Recommendation: The Secretary of State, in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security should explore the creation of new structures at U.S. embassies to improve information sharing and coordination among U.S. LEAs for assisting foreign nations combat terrorism.
Agency Affected: Department of State
Status: In process
Comments: Update pending.
Recommendation: The Director of the NCTC, in consultation with the NSC, should ensure that the implementing guidance for the NCTC plan for combating terrorism articulates a clear strategy to implement the national security goal of using the combined capabilities of LEAs to help foreign nations identify, disrupt, and prosecute terrorists.
Agency Affected: Office of the Director of National Intelligence: National Counterterrorism Center
Status: In process
Comments: Update pending.
Recommendation: The Director of the NCTC, in consultation with the NSC, should ensure that the implementing guidance for the NCTC plan for combating terrorism clarifies the roles and responsibilities of each LEA for (1) helping enhance the capabilities of foreign police, prosecutors, and judges for combating terrorism; and (2) working more closely with foreign nations on operational efforts to identify, disrupt, and prosecute terrorists.
Agency Affected: Office of the Director of National Intelligence: National Counterterrorism Center
Status: In process
Comments: Update pending.
Recommendation: The Director of the NCTC, in consultation with the NSC, should ensure that the implementing guidance for the NCTC plan for combating terrorism includes a mechanism for comprehensively (1) assessing the needs of foreign nations for identifying, disrupting, and prosecuting terrorists; (2) deciding which needs U.S. LEAs should help address; (3) determining which U.S. LEA programs or activities are best suited to address those needs; and (4) ensuring that U.S. LEAs are provided guidance on setting funding priorities and providing resources to address those needs.
Agency Affected: Office of the Director of National Intelligence: National Counterterrorism Center
Status: In process
Comments: Update pending.
Recommendation: The Director of the NCTC, in consultation with the NSC, should ensure that the implementing guidance for the NCTC plan for combating terrorism requires a monitoring system that provides the executive departments, LEAs, and Congress accurate reporting on accomplishments, impediments, and planned improvements for LEAs assisting foreign nations to identify, disrupt, and prosecute terrorists.
Agency Affected: Office of the Director of National Intelligence: National Counterterrorism Center
Status: In process
Comments: Update pending.
