Terrorist Threat Integration Center Begins Operations
The Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), whose creation was announced by President Bush in his State of the Union address in January, began operations today.
Among those in attendance at the ribbon cutting ceremony held at CIA Headquarters this morning were Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet; FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III; Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Gordon England; TTIC Director John O. Brennan; Paul J. Redmond, Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis, Department of Homeland Security; Richard Haver, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Intelligence; Ambassador at Large J. Cofer Black, Office of Coordination for Counter Terrorism, Department of State; National Imagery and Mapping Agency Director Lieutenant General James R. Clapper (USAF/Ret.); and General John A. Gordon (USAF/Ret.), Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor.
“TTIC offers a new and innovative approach to addressing the terrorist threats that face our nation, and it marshals resources from across the intelligence, law enforcement, and homeland security communities,” Director Tenet said.
FBI Director Mueller stated, “Working side by side, TTIC officers will assess, analyze and disseminate threat information collected from here and abroad to those agencies and officials working to protect our nation.”
“TTIC is absolutely crucial to the Department of Homeland Security,” Secretary England said. “We could not do our job without a center like this. Intelligence is the foundation of what we do. It is the analysis part that enables us to move forward to decide where to invest our money, to put our resources across America, and what we need to do everyday to make America more safe.”
Earlier this week, TTIC Director Brennan briefed the President, the Vice President, and senior administration officials on TTIC’s mission and how it will serve as a hub for terrorist threat-related information collected domestically or abroad. TTIC officers are responsible for assessing, integrating, and expeditiously disseminating available threat information and analysis; maintaining an all-source database on known and suspected terrorists; and identifying collection requirements related to the terrorist threat.
“TTIC is forging new ground by fusing information and the analytic capabilities of different government organizations in an integrated environment to deal with the terrorist threat,” Brennan said.
The senior leadership of TTIC—including Brennan, Principal Deputy Director James Bernazzani from the FBI, Associate Director for Homeland Security William Parrish from DHS, Associate Director for Defense Issues Russell Travers from DIA, and other senior officials from NSA, FBI, CIA, State, and Defense—has extensive experience working terrorism issues.
The doors to TTIC opened at CIA Headquarters today with over 50 officers from the Department of State, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Intelligence Community. TTIC will gradually grow in size over the next several months, and it will have several hundred officers by the time it moves to a separate facility in May 2004. The FBI’s Counterterrorism Division and CIA’s Counterterrorist Center (CTC) also will relocate to the facility next year.
