"America remains dangerously unprepared to prevent and respond to a catastrophic terrorist attack on U.S. soil."
This chilling conclusion is the core finding of a 17-member independent, bipartisan Task Force, sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, that included two former secretaries of state, two former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a former director of the CIA and FBI, and three Nobel laureates. It was led by former Senators Gary Hart and Warren B. Rudman, who chaired the U.S. Commission on National Security that so presciently warned prior to September 11, 2001, of the serious terrorist risk to the U.S. homeland and the inadequacy of America's national capacity to respond.
This report is a call to action. The Task Force fears that the nation is returning to complacency at a time of especially grave danger. Each day, the risk of a second, potentially more deadly and disruptive attack on the citizens and critical infrastructures of the United States grows as al-Qaeda regroups and as America prepares to take on a ruthless adversary in Iraq—a country that may well have access to weapons of mass destruction. The Task Force participants unanimously concluded that the United States should be acting at home with the kind of urgency that a nation under attack warrants. The report's key findings and recommendations make clear that there is much to do, right now, to safeguard the American homeland and way of life.