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Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) also assumed important
functions in homeland security and counterterrorism. For example,
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48 PART 1 " HOW WE GOT HERE FROM THERE
after 9/11 the International Maritime Organization set stricter stan-
dards for the security of ports and international shipping.
Nevertheless, harmonizing the efforts of these organizations with
U.S. security remained a complicated process. In some cases, NGO
activities actually proved detrimental and were even accused of
being fronts for transnational crime and terrorist activities. The char-
itable group, the Holy Land Foundation, for example, is alleged to
have funneled over $150 million to the terrorist group Hamas.
Cooperation between the United States and other countries, multi-
national organizations, and nongovernment groups took many
forms, from public diplomacy to covert operations. One important
avenue of international cooperation was a crackdown on monetary
instruments used to finance terrorist attacks, such as the hawala, a
short-term, discountable, negotiable promissory note or bill of
exchange used widely in the Islamic world. While not limited to
Muslim countries, the hawala has come to be identified with Islamic
banking. It was alleged that billions of dollars were transferred
through these exchanges and that some hawala dealers had ties to
terrorists.10 After 9/11, a concerted effort to combat money launder-
ing, including the use of the hawala, was directed at terrorist finan-
cial networks. In the year after 9/11, the White House reported that
$113.5 million in terrorist assets had been frozen worldwide: $35.3
million in the United States and $78.2 million overseas.11
DEFENSI VE EFFORTS
On the home front, the Bush administration set out to enhance inter-
agency and intergovernmental cooperation, which had been lacking
prior to 9/11. These goals were pursued by new legal initiatives; cre-
ation of the White House Office of Homeland Security; the drafting of
a national homeland security strategy; plans to create a separate
regional military command for the defense of North America; and a
proposal for a federal Homeland Security Department. Improving
airline safety and heightening security awareness for other critical
infrastructure systems were also focal points. For example, the gov-
ernment recruited, trained, and deployed 45,000 federal security
screeners to airports across the nation. At the same time, the anthrax
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CHAPTER 3 " THE BIRTH OF MODERN HOMELAND SECURITY 49
attacks of fall 2001 galvanized support for increased defensive meas-
ures against WMD.
The PATRIOT Act
In response to the September 11 attack, Congress passed a number of
and Other
significant pieces of legislation. The Aviation and Transportation
Congressional
Security Act established a federal agency to supervise security of com-
Initiatives
mercial aviation. The Maritime Transportation Security Act generated
new requirements for the security of ports and shipping. The Enhanced
Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act significantly expanded the
information to be collected on visitors to the United States. The Public
Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act man-
dated additional measures for protecting the food and drug supply.
Perhaps the most significant and controversial of the new laws
passed by Congress was the Uniting and Strengthening America by
Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct
Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act. The Act created new crimes, new
penalties, and new procedural efficiencies for use against domestic
and international terrorists. Although it was not without safeguards,
critics contended some of its provisions went too far. Although it
granted many of the enhancements sought by the Department of
Justice, others are concerned that it did not go far enough.
The PATRIOT Act did serve to improve U.S. counterterrorism in
four critical areas. First, it promoted the sharing of information
between intelligence and law enforcement investigations tearing
down the  wall that hampered investigations before 9/11. Second,
the Act authorized additional law enforcement tools for pursuing
terrorists, tools that were already available for investigating other
serious crimes, such as drug smuggling. Third, it facilitated surveil-
lance of terrorists using new technologies like cell phones and the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]