BACK COUNTERTERRORISM RHETORIC WITH PROGRAM FUNDS

By Michael Kraft

The latest threats from Bin Laden in his audio tape released last week should be read by the White House�s OMB budget officials and Congressional appropriators as well as the counterterrorism and intelligence community.

The tape recording was a reminder that although Al Qaeda has not staged a major attack on American soil since September 11, the threat still remains.

The Administration�s FY 2007 budget is in the final stages of preparation before going to Congress in early February. It is important that the OMB approve the full funding requests for the State Department, Justice Department and other anti-terrorism programs.

President Bush repeatedly emphasizes that we must fight terrorists overseas before they can hit us at home. He is usually referring to Iraq, but aside from that situation, we and our allies are vulnerable worldwide. There have been numerous attacks against our allies � Great Britain, France, Morocco, Jordan, Indonesia�by groups either inspired by or affiliated with Al Qaeda. The previous al Qaeda attacks on the US embassies in East Africa and the destroyer Cole show that Bin Laden knows where to find a wide number of US potential targets abroad.

Thus it is important that U.S. maintain and step up its efforts to strengthen the counterterrorism efforts overseas.

Unfortunately, these low key programs have too often gotten short shrift. The pending requests have not been made public, but the past record is not encouraging. OMB typically has cut by around 10 per cent or more the State Department�s request for its Antiterrorism Training Assistance (ATA) program and related programs. Then Congress usually makes further cuts.

The Congressional Conferees on the Fiscal Year 2006 Foreign Aid Appropriations bill last Decemeber cut the State Department�s Antiterrorist Training Assistance (ATA program) by 9 per cent and also slashed several related smaller programs. They allocate only $122.5 million for the ATA program although the Senate version had approved the Administration�s full request of $133.5 million. The Appropriators cut also cut $2 million from the Administration�s $7.5 Million request for the Terrorist Interdiction Program (TIP), which provides a sophisticated data base system for detecting terrorist suspects when they cross international boundaries.

Before the FY 2007 budget goes to Congress in early February the Administration should take another look and make sure that the antiterrorism programs are given their full support. This is not the time to be penny wise and pound foolish.

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