US counter-terrorism since 9/11

1 BRIEFINGEPRS | European ParliamentaryResearch ServiceAuthors:Michael Kaczmarek and Elena Lazarou with Miguel Guevara and Benjamin FogelMembers' ResearchService&EPRS European Parliament Liaison Office, Washington May 2018 ENUS counter - terrorism since 9/11 Trends under the Trump administrationSUMMARYThe fight against terrorism has dominated the national security agenda in the United Statessince Al Qaeda's terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 (9/11). To improve thecountry'sintelligence and homeland security apparatus, the presidential administrations of GeorgeW. Bush and Barack Obama implemented a series of legislative, organisational, policy, andpersonnel new administration under Donald Trump is continuing these efforts and has putparticular emphasis on restricting the entry of and tightening the vetting process forrefugees and immigrants.

2 The administration has released a series of documents thatprovide strategic guidance for the US approach to national security and , the US domestic counter - terrorism strategy focuses on radical Islamic terroristthreats, stopping the movement of foreign terrorist fighters, and countering the spread ofradicalisation. In this context, cyberspace is of particular interest, since the internet providesopportunities for terrorists to inspire, radicalise and recruit followers; raise funds;communicate through encrypted apps; and supply guidance and instructions to followersfor carrying out European Union and the United States are key partners in the fight against terrorism ,including through thisBriefing9/11 and its aftermathTerrorist threats within the USUS counter - terrorism priority actionsCounter- terrorism partnerships andcooperationUS-EU cooperationEPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service29/11 and its aftermathThe terrorist attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001 killed nearly 3000people.

3 Soonafter the 9/11 attacks, the US administration set up theNational Commission on Terrorist AttacksUpon the United States(commonly known as the 9/11 Commission), an independent, bipartisancommission, chartered to prepare a full andcomplete account of the circumstances surrounding9/11, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the terrorist attacks. In July 2004,the 9/11 Commission released itspublic reportwhich included 41 concrete recommendations toguard against future attacks. The Congressional Research Service (CRS)providedanoverviewof the9/11 Commission report, its recommendations and the associated US anti-terror strategy of legislation and intelligence reformsIn the year after the attacks, more than 130piecesof 9/11-related legislation wereintroducedin theUS Congress, with 48 bills and resolutions approvedor signed into USA Patriot Act: Preserving Life and Libertyof2001 is one of the most substantial legislativechanges since 9/11.

4 It facilitated information-sharing and cooperation among governmentagencies, and allowed law enforcement to usesurveillance and other means that were alreadyavailable to investigate perceived terrorism -relatedactivities, organised crime, and drug provisions of the Act were reauthorised bysubsequent legislation in 2005, 2009 and 2011, andwith theUSA Freedom Act of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wasestablished in 2002 and integrated 22separatefederal departments and agencies into a singleCabinet department. TheImplementingRecommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of2007address a wide range of DHS missions,including cargo security, critical infrastructureprotection, grant administration, intelligence andinformation-sharing, privacy, and is now the third largest department,with over240000employeesand a 2018 fiscal yearbudgetof US$ Reform and terrorism Prevention Act of 2004is considered to be the mostsignificant legislation affecting the US intelligence community since the National Security Act of1947.

5 Principal among the enacted changes was the establishment of a new position of Director ofNational Intelligence (DNI) toserve as head of the intelligence community (IC). The director alsoserves as principal adviser to the President on intelligence matters related to national security, andoversees as well as directs the implementation of the National Intelligence ,observers are divided over the success of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI),as described in CRS reports of2010, the ODNI, theNational counter - terrorism Center(NCTC) was established as a centralknowledge bank for information about known and suspected terrorists, and serves to coordinateThe US intelligence communityThe US intelligence community (IC) is composed of17 organisations: two independent agencies: the Office of theDirector of NationalIntelligence (ODNI) and theCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA).

6 Eight Department of Defense (DoD) elements:the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), theNational Security Agency (NSA), the NationalGeospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), theNational Reconnaissance Office (NRO), andintelligence elements of the four DoD services:the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force; and seven elements of other departments andagencies: the Department of Energy's Office ofIntelligence and counter -Intelligence; theDepartment of Homeland Security's Office ofIntelligence and Analysis and US Coast GuardIntelligence; the Department of Justice'sFederal Bureau of Investigation, and the DrugEnforcement Agency's Office of NationalSecurity Intelligence; the Department of State'sBureau of Intelligence and Research; and theDepartment of the Treasury's Office ofIntelligence and :ODNI counter - terrorism since 9/113and monitor the counter - terrorism efforts of allgovernment agencies.

7 The NCTC is also tasked with fusingforeign and domestic and challengesIn 2011, the Department of Justicepublishedacomprehensive overview of the structural and legalreforms carried out in the US since 2001. The reporthighlights the centralisation of counter - terrorism andintelligence units within law enforcement agencies,noting the formation of a single Federal Bureau ofInvestigation (FBI) National Security Branch in 2005, andthe Department of Justice's National Security Division to aWashington Postinvestigation, morethan 260 government organisations were either createdor reorganised following the attacks, to focus onterrorism-related issues and enhance information-sharingprocesses.

8 This has been a priority of the intelligence andlaw enforcement communities since the Department ofJustice highlighted the FBI's 'severe deficiencies' inintelligence analysis and information-sharing capabilitiesand processes in its2003 audit report. In 2010, more than1200 government organisations and 1900privatecompanieswere involved in work related to counter - terrorism , homeland security, and furtherinvestigationtracks the dramatic budgetary increasewithin the US intelligence and law enforcementcommunities from 2004 to 2013, including: the Central Intelligence Agency (+56%), the NationalSecurity Agency (+53%), Department of Justice (+129%), the Office for the Director of NationalIntelligence (+341%), the Department of Homeland Security (+84%), and the Department of theTreasury (+841%).

9 Altogether, by 2010, analysts at these organisations were producing 50000 intelligence reportsannually. The growing number of organisations and overwhelming volume of information theyproduce have complicated efforts to reform information-sharing processes. Some governmentofficials have raised concerns about duplication of efforts and an inability to process and reviewmany of the reports. Thus, information-sharing remains a significant challenge to the intelligence,law enforcement, and national security threats within the USAreportby the DOJ's National Security Division reveals that between 9/11 and 31 December 2016,more than 549 individuals were convicted of international terrorism -related charges in US the same period, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed approximately1716 aliens on account of national security , the US House Committee on Homeland Security's 2017 Terrorist Threat Snapshotrelates that there are, or have been.

10 215 terrorist threats in the US homeland since 9/11 and notesthat 'cases of homegrown Islamist extremism in the US are on the rise'. TheTerrorism in AmericaAfter 9/11project of Washington DC-based think-tank, New America, counts over 400 cases since9/11 of individuals who have been 'charg