Local Task Forces

Last week, four people, including one from Cincinnati, with ties to an eco-terrorism network have been indicted on charges connected to a 1999 fire at Michigan State University genetic research office. The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) claimed credit for the fire claiming the university was conducting research genetic engineering of crops. The story followed the fires set out in California targeting a “green” housing development. Ohio in general, and Cincinnati in particular, are not the first areas one would think of to find an eco-terrorist. Most of the cities in Ohio were founded on heavy manufacturing and industry, not prime areas to target for saving pristine environments. The arrest though illustrates an important point for all of us concerned about the safety and security of our communities.

People will to commit violent acts, terrorists if you will (but this may be too limiting a term), live everywhere and anywhere just like other people who don’t plan to commit violent acts. It makes sense to live somewhere away from where you plan to commit an attack so that you can plan and prepare in obscurity. It is easier to obtain the materials and recruit people for the operation. Training is best conducted in more remote areas as compared to more densely populated areas where the presence of such activities could be discovered. As has been written before on this blog and on other sites, the majority of federal funds to detect and prevent such behaviors is more focused on major metropolitan areas. As a result, smaller cities and rural communities are more appealing to locating a terrorist base of operations. The ready availability of high-speed Internet connections and cellular services even in the most remote areas of the United States makes it more practical than ever to locate a terrorist training camp out in the far flung parts of the nation.

Locating a training camp or base of operations in a remote location does present challenges for funds and logistics. Most support groups for terrorist activity tends to be centered in large cities. Large provide networks and jobs for supporters to provide funds and supplies to the operatives. Creating an elaborative support system may leave telltale signs for federal agencies to detect therefore groups may opt to be more autonomous and operate with only a tacit association to a larger group. The need for autonomy does not negate the need for funding. One of the easiest (and perhaps lucrative) means to fund a small cell operation then is through illegal drugs. Marijuana and methamphetamine are two illegal drugs that can be produce and sold locally providing the terrorist group with ready cash, weapons and other supplies.

The link between terrorist organizations and illegal drug activity dates back to at least the fall of the Soviet Union. The Soviets sponsored a number of terrorist groups that were based on political ideologies counter to the West. Without the Soviet Union to provide funding, terrorist groups based in political ideology began to fall by the wayside. Groups interested in committing acts of violence against the United States needed to find another funding stream. Marijuana and methamphetamine, both of which can be produced locally without depending on outside organizations, became a new way to fund some terrorist groups. During the last part of the 20th Century, many of the militia groups funded their activities through the production and sale of methamphetamine. The combination of a group of well armed paranoids plus a drug which increased violent tendencies, made for an especially dangerous situation. The drug cartels of South America are particularly violent and are well connected with various arms dealers throughout the world. Given the potential for illegal drug activity to fund future terrorist attacks, it seems strange that the Bush Administration would thus cut funding for the Byrne Grants. The Byrne Grants fund drug task forces throughout the United States. Most of these drug task forces consist of various local, county and state agencies focused on a particular region. The drug task forces seem to be ideally suited to assist the Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies in identifying possible terrorist activity by drug organizations. Despite the potential to be a force multiplier for homeland security, Byrne Grants by two-thirds. The incredulous rational is that drugs are no longer the threat they once were! I’m not sure what studies were used to draw that conclusion but merely perusing the local newspaper seems to contradict that claim. The reduction in Byrne Grants might make sense if there was a corresponding increase in other federal funds to keep the drug task forces going. So far that does not appear to be the case.

A better solution would be to broaden the focus of drug task forces to include homeland security. The task forces embody the concepts of inter-agency cooperation and communication exposed by FEMA and other agencies. To risk losing these agencies and the incredibly amount of intelligence produce by the task forces is just too great to ignore. As the story at the beginning of this article illustrates, we can never know who or where a terrorist may decide to reside. Reducing the number of local agencies out there to help detect such activities seems to be contrary to our emphasis on increasing homeland security.