NCJ Number
100789
Journal
Terrorism Volume: 8 Issue: 3 Dated: (1986) Pages: 253-313
Editor(s)
B L Stewart
Date Published
1986
Length
61 pages
Annotation
Seven papers from the 1985 conference on terrorism sponsored by the Strategic Studies Center of SRI International examine the threat of state-sponsored terrorism to the United States and means of countering it.
Abstract
The threat assessment notes the increased sophistication of the weaponry and tactics of terrorism under the influence of state policy, training, and financing. State-sponsored terrorism is viewed as a form of low-scale warfare designed to alter U.S. policy and create political and socioeconomic instability. Threats principally mentioned in the papers pertain to the crippling of the transportation and utilities infrastructure, which would in turn disrupt the economy and the dependability of socioeconomic functions. Mass poisonings are also mentioned as possible threats. The countermeasures mentioned in the papers focus on overall policy, which would include overt and covert preemptive targeting of terrorists and their networks, expanded intelligence efforts, and the implementation of appropriate security measures in industries that are likely terrorist targets. The U.S. Defense Department's counterterrorist activities are described.