Terrorists seek to exploit our weaknesses challenging our political, economic, technological, cultural, and other interests, both overseas and at home. At the same time we must not panic. Our strategy must be long term. It must address both the vulnerabilities of our nation while remaining consistent with our long-standing tradition of respect for civil liberties. The US Government has developed robust interagency programs, policies, strategies and capabilities which integrate US Government resources to effectively counter this increasingly ambiguous and complex operational environment.
Many federal agencies have a role to play in the federal response to a terrorist incident.
The Department does play an important role in accordance with legal constraints in providing unique resources and capabilities not found in other federal agencies, while remaining sensitive to societal concerns regarding a perceived increase in a military role in domestic law enforcement issues. Antiterrorism involves all defensive measures employed to protect personnel and facilities against a terrorist incident. Conversely, counterterrorism refers to offensive response measures to deter, preempt and resolve a terrorist act. Terrorism consequence management includes a range of activities required to provide emergency assistance to mitigate the effects of an act in order to alleviate damage, loss, hardship, or suffering caused by terrorist attacks and to protect the public health and safety and restore essential government services. The accumulation and dissemination of intelligence is critical to our success across all these components.