After visiting Khobar Towers and other sites in the U.S. Central Command theater and interviewing people at all levels of the chain of command, I believe that the Department of Defense can more effectively protect our men and women around the world. I am concerned that insufficient attention is being given to a antiterrorism measures and force protection. Specifically, the attack with a stand-off bomb was only one of many vulnerabilities which existed at Khobar Towers and other locations visited in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region. Force protection is a mission for every member of the Armed Forces from the newest recruit to our most senior commanders.
Terrorists have the luxury of searching for a single vulnerability.
Only a coordinated, dedicated effort will deter them. For those cases where they will not be deterred, we must do all in our power to lesson our exposure and mitigate the effects of an. attack. There was general warning of an attack on Khobar Towers, but the information was not sufficiently precise to determine its exact timing or method. This can and must be improved through closer coordination with the host nation and other agencies and a more intense emphasis on human intelligence. Certainly our level of awareness of the terrorist threat has been heightened after this attack.