According to State, a terrorist safe haven is an area of relative security that can be exploited by terrorists to undertake activities such as recruiting, training, fundraising, and planning operations. The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission) noted that the physical safe haven in Afghanistan allowed al Qaeda the operational space to gather recruits and build logistical networks to plan the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Concluding that the dangers posed by terrorist safe havens were significant, the 9/11 Commission recommended that the U.S. government identify and prioritize terrorist safe havens, as well as develop strategies to address them. The United States highlights the denial of safe haven to terrorists as a key national security concern in a number of U.S. government and agency strategic documents. For example, National Security Strategies released in 2002, 2006, and 2010 emphasize the importance of denying safe haven to terrorists. In addition, plans issued by various U.S. agencies, such as DOD, DOJ, State, and USAID, as well as the National Intelligence Strategy issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, include language emphasizing the importance of addressing terrorist safe havens (see fig. 1). “Wherever l-Q’id or it terroriffilite ttempt to eabli safe hven … we will meet them with growing pressure … Thee effort will focus on informtion-ring, lw enforcement coopertion, nd eablihing new prctice to conter evolving dversarie. We will o help te … build their ccity for reponle governnce nd ecrity throgh development nd ecrity ector assnce.” “The Wr on Terror … involve the ppliction of ll intrment of ntionl power nd inflence to kill or cptre the terrori; deny them safehven nd control of ny ntion; prevent them from gining ccess to WMD; render potentil terrorit trget less ttrctive trengthening ecrity; nd ct off their rce of fnding nd other rerce they need to operte nd survive.” “One of the mot importnt rerce to extremi safe hven. Safe hven provide the enemy with reltive freedom to pln, orgnize, trin, ret, nd condct opertion.” “The mot intrctable safe hven exiastride interntionorder nd in region where ineffective governnce llow their preence; we must develop the me to deny thee hven to terrori.” “Filed te nd ngoverned ce offer terrorind criminl orgniztion safe hven nd possle ccess to wepon of mass detrction (WMD).” “Deny safe hven to criminl orgniztion involved in drg-relted terrorictivitie.” State’s Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism coordinates policies and programs of U.S. agencies to counter terrorism overseas. According to State, the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism works with all appropriate elements of the U.S. government to ensure integrated and effective counterterrorism efforts that utilize diplomacy, economic power, intelligence, law enforcement, and military power. These elements include those in the White House, DOD, DHS, DOJ, State, Treasury, USAID, and the intelligence community. The Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism’s role is to provide supervision of international counterterrorism activities, including oversight of resources. Its guiding principles reflect the goals of the National Strategy for Combating Terrorism, including denying safe haven to terrorists. Congress has enacted several laws that require the submission of reports to Congress on issues related to the denial of terrorist safe havens. See table 1 for selected legislation. In response to reporting requirements, State annually releases the Country Reports on Terrorism. State’s August 2010 report includes a strategic overview of terrorist threats and a country-by-country discussion of foreign government counterterrorism cooperation. In addition, it includes chapters on weapons of mass destruction terrorism, state sponsors of terrorism, designated foreign terrorist organizations, and terrorist safe havens. According to State, the Country Reports on Terrorism aims to enhance understanding of the terrorist threat, as well as serve as a reference tool to inform policymakers, the public, and U.S. foreign partners about U.S. efforts, progress, and challenges in the campaign against international terrorism. While released by State’s Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, the Country Reports on Terrorism incorporates the views of the National Counterterrorism Center and National Security Staff, as well as other key agencies involved in addressing international terrorism. State identifies existing terrorist safe havens in its annual Country Reports on Terrorism, but does not assess these safe havens with the level of detail recommended by Congress. IRTPA requires State to include a detailed assessment in its annual Country Reports on Terrorism of each country whose territory is being used as a terrorist sanctuary, also known as a terrorist safe haven. The act further recommends that these assessments include, to the extent feasible, details regarding the knowledge of and actions taken to address terrorist activities by countries whose territory is being used as a terrorist safe haven. While State has identified existing terrorist safe havens since 2006, its assessments of these safe havens do not always include the details recommended by Congress. For instance, none of the assessments in State’s August 2010 report included information on the actions taken by countries identified as having terrorist safe havens to prevent trafficking in weapons of mass destruction through their territories. Including this information in State’s reporting could help inform congressional oversight related to terrorist safe havens. IRTPA requires State to include a detailed assessment in its annual Country Reports on Terrorism with respect to each foreign country whose territory is being used as a safe haven for terrorists or terrorist organizations. To fulfill this requirement, State first identifies and then assesses existing terrorist safe havens. Since 2006, State has identified existing terrorist safe havens in a dedicated chapter of its Country Reports on Terrorism. In August 2010, State identified 13 terrorist safe havens. See figure 2 for the terrorist safe havens identified. The online version of this map is interactive. Hover your mouse over each text box to read State’s August 2010 assessment of why each identified country or region is considered a terrorist safe haven. To view these assessments in the offline version, please see appendix II. State has made few changes to the terrorist safe havens identified in its report since the April 2007 Country Reports on Terrorism, which identified 15 terrorist safe havens. Since that report, State has removed two terrorist safe havens—the Afghan-Pakistan Border and Indonesia— from the Country Reports on Terrorism. State officials explained that the Afghan-Pakistan Border was removed in 2009, but Afghanistan and Pakistan are each still identified as terrorist safe havens to highlight the different safe haven issues facing each country. State officials said that Indonesia was removed in 2008 because the country passed counterterrorism legislation and captured several members of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah. IRTPA includes congressional findings that the planning of complex terrorist operations requires safe haven from government and law enforcement interference and that terrorists remain focused on finding such safe havens. Further, IRTPA states that it is the sense of Congress that it should be U.S. policy to identify foreign countries that are being used as terrorist sanctuaries and assess current U.S. tools being used to assist foreign governments to eliminate these safe havens. Accordingly, IRTPA requires State to include detailed assessments of terrorist safe havens in its annual Country Reports on Terrorism. IRTPA also states that these detailed assessments should include, to the extent feasible, a variety of provisions, including information regarding knowledge of and actions to address terrorist activities taken by countries whose territory is being used as a terrorist safe haven. See table 2 for a list of these details. In its Country Reports on Terrorism, State includes a terrorist safe havens chapter with assessments of each terrorist safe haven it identifies to explain why that country or region has been classified as a terrorist safe haven. However, our analysis of the assessments in State’s August 2010 report determined that, while State included information on each identified terrorist safe haven, State did not assess them with the level of detail recommended by Congress. For instance, our evaluation determined that while State generally included information on the extent of knowledge by the government of the country with respect to terrorist activities, it did not include any information in its assessments about the actions countries took to prevent the proliferation of and trafficking in weapons of mass destruction in and through their territories. We also analyzed the “country reports” chapter of State’s August 2010 report and found that some of the information not included in the assessments in the terrorist safe haven chapter was contained in the country reports chapter. For instance, the country report for Yemen contained information regarding the Yemeni government’s actions to cooperate with U.S. counterterrorism efforts. However, like the terrorist safe haven assessments, none of these country reports contained information regarding the actions that countries took to prevent the proliferation of and trafficking in weapons of mass destruction in and through their territories. Table 3 shows the number of safe havens for which State included the recommended details. State officials agreed that details related to the trafficking of weapons of mass destruction through terrorist safe havens were not included in its August 2010 report. These officials stated that time constraints and a limited number of staff present challenges to including these details in the terrorist safe haven assessments. Despite these challenges, officials told us that, after reviewing our analysis, they will gather—and believe they will be able to include—details regarding weapons of mass destruction in the Country Reports on Terrorism to be released in 2011. In previous reporting, we have found that assessments can be used to define requirements and properly focus programs to combat terrorism.