Since the first Winter Olympic Games in 1924, the event has grown from 258 athletes representing 16 countries to, in the case of the 2006 Turin Olympics, approximately 5,000 athletes and coaches from 85 countries. In addition, an estimated 1.5 million spectators and 10,000 media personnel attended the 2006 Winter Olympic Games. While the stated goal of the Olympic movement is “to contribute to building a peaceful and better world,” its history includes tragedy and terror as well. At the 1972 Munich Games, Palestinian terrorists attacked the Israeli Olympic team, resulting in the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes. The 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games were marred by a pipe-bomb explosion that killed 1 person and injured 110 others. One of the International Olympic Committee requirements for countries bidding to host the Games is to ensure the security of the participating athletes and spectators, which is an increasingly challenging task in today’s environment of terrorist threats. According to State documents, Italy spent approximately $110 million on security operations for the 2006 Winter Games. In addition, the Italian government designated 15,000 law enforcement personnel, along with military and intelligence support, to provide for overall security for the Winter Games. Italy’s Ministry of Interior designated the Prefect of Turin as the local government authority responsible for providing security inside the official venues of the Winter Games. Italy faced the challenge of hosting an Olympics amid a heightened terrorist threat environment. Al-Qaeda has made threats to coalition partners in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past. Moreover, in March 2004, a terrorist attack on commuter trains in Madrid, Spain, killed nearly 200 people, and, in July 2005, a terrorist attack on commuter trains and a bus in London, England, killed over 50 people and injured more than 700. In addition, there is a known presence of Italy-based international terrorist cells and domestic anarchist groups that actively target multinational corporations, critical infrastructure, and government facilities. Italy has highly advanced antiterrorism capabilities and has recently taken additional antiterrorism measures, such as enactment of improved antiterrorism laws and increased physical security measures. Since 2001, several extremist plots in Milan and Rome have been detected and prevented. In addition to these explicit terror threats, Italy has faced difficult security challenges at other recent major events, such as the meeting of the Group of Eight in Genoa in 2001, at which activists clashed violently with Italian police forces, and the funeral of Pope John Paul II in April 2005. In planning for the 2006 Winter Games, winter conditions presented another set of challenges. The Winter Games were located in the remote, northwest corner of Italy, with venues spread over an extensive land area. Although smaller in scale than the 2004 Athens Summer Games, the 2006 Winter Olympic venues included mountain locations that were as far as 60 miles away from Turin, with limited access routes to these mountain sites. (See fig. 1 for locations of venues for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy.) Locating suitable lodging for U.S. security and support personnel near key venues was necessary. Furthermore, the distance from the nearest U.S. presence—the U.S. Consulate in Milan, which is located about a 90-minute drive from Turin—required the establishment of a temporary U.S. post in Turin to support U.S. security efforts and serve as a platform for U.S. activities. Although the host government has the ultimate responsibility for providing security for the Olympics, the United States has a vested interest in ensuring the safety of its citizens in all Olympic locations. In 2001, the United States began planning its security assistance for the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, responding both to the heightened worldwide anxiety following the September 11 attacks and to Greece’s request for international advice on its security plan. Despite widespread fears of a potential terrorist attack on the Olympics, Greece hosted a safe and secure event with no terrorist incidents. With the conclusion of the Athens Games, the United States began planning for security support to the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. This security support is provided by the United States under general executive branch policy guidance and individual agency authorities. For example, State officials cited the use of Presidential Decision Directive 62, which extends the U.S. counterterrorism policy in Presidential Decision Directive 39 to the protection of Americans overseas. State is the lead agency for ensuring the protection of American citizens overseas. According to U.S. officials in Italy, up to 20,000 Americans attended the 2006 Turin Olympics daily. The next Olympics will be the Summer Games in Beijing, China, August 8 to 24, 2008; followed by the Paralympics, September 6 to 17, 2008. Venues for these Games will be spread out across seven cities in China, presenting unique logistical and coordination challenges for security support efforts. According to State officials, over 1 million spectators are expected to attend the 2008 Beijing Games, including a large number of Americans. The next Winter Olympic Games will be held in Vancouver, Canada, February 12 to 28, 2010, followed by the Paralympics on March 12 to 21, 2010. The close proximity of these Games to the United States presents distinctive challenges, such as border security issues. In 2012, the United Kingdom will host the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in London. Past terrorist incidents in London and an ongoing terrorist threat climate are likely to present security challenges for these Games. The security support that the United States provided for the 2006 Winter Games was largely based on an understanding of Italy’s advanced security capabilities gained through a long-standing, U.S.-Italian counterterrorism and military partnership. The U.S. Embassy in Rome led the coordinated governmentwide effort—delegating responsibility for the coordination of U.S. activities in Turin to the U.S. Consulate in Milan—and was supported by a Washington, D.C.-based interagency group. Following the Athens Games in the summer of 2004, the United States began planning for (1) the security support it would provide to the Italian government and (2) the protection of U.S. citizens who would be participating in or attending the 2006 Winter Games. In October 2004, the United States held a 3-day interagency conference in Milan for Italy- and U.S.-based officials who would be working on the 2006 Winter Games to share lessons learned from the U.S. effort in Athens and to begin determining U.S. security support for Turin. The United States largely based its security support approach on its understanding of Italian security capabilities, gained from long-standing counterterrorism and military relationships with Italy. In particular, the United States and Italy have an established partnership as members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and, more recently, as coalition partners in Iraq. According to U.S. officials, the Italian government’s sensitivities about formally sharing certain information limited the United States’ ability to formally assess Italy’s operational plans for providing security for the 2006 Winter Games. Agency officials noted that this made U.S. efforts to plan security and emergency contingencies during the Games more difficult. However, the U.S. Olympic Security Coordinator and other key officials were able to use established relationships with their Italian counterparts to develop a working knowledge of Italy’s plans and capabilities for providing security to the 2006 Winter Games and to plan U.S. security efforts. For example, U.S. officials met with their Italian security and law enforcement counterparts to receive information on Italy’s security structure and Olympic security integration plan. In addition, over several months in 2005, State reported that more than 20 technical meetings were held between Italian authorities and U.S. representatives from the U.S. Mission in Italy and various federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies to coordinate bilateral cooperation during the Games. Moreover, Italian government representatives held meetings in 2005 with representatives from the United States and other interested governments to discuss Italy’s security plans for the Games. For example, in September 2005, the Italian government hosted an international seminar on security concepts for the management of major sporting events, with law enforcement representatives from 11 countries. Furthermore, in October 2005, U.S. representatives were invited by the Italian government to observe its antiterrorism drills testing the efficiency and response capability of the local law enforcement, emergency, and rescue systems in four Italian cities. On the basis of its understanding of Italy’s security capabilities, the United States identified specific training and security support that could be provided to support Italy’s security efforts. In March 2005, the Italian government requested a consolidated list of the offers of U.S. security assistance, and the interagency working group in Washington identified the available sources and capabilities among the represented agencies to prevent duplication of efforts. In the spring of 2005, this interagency working group provided a comprehensive offer of security support for the 2006 Winter Games, comprising a variety of specific offers from several U.S. agencies. Italy accepted a number of these offers, including crisis management expertise, an assessment of Turin’s international airport, and mapping assistance. In addition to direct security assistance to Italy, the United States conducted several exercises to test its own strategies for supporting Italy’s security efforts and ensuring the protection of U.S. citizens during the 2006 Winter Games. In November and December 2005, the United States conducted several tabletop exercises to test strategies for ensuring the protection of U.S. citizens, including a joint crisis management exercise that focused on a theoretical terrorist attack in Italy and a crisis management exercise held over several days in Rome, Milan, and Turin to test U.S. crisis planning and execution in preparation for the Games. Figure 2 provides a timeline of U.S. security support activities for the 2006 Winter Games. The U.S. Embassy in Rome—under the leadership of the U.S. Ambassador to Italy—led the coordinated interagency efforts in Italy under one centralized U.S. government mission. The U.S.