Americans also understand that we are not alone in the struggle against terror. Terrorists have left their mark in some way upon every country in the world. Citizens from some 90 countries died in the attacks of September 11. For decades, the United States and our friends abroad have waged the long struggle against the terrorist menace. We have learned much from these efforts.
Even as we experience success in the war on terrorism, new enemies may emerge. Thus, the United States will confront the threat of terrorism for the foreseeable future. Consequently, we must continue to take aggressive action to uncover individuals and groups engaged in terrorist activity, by analyzing the common characteristics of terrorists in order to understand where our enemies are weak and where they are strong.
The Structure of Terror
Despite their diversity in motive, sophistication, and strength, terrorist organizations share a basic structure as depicted in figure 1.
At the base, underlying conditions such as poverty, corruption, religious conflict and ethnic strife create opportunities for terrorists to exploit. Some of these conditions are real and some manufactured. Terrorists use these conditions to justify their actions and expand their support. The belief that terror is a legitimate means to address such conditions and effect political change is a fundamental problem enabling terrorism to develop and grow.
The international environment defines the boundaries within which terrorists' strategies take shape. As a result of freer, more open borders this environment unwittingly provides access to havens, capabilities, and other support to terrorists. But access alone is not enough. Terrorists must have a physical base from which to operate. Whether through ignorance, inability, or intent, states around the world still offer havens--both physical (e.g., safe houses, training grounds) and virtual (e.g., reliable communication and financial networks)--that terrorists need to plan, organize, train, and conduct their operations. Once entrenched in a safe operating environment, the organization can begin to solidify and expand. The terrorist organization's structure, membership, resources, and security determine its capabilities and reach. At the top of the structure, the terrorist leadership provides the overall direction and strategy that links all these factors and thereby breathes life into a terror campaign. The leadership becomes the catalyst for terrorist action. The loss of the leadership can cause many organizations to collapse. Some groups, however, are more resilient and can promote new leadership should the original fall or fail. Still others have adopted a more decentralized organization with largely autonomous cells, making our challenge even greater.
The Changing Nature of Terrorism
While retaining this basic structure, the terrorist challenge has changed considerably over the past decade and likely will continue to evolve. Ironically, the particular nature of the terrorist threat we face today springs in large part from some of our past successes.