Background
During his administration, President Clinton worked to deepen cooperation with U.S. allies, strengthen law enforcement counter-terrorism tools and improve airplane and airport security. Before September 11, 2001, these efforts had paid off by foiling major terrorist attacks and apprehending, trying and sentencing terrorists.
Due to America's military strength and superiority, potential enemies are more likely to attack through means of terror instead of conventional military assault. Easier access to sophisticated technology means that the destructive power available to terrorists is greater than ever. Terrorists could potentially use weapons of mass destruction to cause physical destruction or advanced computer technology to attack our economy and critical infrastructure.
Presidential Decision Directive 62 addresses these challenges by creating a new and more systematic approach to fighting the terrorist threat of the next century. It reinforces the mission of the many U.S. agencies charged with roles in defeating terrorism; it also codifies and clarifies their activities in the wide range of U.S. counter-terrorism programs, from apprehension and prosecution of terrorists to increasing transportation security, enhancing response capabilities and protecting the computer-based systems that lie at the heart of America's economy.
PDD-62 is a classified document. It is meant to reaffirm PDD-39, "United States Policy on Counterterrorism." As such, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will continue to serve as the Lead Federal Agency for "crisis management" and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will continue to serve as the Lead Federal Agency for "consequence management."
Read more about this topic: PDD-62
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