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Don't let the terrorist threat strangle the economy
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| The
paradigm has shifted since September 11th |
London,
19 June 2003 - One of the world's leading counter-terrorism experts
has called for smarter and more agile defensive strategies in response
to the post 9/11 terrorist threat and warned against attempting indiscriminate
measures to provide effective blanket security that would be "a drag
on the economy".
Brian Jenkins, a special
advisor to the International Chamber of Commerce, was giving ICC Commercial
Crime Services' annual lecture to an audience of business security managers,
bank executives and senior law enforcement officers.
He said that finding
the right approach to security required "systems approaches"
based on sophisticated research that had only just begun.
"We cannot allow
terrorist attacks or the threat of attacks to to shut down ports and transportation.
We cannot open up every cargo container and significantly slow the movement
of people and goods. We must not recreate a mediaeval economy."
Mr Jenkins, an American,
works on security and counter-terrorism issues for government agencies
and multinational corporations. He said: "These days, corporations
are being deluged with requirements and rules, regardless of what happens
to the economy. Yet we cannot assess the threats from every conceivable
form of terrorist attack."
Mr Jenkins said that
public-private partnership was accepted as a prerequisite to effective
security before 9/11. "But realizing such a partnership was always
easier said than done."
Asserting that security
had now become a vital component of corporate strategy, Mr Jenkins said:
"It is tempting to think that 9/11 was a one-time
anomaly, that preventive
action will provide a deterrent, that arrests will reduce terrorists'
potential. But there has to be acceptance that today's environment must
be the starting point for managing tomorrow's risks."
Mr Jenkins gave his
lecture shortly after the new head of MI5, Britain's counter-intelligence
and security agency, said in a speech on London that a terrorist attack
on a major western city using a rudimentary radioactive device or biological
and chemical weapons was "only a matter of time."
According to Mr Jenkins,
the MI5 chief was merely giving a judgment. It might cause alarm, but
it was better to talk about such matters, to prepare the public and examine
the consequences.
He added: "The
first round has gone to the villains. But with superior capability and
intelligent thinking, we can figure out how to react while at the same
time sustaining our economies and our democracy. That will be one of the
major challenges of the 21st century."
ICC
Commercial Crime Services
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