Countering the Threat of Improvised Explosive Devices

Countering the Threat of Improvised Explosive Devices
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2007-06-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0309179718

Attacks in London, Madrid, Bali, Oklahoma City and other places indicate that improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are among the weapons of choice of terrorists throughout the world. Scientists and engineers have developed various technologies that have been used to counter individual IED attacks, but events in Iraq and elsewhere indicate that the effectiveness of IEDs as weapons of asymmetric warfare remains. The Office of Naval Research has asked The National Research Council to examine the current state of knowledge and practice in the prevention, detection, and mitigation of the effects of IEDs and make recommendations for avenues of research toward the goal of making these devices an ineffective tool of asymmetric warfare. The book includes recommendations such as identifying the most important and most vulnerable elements in the chain of events leading up to an IED attack, determining how resources can be controlled in order to prevent the construction of IEDs, new analytical methods and data modeling to predict the ever-changing behavior of insurgents/terrorists, a deeper understanding of social divisions in societies, enhanced capabilities for persistent surveillance, and improved IED detection capabilities.

Reducing the Threat of Improvised Explosive Device Attacks by Restricting Access to Explosive Precursor Chemicals

Reducing the Threat of Improvised Explosive Device Attacks by Restricting Access to Explosive Precursor Chemicals
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2018-05-19
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0309464072

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are a type of unconventional explosive weapon that can be deployed in a variety of ways, and can cause loss of life, injury, and property damage in both military and civilian environments. Terrorists, violent extremists, and criminals often choose IEDs because the ingredients, components, and instructions required to make IEDs are highly accessible. In many cases, precursor chemicals enable this criminal use of IEDs because they are used in the manufacture of homemade explosives (HMEs), which are often used as a component of IEDs. Many precursor chemicals are frequently used in industrial manufacturing and may be available as commercial products for personal use. Guides for making HMEs and instructions for constructing IEDs are widely available and can be easily found on the internet. Other countries restrict access to precursor chemicals in an effort to reduce the opportunity for HMEs to be used in IEDs. Although IED attacks have been less frequent in the United States than in other countries, IEDs remain a persistent domestic threat. Restricting access to precursor chemicals might contribute to reducing the threat of IED attacks and in turn prevent potentially devastating bombings, save lives, and reduce financial impacts. Reducing the Threat of Improvised Explosive Device Attacks by Restricting Access to Explosive Precursor Chemicals prioritizes precursor chemicals that can be used to make HMEs and analyzes the movement of those chemicals through United States commercial supply chains and identifies potential vulnerabilities. This report examines current United States and international regulation of the chemicals, and compares the economic, security, and other tradeoffs among potential control strategies.

Disrupting Improvised Explosive Device Terror Campaigns

Disrupting Improvised Explosive Device Terror Campaigns
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 81
Release: 2008-09-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0309178665

Countering the threat of improvised explosive devices (IED)s is a challenging, multilayered problem. The IED itself is just the most publicly visible part of an underlying campaign of violence, the IED threat chain. Improving the technical ability to detect the device is a primary objective, but understanding of the goals of the adversary; its sources of materiel, personnel, and money; the sociopolitical environment in which it operates; and other factors, such as the cultural mores that it must observe or override for support, may also be critical for impeding or halting the effective use of IEDs. Disrupting Improvised Explosive Device Terror Campaigns focuses on the human dimension of terror campaigns and also on improving the ability to predict these activities using collected and interpreted data from a variety of sources. A follow-up to the 2007 book, Countering the Threat of Improvised Explosive Devices: Basic Research Opportunities, this book summarizes two workshops held in 2008.

U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook

U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook
Author: Department of the Army
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 421
Release: 2012-02-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1510720561

You don’t need to be a trained soldier to fully appreciate this edition of the U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook (TM 31-210). Originally created for soldiers in guerilla warfare situations, this handbook demonstrates the techniques for constructing weapons that are highly effective in the most harrowing of circumstances. Straightforward and incredibly user-friendly, it provides insightful information and step-by-step instructions on how to assemble weapons and explosives from common and readily available materials. Over 600 illustrations complement elaborate explanations of how to improvise any number of munitions from easily accessible resources. Whether you’re a highly trained solider or simply a civilian looking to be prepared, the U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook is an invaluable addition to your library.

Intelligence Guide for First Responders

Intelligence Guide for First Responders
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 103
Release: 2009
Genre: First responders
ISBN:

This Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination Group (ITACG) Intelligence Guide for First Responders is designed to assist state, local, tribal law enforcement, firefighting, homeland security, and appropriate private sector personnel in accessing and understanding Federal counterterrorism, homeland security, and weapons of mass destruction intelligence reporting. Most of the information contained in this guide was compiled, derived, and adapted from existing Intelligence Community and open source references. The ITACG consists of state, local, and tribal first responders and federal intelligence analysts from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, working at the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) to enhance the sharing of federal counterterrorism, homeland security, and weapons of mass destruction information with state, local, and tribal consumers of intelligence.

Radicalization to Terrorism

Radicalization to Terrorism
Author: Sophia Moskalenko
Publisher:
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2020
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0190862599

Terrorism and radicalization came to the forefront of news and politics in the US after the unforgettable attacks of September 11th, 2001. When George W. Bush famously asked "Why do they hate us?," the President echoed the confusion, anger and fear felt by millions of Americans, while also creating a politicized discourse that has come to characterize and obscure discussions of both phenomenon in the media. Since then the American public has lived through a number of domestic attacks and threats, and watched international terrorist attacks from afar on television sets and computer screens. The anxiety and misinformation surrounding terrorism and radicalization are perhaps best detected in questions that have continued to recur in the last decade: "Are terrorists crazy?"; "Is there a profile of individuals likely to become terrorists?"; "Is it possible to prevent radicalization to terrorism?" Fortunately, in the two decades since 9/11, a significant body of research has emerged that can help provide definitive answers. As experts in the psychology of radicalization, Sophia Moskalenko and Clark McCauley propose twelve mechanisms that can move individuals, groups, and mass publics from political indifference to sympathy and support for terrorist violence. Radicalization to Terrorism: What Everyone Needs to Know synthesizes original and existing research to answer the questions raised after each new attack, including those committed by radicalized Americans. It offers a rigorously informed overview of the insight that will enable readers to see beyond the relentless new cycle to understand where terrorism comes from and how best to respond to it.

Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy

Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy
Author: Paul R. Pillar
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2004-05-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0815798741

The United States government-backed by the overwhelming support of the American public-takes a hard line against international terrorism. The tenets of official U.S. counterterrorist policy are: make no concessions or deals with terrorists; bring them to justice for their crimes; isolate and apply pressure on states that sponsor terrorism; and bolster the counterterrorist capabilities of countries willing to work with the United States. While these tenets are sound principles, their application, specifically overseas, raises difficult questions. Does the "no deal" policy actually deter terrorists acts? Are there cases where agreements might reduce terrorism, while advancing other U.S. interests? Do isolation and pressure really force offending states to alter their support for terrorists? What factors affect the willingness, not just the capability, of foreign governments to help the United States in counterterrorism? In this critical study, a career CIA officer provides a guide to constructing and executing counterterrorist policy, urging that it be formulated as an integral part of broader U.S. foreign policy. In the first four chapters, Paul R. Pillar identifies the necessary elements of counterterrorist policy, he examines why the United States is a prime terrorist target, and he reveals why the counterterrorist policies that seem strongest are not always the most effective. Chapter 5 examines the widely varying nature of terrorist groups and the policy tools most appropriately applied to them. Chapter 6 focuses on states that sponsor terrorism (including Iran, Libya, North Korea, and Cuba), along with those that enable it to occur (particularly Greece and Pakistan). Pillar examines ways in which the American public's perspective toward terrorism can actually constrain counterterrorist policy, and he concludes that terrorism cannot be "defeated" only reduced, attenuated, and to some degree, controlled. The final chapter summarizes his recommendations f

Signal

Signal
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 678
Release: 2008
Genre: Armed Forces
ISBN:

The Handbook of Homeland Security

The Handbook of Homeland Security
Author: Scott N. Romaniuk
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 970
Release: 2023-07-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351385461

The Handbooks of Homeland Security Handbook is a convenient, one-stop reference and guide to the latest regulations and developments in all things relevant to the homeland security and defense domain. The book is divided into five parts and addresses such critical areas of as countering terrorism, critical infrastructure protection, information and cybersecurity, military and private sector support for Homeland Security, risk assessment, and preparedness for all-hazards and evolving threats. In total, more than 100 chapters outline the latest developments in homeland security policies, directives, and mandates as well as emergent threats and topical considerations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its stake-holders. The diverse array of chapter topics covered—contributed to by dozens of top experts in the field—provides a useful and important resource for any student, professional, researcher, policy-maker, or library in understanding the domestic initiatives of public-sector Homeland Security entities and their responsibilities in the current global environment.

Targeted Killing

Targeted Killing
Author: Thomas B. Hunter
Publisher: Thomas Hunter
Total Pages: 55
Release: 2009
Genre: Assassination
ISBN: 143925205X

This is an objective, strategic assessment of the role, usefulness, and logistical concerns posed by state-sponsored targeted killing and its overall efficiency in the current war on global terrorism.