Law & Paneir

Washington, November 1, 1972. NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL INFORMATION November 1, 1972 MEMORANDUM FOR: MR. KISSINGER FROM: RICHARD T. KENNEDY SUBJECT: Status of USG Actions Against Terrorism This memo will bring you up to date on action taken since the Presidential September 25th directive to mount an all-out campaign against politically motivated international terrorism. In addition to the Cabinet Committee chaired by Secretary Rogers and its supporting Working Group headed by Armin Meyer, three other interagency action groups are refining plans to protect against, or react quickly to, acts of terrorism. All of our diplomatic missions abroad have been given detailed guida...

By Ben Brandt Ten years ago, al-Qa`ida utilized four U.S. commercial airliners to destroy the World Trade Center’s towers, damage the Pentagon, and kill close to 3,000 people. This attack spurred the United States to convert its counterterrorism efforts into a sustained war on terrorism, resulting in the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the capture or killing of hundreds of al-Qa`ida members, and the eventual death of al-Qa`ida chief Usama bin Ladin. There has been extensive reflection in recent months regarding the implications of Bin Ladin’s death and the Arab Spring to al-Qa`ida and its affiliated groups.   Two critical issues, however, have been partially sidelined as a result. How has the terrorist threat to commercial aviation evolved since the events of 9/11? How have actions by the U.S. and other governments worked to mitigate this threat? This article offers a thorough review of recent aviation-related terrorist plots, subsequent mitigation stra...