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Clinton Seeks Anti-Terrorism Aid
By SONYA ROSS Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- Warning that terrorists are seeking new tools of destruction, President Clinton said today he will ask Congress for $2.8 billion to help the United States guard against attacks via computers, viruses or chemicals. ``The enemies of peace realize they cannot defeat us with traditional means,'' Clinton said in a speech at the National Academy of Sciences. He said the United States has to guard against attacks on the nation's computer network, banking systems, power grids and other essential services. Similarly, he said the government must accelerate research and development into defenses against germ warfare and chemical attacks. ``We're doing everything we can in ways that I can -- and ways that I cannot -- discuss to try to stop people who would misuse chemical and biological capacity from getting that capacity,'' the president said. ``This is not a cause for panic,'' he added. ``It is a cause for serious, deliberate, disciplined, long-term concern. And I am absolutely convinced that if we maintain our clear purpose and our strength of will, we will prevail here. We have better than a good chance of success but we must be deliberate and we must be aggressive. The threat that ``keeps me awake at night,'' he told The New York Times in an interview, is the possibility of germ attack. ``A chemical attack would be horrible, but it would be finite,'' he said, adding that it would not spread. But a biological attack could spread, ``kind of like the gift that keeps on giving,'' the president said. He told the newspaper it is ``highly likely'' that a terrorist group would launch or threaten a germ or chemical attack on American soil within the next few years. The president warned that any attack would lead to ``at least a proportionate if not a disproportionate response.'' Clinton's plan, to be included in his fiscal 2000 budget proposal next month, is intended to ensure the United States is able to defend against, and ready to respond to, any such terrorist attacks, national security spokesman David Leavy said. The president's plan earmarks $52 million to continue purchasing a national stockpile of medicine and vaccines to protect the civilian population. It also envisions $683 million to train and equip emergency personnel in U.S. cities and strengthen the public health infrastructure. The president proposed $206 million to protect government facilities and $381 million for research and development. In his State of the Union address Tuesday, Clinton told Congress that the nation must upgrade its defenses in light of the advent of technology and ``increased dangers from outlaw nations and terrorism.'' He cited the bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa and the retaliatory U.S. airstrikes strikes on terrorist strongholds in Afghanistan and Sudan as examples. ``The bombing of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania reminds us of the risks faced every day by those who represent America to the world,'' Clinton said. ``We will work to keep terrorists from disrupting computer networks, to prepare local communities for biological and chemical emergencies and to support research into vaccines and treatments.'' He wants Congress to approve $1.46 billion to improve computer security and protect the nation's critical infrastructure, such as power-generation plants, telecommunications, banking, transportation and emergency services. The president also proposed spending $1.3 billion to combat a germ or chemical weapon attack against Americans. The president's initiative would establish a network of ``intrusion detection monitors'' that would alert and defend other computer networks in case one was stricken by a cyberattack, the official said. The monitors would help prevent certain federal agencies, such as the State Department, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, from being crippled by such an attack. The nation's awareness and fear over terrorism, both at home and abroad, have increased dramatically since Clinton took office six years ago. Since then, there have been the two embassy bombings as well as deadly attacks in Oklahoma City and the World Trade Center in New York. The administration has been reviewing the issue since the Oklahoma City bombing, and renewed its urgency after national security experts gained access to unclassified Pentagon computer systems during a cyberwar game last year. The access would have allowed them to disrupt troop movements, Pentagon officials said at the time. Officials quickly detected an attempt by a group of U.S. and Israeli teen-agers to break into Pentagon computers in February 1998, but could not determine for several days that the attack was an act of vandalism, not foreign aggression. AP-NY-01-22-99 1116EST
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