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THE CONFUSION OF HOMELAND SECURITY WITH HOMELAND DEFENSE
Colonel Jerry Cusic
US Army National Guard USAWC Class of 2009
The views expressed in the document are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Army War College, the U.S. Army National Guard, the U.S. Department of the Army, the U.S. Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. |
SUMMARY
The tenets of official United States counterterrorist policy states the government will make no concessions nor deal with
terrorists, will bring terrorists to justice for their crimes, will isolate and apply pressure to states that sponsor terrorism, and will
bolster the counterterrorist capabilities of countries willing to work with the United States.
Although these tenets are sound
principles, their application -- specifically, overseas or beyond the borders of the United States -- constitutes homeland
defense and undeniably the purview of Federal armed forces when it relates to defending the
United States from nation states or states acting as surrogate agents for non-state actors.
This AY-09 USAWC USAWC Resident Student author argures that the American public's
perspective of terrorism, however,is non-Clausewitzian; they do not necessarily see it as a continuation of national policy. Therefore, the use of Federal armed forces
against terrorists domestically suggests a misunderstanding of the nature of terrorism. Terrorism within the country's borders
is a criminal act and the proper responsibility of civil law enforcement.
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