I thought you might be interested in this, which was posted in today's New York Times web site.
"President Clinton said Thursday that it is "highly likely" that a terrorist group will launch or threaten a germ or chemical attack on American soil within the next few years.
In an interview in the Oval Office, Clinton said he had been persuaded by intelligence reports that the United States needs to bolster its defenses.
"I just want the American people to know what they need to know and have a realistic view of this," the President said in the 45-minute interview, "not to be afraid, or asleep. I think that's the trick."
Without providing specifics, Clinton warned that any attack with germ or chemical weapons would prompt "at least a proportionate if not a disproportionate response." The United States has signed treaties not to use chemical or germ weapons.
Clinton said he is weighing a proposal from the Defense Department to establish a commander in chief for the defense of the continental United States, a step that civil liberties groups strongly resist.
Such a program would go far beyond the civil defense measures and bomb shelters that marked the cold war, setting up instead a military leadership to help fight chaos and disarray if an attack occurred. Pentagon commanders oversee regions around the globe, but not the continental United States.
Critics fear such moves could open the door to rising military influence and a loss of individual rights, but Clinton insisted that such erosions would never occur. "
"President Clinton said Thursday that it is "highly likely" that a terrorist group will launch or threaten a germ or chemical attack on American soil within the next few years.
In an interview in the Oval Office, Clinton said he had been persuaded by intelligence reports that the United States needs to bolster its defenses.
"I just want the American people to know what they need to know and have a realistic view of this," the President said in the 45-minute interview, "not to be afraid, or asleep. I think that's the trick."
Without providing specifics, Clinton warned that any attack with germ or chemical weapons would prompt "at least a proportionate if not a disproportionate response." The United States has signed treaties not to use chemical or germ weapons.
Clinton said he is weighing a proposal from the Defense Department to establish a commander in chief for the defense of the continental United States, a step that civil liberties groups strongly resist.
Such a program would go far beyond the civil defense measures and bomb shelters that marked the cold war, setting up instead a military leadership to help fight chaos and disarray if an attack occurred. Pentagon commanders oversee regions around the globe, but not the continental United States.
Critics fear such moves could open the door to rising military influence and a loss of individual rights, but Clinton insisted that such erosions would never occur. "