| URBAN C4ISTAR (‘The impact of 9/11 away from the
battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan’)
Introduction
The impacts of the terrorist attacks on the USA on
11th September 2001, in terms of the military response, are well
known. The deployments of armed forces to Iraq and Afghanistan are
reported daily. However, the subsequent attacks in Bali, Madrid and
London (7/7(2005)), to name a few, indicate that the ‘Global War on
Terror’ is not confined purely within the military battlespace, or
that it can be addressed solely by the world’s Armed Forces. Every
area is affected: Government buildings, embassies and large
financial institutions are perhaps obvious targets. However, there
remains an increasing need to protect the routine and normal aspects
of life: airports, railway stations (Madrid), sports venues and
large shopping malls; but do so in a manner that does not defeat
democracy. How can this be achieved?
Today’s Operations
This Symposium first sets as its backdrop not the
Iraq conflict but its aftermath: a situation where operations on the
battlefield are given a great deal of prominence. However, these
overt military actions pale compared to the many, behind the scenes,
security procedures being enacted throughout the civilian world to
protect the general public in many countries from the attempts of
terrorist groups to disrupt and instil fear into those societies. It
could be argued that the garnering of sound intelligence, the
correct analysis of that intelligence, and effective information
management of the product (including sharing across many diverse
national and international bodies); followed by effective action in
response to such intelligence is just as vital in the urban
environment of any large city as it is in the battlespace of Iraq or
Afghanistan. How do police, security services and emergency services
cope with the build up to – and on occasions the response to such
incidents?
The scene is set by a senior military figure in
the Homeland Security field setting out a Keynote address. This will
set out the fact that in the past many agencies and governments were
unready for the precipitate from the genesis of a Global War on
Terrorism. However, all governments have had to react quickly to
protect their populations. Often this response is in a more covert
manner to avoid either frightening their people or to avoid alerting
the terrorists to new preventative measures. The speaker may also
allude to challenges that the authorities are now addressing that
are outside the scope of the average electorate now – but which will
move to sharp focus in 6 or more years time (eg security of London
Olympics in 2012). Therefore, to meet the challenges we need
information superiority through an appropriate blend of
organisations, information, procedures and technology. The focus
then switches to the specific challenges of the military community
where such issues are within their bailiwick; and those of the
emergency services, where these are new and additional factors
affecting their training, resources and critically, their taut
budgets. The discussion will then look at the deeper technical
issues drawn from past experiences, addressing technical and
physical constraints and limits and other impacts, such as the
media, on a free society’s ability to counter ruthless terrorist
campaigns. Then, we will look at how Industry and technology are
helping to create a carapace of protection whilst still addressing
issues of personal freedom and liberty (eg items such as behavioural
recognition software, better information sharing and dissemination).
This will also include the experience of other countries and how we
might mitigate the challenges of the future. The day will round off
with a view on how the Government needs Industry to deliver key
technical and procedural solutions to match the challenges in this
new arena of conflict.
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