Ridge sees global commitment against terrorism

Ridge sees global commitment against terrorism    U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said he is seeing a worldwide commitment among nations to cooperate and fight terrorism, including through transportation security initiatives.
   “A worldwide commitment and worldwide resolve is required. And worldwide, that is what we are seeing,” he told a conference at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore yesterday.
   “Since the events of Sept. 11, an informal counter-terrorism coalition of nearly 70 nations began working together in the critical areas of law enforcement, information sharing, transportation security, cyber security and financial asset seizure,” he added.
   Ridge said America has partners in the Asia-Pacific region and in the United Nations “in a true culture of cooperation.”
   “And that is important,” Ridge stressed. “Because we know all too well — from the terrorist attacks in America, in Bali, in Istanbul, in Riyadh, in the incidents of destruction and chaos that occur each and every day — that terrorism is a global scourge, not a regional one.”
   Ridge praised the state of Singapore for its participation in this global coalition against terrorism.
   “You were instrumental to the capture of many suspected members of Jemaah Islamiya, the al Qaeda-linked terrorist group believed to be responsible for the devastating Bali bombing of 2002,” he said.
   The international community now faces “two realities” in the fight for broad security, the U.S. official said. The first is that terrorists find safe haven in hostile nations or safe havens within the borders of failing governments and unstable regions. The second is the reality that terrorists have ready access to varying weapons of scope and scale,” built and tested in camps and caves across the deserts and mountain terrain in which they hide.”
   To fight back, countries must exploit all their assets, Ridge said.
   “We must investigate and prosecute and confiscate. We must utilize diplomacy, intelligence, law enforcement and asset seizure — a multilateral approach to a multinational problem,” he added.
   Another requirement, Ridge said, is to enlist the support of national leaders and their “governors, mayors, county executives, tribal leaders, airline personnel, border patrol agents, the intelligence community, law enforcement, firefighters, diplomatic officers, business leaders, international partners — citizens, and defenders of civil societies everywhere.”
   Commenting on U.S. security initiatives in transportation, Ridge said that the United States has “significantly strengthened security” at its borders, keeping the doors open to the free flow of trade and travelers.
   The United States has deployed newly trained screeners, thousands of federal air marshals and new technologies. It has introduced cooperative programs with the customs services of ports outside the country.
   “There is now a U.S. inspector in Rotterdam, in Singapore, in Hong Kong, working alongside other inspectors to ensure the safety of cargo and world commerce,” Ridge said.
   In the coming year, the Homeland Security Department and its partners will be focusing on several strategic priorities, Ridge said. He cited initiatives “that will bolster the global scope of our information sharing capabilities, integrate better service and security into our immigration practices, and drive the development of high technology to combat the weapons of high consequence.”
   Collaboration between the United States and Singapore, and nations, have also improved the ability to combat transnational crimes, including counterfeiting, drug trade, human trafficking and currency violations, Ridge added.