Bush will name retired Army general and cyberterrorism expert to National Security Council jobs

By SCOTT LINDLAW
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – A holdover from the Clinton administration will oversee "cybersecurity" for President Bush, while a retired Army general will coordinate anti-terror efforts with military and intelligence counterparts.

Richard Clarke, who currently heads the government's counterterrorism team, will direct efforts to protect the nation's information infrastructure from attack, three administration officials said Sunday.

Retired Army Gen. Wayne Downing will coordinate intelligence and military resources in the anti-terror campaign, they said.

Clarke and Downing will serve Bush at the National Security Council, working alongside Tom Ridge, who was tapped by Bush to head a newly created, Cabinet-level Office of Homeland Security. While the officials said their precise roles have yet to be determined, two other White House aides said Clarke and Downing will work beneath Ridge in the anti-terror hierarchy.

Clarke has served as counterterrorism chief at the White House for more than a decade. He was appointed by President Clinton as the first national coordinator for security, infrastructure protection and counterterrorism.

He will head the new Office of Cyberspace Security, said the administration officials, who spoke on condition they not be identified.

Clarke has pointedly warned Congress, companies and local agencies about the potential for a "digital Pearl Harbor" in which a terrorist attack would paralyze computers, electrical grids and other key infrastructure.

Several nations have created information-warfare units, Clarke said in December. "These organizations are creating technology to bring down computer networks. Some are doing reconnaissance today on our networks, mapping them," he said.

One way to improve security throughout the Internet is to create secure lines of communication between the technology industry and the government, Clarke said. That way, they could share information about hackers and viruses without worrying about the public learning about them. Such a plan would require an exemption from the Freedom of Information Act, he said.

Earlier this year Bush considered eliminating the position that Clinton gave Clarke.

A draft executive order from Bush, obtained in July by The Associated Press, would have abolished the post in favor of a board of about 21 officials from all major federal agencies. The board would have reported to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Bush was expected to sign the order formalizing the changes some time after Labor Day, but apparently has shelved the plan following the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Downing, former chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command, will head a new White House Office for Combatting Terrorism.

He authored a task force report on the June 1996 terrorist bombing of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 U.S. servicemen. Downing's report blamed Pentagon leadership for failing to make counterterrorism a high enough priority to protect soldiers in the field – particularly those deployed in the Mideast.

The report concluded that U.S. forces are so far superior to potential foes that opponents have turned to terrorism as the only viable way of challenging them.

The administration has also drafted a manifesto outlining its goals in Afghanistan.

The memo, initially written for internal use, reminds readers that the U.S. government has given more aid to Afghanistan than any other nation has – $170 million this year. It emphasizes that the United States does not want to pick who leads the country, but will help those who seek to bring peace there.

APNP-09-30-01 1233CDT