NATIONAL SECURITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP89G00720R000700940001-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 8, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 27, 1988
• Content Type: MISC

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/10
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Note change in second paragraph on page 2 of
speech International Terrorism: Challenge for
the Future.
The new information was provided by
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/10
CIA-RDP89GO072OR000700940001-0
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/10: CIA-RDP89GO072OR000700940001-0
NATIONAL SECURITY -AND--RI-SK MANAGE-MENT CONFERENCE
AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION
27 JANUARY 1988
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM' CHALLENGE FOR THE FUTURE
BY ROBERT M. GATES
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. LET ME FIRST EXPRESS MY APPRECIATION
TO YOU FOR BEING INVITED TO ADDRESS THIS GATHERING ON A SUBJECT
THAT IS MUCH ON OUR MINDS, THE SPREAD OF INTERNATIONAL
TERRORISM. THIS MORNING I WILL SHARE WITH YOU HOW WE ASSESS
THIS WAR WITHOUT BORDERS CONDUCTED AGAINST AN ENEMY THAT IS
HARD TO FIND AND HARDER STILL TO DEFEND AGAINST.
THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE CANCER OF TERRORISM IS HERE TO
STAY AND, INDEED, SPREADING. PRELIMINARY FIGURES SHOW THAT THE
TOTAL NUMBER OF INCIDENTS WORLD-WIDE GREW FROM 774 IN 1986 TO
849 IN 1987 -- AN INCREASE MAINLY REFLECTING A DRAMATIC RISE IN
TERRORISM IN ASIA. THE UNITED STATES AND ITS FRIENDS AND
ALLIES CONTINUE TO BE THE PRIMARY TARGETS. THE SAD TOLL OF
KILLED AND INJURED GROWS MONTH BY MONTH. WE MUST EXPECT
TERRORISTS AROUND THE WORLD TO ADAPT TO OUR DEFENSIVE MEASURES
BY USING LARGER BOMBS, PERHAPS AGAINST SOFTER TARGETS, AND TO
CONTINUE THEIR WILLINGNESS TO HARM INNOCENT BYSTANDERS THROUGH
INDISCRIMINATE ATTACKS.
i
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/10: CIA-RDP89GO072OR000700940001-0
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/10: CIA-RDP89GO072OR000700940001-0
WHAT THE TERRORIST DOES IS KILL, MAIM, KIDNAP, TORTURE. His
VICTIMS MAY BE CHILDREN IN THE SCHOOLROOM, INNOCENT TRAVELERS ON
AIRPLANES, BUSINESSMEN RETURNING HOME FROM WORK, POLITICAL LEADERS,
DIPLOMATS, SOLDIERS. CIVILIANS ANYWHERE. THE TERRORIST'S VICTIMS
MAY HAVE NO PARTICULAR POLITICAL IDENTITY; OR THEY MAY BE POLITICAL
SYMBOLS, LIKE ALDO MORO OR -- PERHAPS -- POPE JOHN PAUL II. THEY
MAY BE KIDNAPPED AND HELD FOR RANSOM, MAIMED OR SIMPLY BLOWN TO
BITS. ONE DEFINING CHARACTERISTIC OF THE TERRORIST IS HIS CHOICE OF
METHOD: THE TERRORIST CHOOSES VIOLENCE AS THE INSTRUMENT OF FIRST
RESORT.
LET ME TALK FIRST ABOUT TERRORISM WITH ITS ROOTS IN THE MIDDL ,
EAST. IN 1983, MIDDLE EASTERN GROUPS ACCOUNTED FOR ABOUT ONE-FOURTH
OF ALL INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST INCIDENTS. BY 1985, THEIR SHARE HAD
REACHED ABOUT ONE-HALF, AND THROUGH 1987 TERRORISM OF MIDDLE EASTERN
ORIGIN CONTINUED TO ACCOUNT FOR ABOUT HALF OF ALL INTERNATIONAL
TERRORIST INCIDENTS. MIDDLE EAST TERRORISM CONTINUES TO REPRESENT'
THE GRAVEST DANGER TO THE UNITED STATES. THE MAJORITY OF U.S.
CASUALTIES HAVE OCCURRED IN INCIDENTS INVOLVING MIDDLE EASTERNERS.
MIDDLE EASTERN BOMBS HAVE TENDED TO BE LARGER, MORE SOPHISTICATED,
AND MORE LETHAL. MIDDLE EASTERN TERRORISTS GENERALLY ARE MORE
PROFESSIONAL AND PROFICIENT IN CLANDESTINE OPERATIONS THAN OTHERS,
AND THUS MORE DIFFICULT TO DETECT AND STOP. MOST IMPORTANT, IT IS
MIDDLE EASTERN TERRORISM THAT HAS HAD, AND WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE,
THE MOST SEVERE IMPACT ON U.S. FOREIGN POLICY CONCERNS.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/10: CIA-RDP89GO072OR000700940001-0
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/10: CIA-RDP89GO072OR000700940001-0
NATIONAL SECURITY AND RISK MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
AMERICAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION
27 JANUARY 1988
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM: CHALLENGE FOR THE FUTURE
BY ROBERT M. GATES
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. THIS MORNING I WILL SHARE WITH YOU
HOW WE ASSESS THE SPREAD OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM, A WAR
WITHOUT BORDERS CONDUCTED AGAINST AN ENEMY THAT IS HARD TO FIND
AND HARDER STILL TO DEFEND AGAINST.
THE CANCER OF TERRORISM IS HERE TO STAY AND, INDEED, IS
SPREADING. THE UNITED STATES AND ITS FRIENDS AND ALLIES
CONTINUE TO BE THE PRIMARY TARGETS. THE SAD TOLL OF KILLED AND
INJURED GROWS MONTH BY MONTH.
WHAT THE TERRORIST DOES IS KILL, MAIM, KIDNAP, TORTURE.
HIS VICTIMS MAY BE CHILDREN IN THE SCHOOLROOM, INNOCENT
TRAVELERS ON AIRPLANES, BUSINESSMEN RETURNING HOME FROM WORK,
POLITICAL LEADERS, DIPLOMATS, SOLDIERS, CIVILIANS ANYWHERE.
THE TERRORIST'S VICTIMS MAY HAVE NO PARTICULAR POLITICAL
IDENTITY; OR THEY MAY BE POLITICAL SYMBOLS, LIKE ALDO MORO OR
-- PERHAPS -- POPE JOHN PAUL II. THEY MAY BE KIDNAPPED AND
HELD FOR RANSOM, MAIMED OR SIMPLY BLOWN TO BITS. ONE DEFINING
CHARACTERISTIC OF THE TERRORIST IS HIS CHOICE OF METHOD: THE
TERRORIST CHOOSES VIOLENCE AS THE INSTRUMENT OF FIRST RESORT.
LET ME TALK FIRST ABOUT TERRORISM WITH ITS ROOTS IN THE
MIDDLE EAST. IN 1983, MIDDLE EASTERN GROUPS ACCOUNTED FOR
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/10: CIA-RDP89GO072OR000700940001-0
 Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/10: CIA-RDP89G00720R000700940001-0
ABOUT ONE-FOURTH OF ALL INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST INCIDENTS. BY
1985, THEIR SHARE HAD REACHED ABOUT ONE-HALF, AND THROUGH 1987
TERRORISM OF MIDDLE EASTERN ORIGIN CONTINUED TO ACCOUNT FOR
ABOUT HALF OF ALL INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST INCIDENTS. MIDDLE
EAST TERRORISM CONTINUES TO REPRESENT THE GRAVEST DANGER TO THE
UNITED STATES. THE MAJORITY OF U.S. CASUALTIES HAVE OCCURRED
IN INCIDENTS INVOLVING MIDDLE EASTERNERS. MIDDLE EASTERN BOMBS
HAVE TENDED TO BE LARGER, MORE SOPHISTICATED, AND MORE LETHAL.
MIDDLE EASTERN TERRORISTS GENERALLY ARE MORE PROFESSIONAL AND
PROFICIENT IN CLANDESTINE OPERATIONS THAN OTHERS, AND THUS MORE
DIFFICULT TO DETECT AND STOP. MOST IMPORTANT, IT IS MIDDLE
EASTERN TERRORISM THAT HAS HAD, AND WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE, THE
MOST SEVERE IMPACT ON U.S. FOREIGN POLICY CONCERNS.
LET ME OUTLINE FOR YOU SOME OF OUR CONCERNS ABOUT THE
FUTURE OF MIDDLE EASTERN TERRORISM:
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/08/10 : CIA-RDP89G00720R000700940001-0