Late last year, the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism released a new report, “World At Risk”. The bipartisan commission is chaired by former U.S. Senator Bob Graham and co-chaired by former U.S. Senator Jim Talent.
As this blog was on hiatus when the report was released, I did not have a chance to mention it. However, I wanted to note its important suggestions on how the public can help make the nation more secure from and prepared for the threat of WMD’s.
The report’s final chapter, titled “The Role of the Citizen”, recommends that “the next administration must work to openly and honestly engage the American citizen, encouraging a participatory approach to meeting the challenges of the new century.” And it adds the following “action” steps:
ACTION: The federal government should practice greater openness of public information so that citizens better understand the threat and the risk this threat poses to them.
ACTION: The next administration should, as a priority, work with a consortium of state and local governments to develop a publicly available checklist of actions each level of government should take to prevent or ameliorate the consequences of WMD terrorism. Such a checklist could be used by citizens to hold their governments accountable for action or inaction.
ACTION: The federal government should seek to strengthen its ties with immigrant and second-generation populations, especially from the Middle East and Asia, to encourage greater engagement and investment by private U.S. citizens in improving the civil and cultural institutions of foreign partners.
ACTION: As a priority of the next administration, the Secretary of Homeland Security should release a set of recommendations on which citizens can act to improve preparedness against potential WMD attacks. Such recommendations could range from following the Red Cross disaster preparedness guidelines to encouraging their workplaces and children’s schools to prepare emergency plans.
The next administration has a chance to reengage the public in establishing a culture of preparedness. Within the first six months, the next Secretary of Homeland Security, building on the wide range of knowledge located in think tanks, state and local governments, universities, and other centers of expertise, should release a set of clear and specific actions that citizens can take to improve their preparedness for WMD attacks.
Educating the public on the unfamiliar and sometimes offputting topic of preparing the public for WMD’s is a challenging task for government, but it is very a necessary one. I congratulate the Commission for highlighting and accelerating that process.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Should We Change The Definition of “Weapons of Mass Destruction” (WMD’s) So Public Understands Threats Better? // Feb 9, 2009 at 9:01 am
[...] late last year by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Terrorism. As I wrote previously, ”World At Risk” includes a refreshingly significant focus on the role of the citizen [...]
2 Informing Public On Potential Threats Is “Urgent” Priority, WMD Commission Chair Bob Graham Says In Interview // Mar 9, 2009 at 7:31 am
[...] WMD commission released a report, “World At Risk,” late last year which I have written about on the blog previously. Its last chapter, “Role of the Citizen”, emphasizes the important role of the [...]
3 Leading Homeland Security Public Communications Expert Appointed Executive Director Of WMD Commission // Apr 18, 2009 at 12:09 pm
[...] I have written before, the Report gave a refreshingly significant amount of attention on the role of the citizen. (In fact, “Role of the Citizen” is the title of its [...]
4 New Bill Would Require U.S. Provide Better WMD Terror Threat/Evacuation Info To Public; Legislation Would Codify Recommendations Of Commission // Sep 8, 2009 at 2:58 pm
[...] Commission’s report put a special emphasis on the public’s role in WMD preparedness. In fact, The report’s final chapter, titled “The Role of the Citizenâ€, recommends that [...]
5 As “WMD” Bill Is Introduced And Terror Suspect Is Indicted For Conspiracy To Use “WMD,” Does The Term “WMD” Need To Be Clarified For Public? // Sep 25, 2009 at 12:16 pm
[...] a bill that would implement many of the extensive recommendations of the commission’s report, World at Risk. “The mental images of mushroom clouds and nuclear blasts are powerful and frightening,” [...]
6 In Interview, Terror Alert Task Force Co-Chair Townsend Says U.S. Will Still Need New Plan With Specifics On What & How To Inform Public About Threats Even After Color Scheme Is Chosen; Expresses Disappointment Media Organizations Declined To Offer In // Oct 19, 2009 at 11:54 am
[...] of something WMD Commission Chair Bob Graham told me earlier this year. His panel’s report urged the government to better inform and engage the public on the WMD threats. However, when the Commission looked for something to recommend, he recalled, it couldn’t [...]
7 In New Video, WMD Commission’s Graham & Talent Ask “Why Weren’t H1N1 Vaccines Available For Children Before School Started?”; Urge Public To Push Officials To Improve Nation’s Capability To Produce Vaccines // Oct 28, 2009 at 1:12 pm
[...] resources are available at www.FasterVaccines.org. It is part of the Commission’s effort to engage citizens on issues of bioterrorism and weapons of mass [...]
8 Top DHS Official Says U.S. Has “To Start Thinking Very Seriously About What We Would Actually Do The Day After [A Nuclear Or Biological] Attack” — And Explain To Public We Could Recover // Jun 10, 2010 at 3:33 pm
[...] will aim to improve U.S. efforts to prevent, deter, detect, and respond to a WMD attack. In its final report, the Commission emphasized the need to educate the public on these threats along the lines that O’Toole mentioned in her [...]
9 U.S. House Legislation Introduced Today Would Require Govt. To Better Inform Public On WMD’s // Jun 11, 2010 at 7:52 am
[...] most interest to this blog, the bill has several provisions that deal specifically with public information, a significant focus of the WMD Commission report and its chairman Bob [...]
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