Summary: September 11th and its Effects on the Fight Against Terrorism
From the perspective of state police and state protection agencies
Gert Rene Polli/Peter Gridling
In essence the publication states that fighting international terrorism requires a supranational definition of terrorism. Diverse political preferences and points of view (fight for freedom, guerilla...) still prevent such an internationally accepted definition. The EU was able to agree on such a definition as the smallest common denominator after 11 September 2001, defining terrorism as "the use or attempted use of force by a group of people, in order to achieve political goals". In the light of fighting terrorism the EU revised or created laws, respectively. However, the question remains whether intelligence and security services failed, since they were unable to prevent the attacks of 11 September 2001. Avoidable mistakes have been identified by now, and instead of "technology" people shall regain importance as a source of information. After the attacks of 11 September 2001 international as well as national cooperation in fighting terrorism has significantly increased.
On a national level the competencies for fighting terrorism are nowhere centralized. This bears the implicit risk of information loss and misjudgment, which may, however, also be due to an intentional or no longer adequate separation of police and intelligence services, as is the case in Germany.
As a strategic consequence of 11 September 2001 for politics the fight against terrorism has become a central securitypolitical task, since there is no longer a clear dividing line between internal and external security. This raises the controversial question about the role military forces may assume in the fight against terrorism. In Austria as elsewhere in Europe the fight against terrorism is a police task, while the role of the military forces remains limited to assistance tasks, in particular the protection of people and facilities. Within the framework of the socalled "Force Protection", however, the role of the forces is different. In such out of area operations the forces also assume police and security tasks due to the lack of regional structures.
In Austria the fight against terrorism is a state police matter and thus in the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior. The currently ongoing reform of the state police services foresees a shift from the Ministry of the Interior to a Federal Agency for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight Against Terrorism (BVT). The tasks and competencies will, by and large, remain the same. One central element of the reform, however, is the implementation of analysis as a means of strengthening the intelligence element of the traditional police structure. The analysis within the framework of state protection aims at fighting rather than just describing terrorism. I.e. strategic analysis will make use of operational intelligence gathering on the basis of legally relevant information. The quality and the interconnected flow of information distinguish the state police from other intelligence gathering structures in Austria. So far Austria does not have a tradition of using such analyses and information for securitypolitical purposes, which may change with the foundation of a National Security Council. Taking these factors into consideration, the Federal Agency for the Protection of the Constitution and the Fight Against Terrorism will be more than just part of an organizational reform of the state police.
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