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USIS Washington 
File

08 January 1999

TRANSCRIPT: ALBRIGHT VOWS TO STEP UP SECURITY EFFORTS JAN. 8

(SecState discusses Accountability Review Board Report) (1730)



Washington -- Secretary of State Albright says the State Department is
improving its programs for dealing with vehicle bomb attacks, such as
those that killed 220 people last August at the US Embassies in
Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam.


Albright reviewed US efforts to improve embassy security during a
briefing January 8 on the release of a report that assessed the
security arrangements at the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.


Albright established the Accountability Review Boards to examine the
circumstances of the nearly simultaneous August 7 bombings in East
Africa. The two boards were led by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff and US Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Admiral William
Crowe.


The State Department is required to respond within three months to the
recommendations contained in the final report of the boards.


According to Albright, the State Department is already implementing
some of the report's recommendations. "We will continue to implement
additional physical protection measures as rapidly as we can," she
said.


She noted, however, "that the price tag of needed measures to improve
security is, and will probably remain -- at least for the foreseeable
future -- higher than the resources we have available for that
purpose."


But she warned that "no matter how careful we are or how much we
spend, we cannot guarantee that there will be no more attacks and no
more innocent victims." The forces of international terrorism, she
observed, are "shadowy, mobile and unpredictable."


To further coordinate efforts to improve US Embassy security,
President Clinton, in response to Albright's recommendation, has
appointed a career law enforcement professional, David Carpenter, to
be Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security.


Following is the State Department transcript:



(begin transcript)



U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Office of the Spokesman



Washington, D.C.



January 8, 1999



REMARKS BY SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT

ON REPORT OF THE ACCOUNTABILITY REVIEW BOARDS

ON THE EMBASSY BOMBINGS IN NAIROBI AND DAR ES SALAAM



SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Good morning. Last August 7, terrorist bombs
exploded near our Embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam, killing 220
persons and injuring more than 4,000 -- many of whom were simply
bystanders.


Among the dead were 12 American and 40 Kenyan and Tanzanian US Embassy
employees and family members. We grieve for all the victims and we
have not, and will never, cease to mourn the loss of our loved ones,
colleagues and friends.


In the aftermath of those murders and pursuant to federal law, I
established two Accountability Review Boards to investigate the
bombings and recommend improved security systems and procedures.
Because of the related nature of the incidents, the two boards are
chaired by the same individual, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
and US Ambassador to the Court of St. James, Admiral William Crowe.


Earlier this morning, I received from the boards their combined
report. After my remarks, Admiral Crowe will discuss that report and
respond to the questions you might have.


I want to begin by thanking Admiral Crowe and the very distinguished
and respected members of the two review boards. They have given
selflessly of their time and effort in service to the Department of
State and to our country. They have produced a report that warrants
the attention of Americans inside and outside government. It is a
report that is intended to save lives and to raise a flag of warning
about the ever-changing nature of the international terrorist threat.


Under the law, we are required to respond within three months to the
recommendations contained in the report. We will begin immediately to
prepare such a response, but I also have some preliminary comments I
would like to make.


First, the report pays tribute to the diligence and professionalism of
America's Ambassador in Nairobi, Prudence Bushnell, and to our then
Charge in Dar Es Salaam, John Lange and to the remarkable courage
shown by their respective Embassy teams in responding to the bombings.
I wholeheartedly endorse that assessment, and wanted to underline it
for you.


In addition, the boards found that the security systems and procedures
followed by the two embassies were in accord with State Department
policy. In both cases, the terrorists were prevented from breaching
the perimeter of the post involved. In neither case did US employees
or members of the military breach their duty.


The boards did, however, identify a collective failure by the
Executive and Legislative Branches of our government over the past
decade to provide adequate resources to reduce the vulnerability of US
diplomatic missions. The reports suggest that responsibility for this
failure must be shared broadly, including by the Secretary of State;
and I accept that. It reminds us all that no matter how much we care,
no matter how much we do, we can always do more when the lives of our
people are on the line.


The report cites some of the steps we have taken, particularly since
August, to strengthen perimeter defense, increase the number of our
security personnel and speed necessary construction and repair. It
notes, as well, the approval by Congress of a security-related
supplemental appropriation of more than $1 billion.


The boards conclude, however, and I agree, that these measures must be
viewed as just an initial deposit towards what is required to provide
for the security of our posts overseas. According to the report -- and
I quote -- "We must undertake a comprehensive and long-term strategy,
including sustained funding for enhanced security measures; for
long-term costs for increased security personnel; and for a capital
building program based on an assessment of requirements to meet the
new range of global terrorist threats."


The boards stress, and again I concur, that additional funds for
security must be obtained without diverting funds from our major
foreign affairs programs. Let me emphasize this point because it is
key. We must not hollow out our foreign policy. We need to protect our
diplomats, but we also need the resources required to protect American
interests.


The embassy bombings provide stark evidence that the work this
Department does is not only important, but also dangerous. America is
a leading voice everywhere for freedom and tolerance, justice and law.
As a result, we are befriended by many and respected by most; but we
are also misunderstood by some and viciously opposed by a few. With
today's technologies, small numbers can generate deadly consequences.


The forces of international terror are led by individuals who have
shown contempt for human life and the rule of law; that much is
certain. But those forces are also shadowy, mobile, and unpredictable.
As the Crowe Report reflects, we cannot assume knowledge about when or
where strikes may occur. We cannot assume past patterns will be
repeated. We cannot assume that any post is safe.


I want to make clear no matter how careful we are or how much we
spend, we cannot guarantee that there will be no more attacks and no
more innocent victims. We can guarantee that the cowards who launch
such an attack will be pursued by every means wherever they go for as
long as they live. The confrontation with international terror doesn't
lend itself to quick or complete victories. It's long-term. To
prevail, we must vigilant in defending ourselves and persistent in
soliciting international cooperation. We must make full use of every
available foreign policy tool.


After an initial review of the report from the Accountability Review
Boards, I'm pleased that the Department is already implementing or
studying the best way to implement a significant number of its
recommendations. Obviously, I cannot detail in public everything that
we are doing, often in partnership with others, to prevent and prepare
for a potential terrorist attacks.


I can say, however, that we will continue to implement additional
physical protection measures as rapidly as we can. We are improving
our programs for dealing with vehicle bomb attacks, such as those
experienced in Africa. We see the need for additional crisis
management training and have begun such a project at the Foreign
Service Institute. We are working closely with host governments, and I
want to publicly thank the many that have come through in recent
months to help us prevent further attacks.


Finally, we agree fully with the boards on our need to demonstrate the
high priority we attach to security issues. This is one reason why I
recommended to the President that he break precedent and appoint a
career law enforcement professional, David Carpenter, as our new
Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security. Assistant
Secretary Carpenter is helping us to get out the message to all our
posts that in today's world there is nothing automatic about security;
it's every person's responsibility. No detail should be overlooked; no
precaution should be shrugged off; and nothing should be taken for
granted.


I must add that in addition to protective measures, such as those
recommended in today's report, we're working closely with other US
agencies and with law-respecting nations around the world to disrupt
and neutralize terrorist threats and to bring terrorists to justice.


Admiral Crowe's mandate was to investigate the embassy bombings and to
recommend ways to approve security. As Secretary of State, I have a
broader mandate to ensure the effective promotion of US interests and
values around the world.


We all recognize that the price tag of needed measures to improve
security is, and will probably remain -- at least for the foreseeable
future -- higher than the resources we have available for that
purpose.


The result is that we will continually have to make difficult and
inherently subjective decisions about how best to use the resources we
have and about how to reconcile security imperatives with our need to
do business overseas.


The Accountability Review Boards have performed a great service by
highlighting these issues. It will be our task during the coming 90
days to prepare a thorough and thoughtful response. It's our
intention, on an ongoing basis, to work within the Administration,
with our colleagues on Capitol Hill both to provide maximum protection
for our people and maximum support for the critical foreign policy
objectives of the United States.


Thank you and I now will turn the floor over to our very distinguished
and altogether admirable Admiral, William J. Crowe.


(end text)