Ashcroft calls Americans 'target of choice' for terrorists

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Calling Americans the "target of choice" for international terrorists, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Wednesday a new office created by President Bush to combat terrorism will complement Justice Department efforts.

Speaking at the second day of a three-day Senate hearing on the issue, Ashcroft outlined some sobering statistics for lawmakers.

"Americans comprise only about 5 percent of the world's population," he said. "However, according to our State Department statistics, during the decade of the 90s ,36 percent of all worldwide terrorist acts were directed against U.S. interests."

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Ashcroft told lawmakers his department will continue to play a "central role" in helping state and local governments prepare for possible terrorist attacks.

That's important, Ashcroft said, because international terrorists have sometimes carried out their acts on U.S. soil.

"We are in the process of completing training and exercises for the nation's largest 120 cities under the Domestic Preparedness Program," Ashcroft said, adding that his department is also developing an exercise for top government officials dealing with weapons of mass destruction.

Bush announced Tuesday that the administration's anti-terrorism activities will be coordinated under the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Vice President Dick Cheney is heading up a task force to clarify how the national, multi-agency effort should proceed.

In an interview Tuesday with CNN, Cheney said the "biggest threats" to the United States no longer come from "conventional military" powers, but from terrorists, either domestic or international.

"The threat to the continental United States and our infrastructure is changing and evolving. ... We need to look at the whole area," Cheney said, describing it as "homeland defense."

Disaster agency to coordinate terrorism response
May 8, 2001

Attorney General John Ashcroft
U.S. Department of Justice

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