June 11, 2004
By PETER ROPER
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
America's major cities are doing a better job of guarding against terror attacks, which means the threat will probably shift in the future to smaller communities, such as Pueblo — according to Drew Dix, a Pueblo native who was Alaska's Director of Homeland Security in 2002.
"What we need in the country is to raise the general level of awareness of the threat of terrorism so that people will be more observant in their daily lives," said Dix, who received the Medal of Honor while serving as a Special Forces team leader in Vietnam.
"A terrorist would only have to blow up a dam, like at Lake Pueblo, or drop a train off a railroad (bridge) and there would be National Guard troops at all the dams or railroad bridges in the nation the next day," Dix said in an extensive interview Thursday. "And we can't protect everything. So we need to raise that level of awareness among the public as a safeguard."
Awareness can take simple steps, like making certain a building's security staff is not working according to a regular, observable schedule. Or familiarizing doctors with the kinds of injuries that are associated with bomb-making, Dix said.
"We need an efficient system where people in the local community know when there is the danger of a particular kind of threat," he said. "Most government offices are pretty well protected. It's private businesses and infrastructure that are not." Dix, 57, isn't just talking platitudes or trying to frighten people. He has been working as a terrorism consultant for the nonprofit Archangel Corp. for several years — based largely on his 22 years as a special operations expert in the Army.
As homeland security director in Alaska, Dix developed a rapid communications network among the state's major corporations, such as oil companies, as well as the state and federal law enforcement agencies in order to quickly respond to any terrorist threat.
"At the federal level, the system is getting better in keeping the states and local communities informed on what threats are out there, and that's vital," Dix said.
He credited New York with developing an aggressive anti-terror network with federal officials, adding that he believed New York City is now one of the harder targets for terrorists to strike.
The federal Department of Homeland Security has been funneling money to major cities to help strengthen their law enforcement and emergency services.
"Terrorism is based on the opportunity to kill innocent people in vulnerable places," Dix said. "I see smaller cities and more remote areas becoming more vulnerable targets. "
Dix has left Alaska and now lives in southwestern New Mexico, but continues his consulting work for Archangel Corp. He helped host an anti-terrorism conference in Lakewood recently for state and federal agencies. Among the experts brought to the conference were Russian and Israeli intelligence officers.
Dix said the meeting was sobering because it underlined the ideological zeal of the Islamic terrorists that are waging war against the United States. Some of the alarming information discussed was that Islamic guerrillas in Chechnya have been using the same gruesome tactics of capturing and beheading Russian soldiers and contractors that were used against Nicholas Berg, the young American slain in Iraq.
"Americans should know that Nick Berg's murder wasn't anything new and there will probably be more such killings in the future," Dix said. "War is horrible and we are at war with these terrorists. Unfortunately, I think it is going to be with us for a long time to come."
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