Who are they?
Dr. Robert Gates secretary of Defense
Established in 1947
Pentagon is the headquarters of The Department of Defense
The Department of Defense is a mammoth organization. As estimated in The 9/11 commission (Article 3.5) The Department of Defense has the annual budget that exceeds the GDP of Russia.
During September 11 attack a plane crashed into Pentagon and 125 people died
Videos, which showed airplanes crashing into the building of Pentagon, were published on the Internet (Russian Version)
For all directives, speeches, statements related to war on terror follow the hyperlink.
Priorities:
Before 9/11, as the report showed, in mid-nineties the top priority for the Department of Defense was planning how to handle the possibility of a domestic terrorist incident involving WMD. This included training responders to such kind of threat. So, one may claim that the threat was not expected in the way it happened on 9/11: it was expected from a different direction.
So After 9/11 it became evident to many that the Department of Defense also had holes in its system. A common miss apprehension would be to say that the department of Defense is mainly concerned with external threat. When asked Who is responsible for defending us at home? the majority answers first, The Department of Defensesecond, the Department of Homeland Security.
After terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 the main priorities have been:
-Focusing on external strategic threats to the country
-Providing the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of the US.
-Through military forces of the United States preparing the country for terrorist attacks; prepare programs in order to deter war.
-After 9/11 the top 1st priority was the War in Afghanistan.
- In 2007 Pentagon claimed that Khalid Scheich Mohammed was one of those who organized the September attacks. Mohammed is kept in Guantanamo.
Expert Recommendations for more effective work of the DoD