Presidential directive

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National Security Decision Directive 114, signed by Ronald Reagan

Presidential directives are a form of executive order issued by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the National Security Council. As a form of executive order, a presidential directive has the "full force and effect of law."^[1]

Because of the nature of presidential directives as pertaining to the national security of the United States, many presidential directives are promulgated as classified. Various presidents since the administration of John F. Kennedy have issued such directives but under different names.

[edit] Names for National Security Directives by administration

After the hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship and interagency problems over responsibility for coordinating terrorism efforts, a National Security Decision Directive was signed by President Reagan in early 1986. This gave the State Department responsibility for coordinating international terrorism policy.

After September 11, 2001, George Bush issued Homeland Security Presidential Directives (HSPDs), with the consent of the Homeland Security Council. The first such directive created the Homeland Security Council while the second changed immigration policies to combat terrorism. The most recent HSPD (HSPD-21) was issued October 18, 2007 and called for public and private healthcare organizations, hospitals and healthcare facilities to form a system of "disaster healthcare" the definition of which mimicked the definition of disaster medicine.

The State Department was put in charge of coordinating the efforts of CIA, DOD, and FBI efforts to track and deal with terrorism. The first man in charge was L. Paul Bremer with the title Coordinator for Counter Terrorism at State Department (S/CT).

According to Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy, "Of the 54 National Security Presidential Directives issued by the (George W.) Bush Administration to date, the titles of only about half have been publicly identified. There is descriptive material or actual text in the public domain for only about a third. In other words, there are dozens of undisclosed Presidential directives that define U.S. national security policy and task government agencies, but whose substance is unknown either to the public or, as a rule, to Congress."^[2]

[edit] Presidential directive NSPD 54

The NSA (headquarters pictured) was authorized in 2008 to monitor domestic federal networks.^[3]

As the number of actual attacks as well as perceived threats to U.S. networks increased during the mid-2000s, Einstein became mandatory. U.S. departments and agencies had reported a large increase in security incidents for 2007.^[4] The U.S. Department of State, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security itself experienced attacks during late 2006 and early 2007.^[3] A presidential directive was discussed in 2007 and issued on January 8, 2008 and is known by three names: National Security Presidential Directive (NSPD) 54, Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 23 and the Cyber Initiative.^[5][3] Although the directive and its details are classified, it is public information that Einstein is no longer optional.^[6]

The CIA (headquarters pictured), one of four agencies authorized to monitor federal agency networks^[3]

Following NSPD 54, three agencies were authorized to conduct domestic intrusion detection in addition to DHS: the National Security Agency (NSA), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Cyber Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).^[3] The NSA has a "twofold mission" to protect U.S. information systems and to produce foreign signals intelligence information, but previously had been "authorized by law to collect only foreign intelligence information".^[7] A task force led by the office of the Director of National Intelligence became responsible for efforts to identify the source of attacks, and the Pentagon was authorized to develop counterattacks.^[3]

The FBI (headquarters pictured), one of four agencies authorized to monitor federal agency networks^[3]

It was decided that DHS lacked the "expertise and authority" to lead the effort, for example, the Office of Management and Budget had assessed a Federal Emergency Management Agency/DHS division as not demonstrating results.^[8] DHS was directed to protect systems^[3] and as of 2008 remained the lead "for assuring the security, resiliency and reliability" of the nation's information technology and "communications infrastructure".^[9] US-CERT remained the department's response center responsible for the nation's "Internet infrastructure".^[9] DHS continued to promote Einstein and the goal of its use in all federal agencies and departments.^[9]

[edit] See also

• Presidential memorandum
• PDD 62 Combating Terrorism

[edit] External links

Wikisource has several original texts related to: Presidential Directives (United States Government)

• Homeland Security Watch (www.HLSwatch.com) provides current details on HSPS-1 implementation
• List of National Security Presidential Directives and Homeland Security Presidential Directives, Federation of American Scientists
• National Security Action Memorandums | Document & Images From The Presidential Papers of John Fitzgerald Kennedy | National Security Files
• Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
• JFK | NSAMs list | PDF
• Federation of American Scientists Collection of Presidential Directives
• Presidential Directives: Background and Overview | PDF
• Terrorism: Why The Numbers Matter By Larry C Johnson, Managing Director BERG Associates, LLC
• The National Security Archive - George Washington University
• Homeland Security Presidential Directives

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Continuity of Operations Plan
• National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive (NSPD-51)

[edit] External links

Wikinews has related news: NSA to participate in U.S. cybersecurity

• List of National Security Presidential Directives and Homeland Security Presidential Directives, Federation of American Scientists
• Homeland Security Watch (www.HLSwatch.com) provides current details on HSPD-1 implementation