ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — An improved understanding of America’s war on terror both at home and abroad and its impact on our nation are among the goals of the Strategic Indirect Warfare 2002 Conference, Dec. 3-5 at the Albuquerque Marriott Hotel, 2101 Louisiana NE.
Hosted by the Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories, the conference will bring together experts representing a variety of interests in government, industry, and academia, including the CIA, FBI, Office of Homeland Security, Rand Corporation, Department of Defense, and the author of Future War, Col. John B. Alexander. For more information on the conference, including an agenda with speakers and topics, please go to http://www.sandia.gov/SIW2002/.
“The conference will examine the impact of the changing nature of warfare on homeland defense requirements, and further, educate the public about the likely consequences,” said conference organizer Dick Burcham of Sandia National Laboratories.
“In the global war on terrorism, the enemy is waging a strategic indirect war,” Burcham added. “For the nation to prevail in this war, a better understanding of the nature and complexities of strategic indirect warfare will be required.”
Strategic indirect warfare is defined as using all means — including armed force and non-armed force, military and non-military, and lethal and non-lethal — to force an enemy to accept one’s interests.
The conference begins at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, with a presentation by TJ Allard, director of homeland security operations at Sandia. The conference keynote address will be given by MG Bruce Lawlor of the U.S. Office of Homeland Security from 10 to 11 a.m.
“Homeland Security: How it will affect New Mexico and its public safety agencies,” will be the subject of a 45-minute presentation beginning at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4, by Thomas English, homeland security advisor to the Secretary, Department of Public Safety for the State of New Mexico.
Future War author Col. John B. Alexander will be on the role of non-lethal weapons in strategic indirect warfare from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. on Dec. 4.
Sandia Technical Contact: Dick Burcham, wrburch@sandia.gov, (505) 844-2512