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Home page  About CSIS Programs Homeland Security Program Homeland Security Strategy Forum Dark Winter - Bioterrorism Simulation Exercise
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Dark Winter - Bioterrorism Simulation Exercise
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Project Scholars: Phil Anderson, Senior Associate, International Security Program; David Heyman, Director, Homeland Security Program
On June 22, 2001, a group of senior-level officials, including Gov. Frank Keating of Oklahoma, former adviser to the president David Gergen, and former director of central intelligence James Woolsey, convened a two-day meeting at Andrews Air Force Base to participate in a war game exercise. Dark Winter simulated a U.S. National Security Council meeting in which senior officials were confronted with a smallpox attack on the United States. The exercise clearly illustrated the issues to be addressed in the event of a bioterrorism crisis, including the challenges facing state and local governments, the role and responsiveness of the federal government, and the likely friction spots between federal and state-level responders and responses. Coming as it did before the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the subsequent anthrax attacks, Dark Winter generated an enormous amount of interest in both the public policy community as well as in the media. CSIS briefed Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, FEMA Director Joe Allbaugh, approximately 20 ambassadors to the United States, and senior government officials in Asia, Latin America, and Europe. Over 80 members of Congress have been briefed on Dark Winter, including both the House and Senate Democratic Caucuses and a significant number of Congressional committees focused on national security issues. In addition to raising public awareness of the bioterrorism threat, these briefings also contributed to the Bush administration's decision to manufacture 300 million doses of smallpox vaccine.
For more information on this project, please contact David Heyman, Director, Homeland Security Program, dheyman@csis.org |
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