NEWPORT - At the DIILS Legal Aspects of Combating Terrorism (LCT) graduation on 2 April, John Burnham, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Threat Reduction and Arms Control, exhorted the 24 participants from 23 nations to implement a whole-of-government approach to combatting terrorism.  Drawing on his active duty experience as a Navy Seal commander, DASD Burnham related
lessons learned from military and law enforcement cooperation during anti-terrorism operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The three-week DIILS LCT course explores effective means for combating terrorism within the rule of law, with emphasis on interagency cooperation. LCT is designed for military officers and civilian officials who are, or plan to be, involved with combating terrorism through law enforcement or military means.  LCT covers the international law that applies to combating terrorism in three contexts: internal disturbances, e.g., domestic crime; non-international armed conflict, e.g., insurgency; and international armed
conflict.
Participants, many from tropical zones, who braved the coldest and snowiest month of March on record in Newport, noted several important attributes of the DIILS LCT course, including these comments:
"In just three weeks' time, LCT provided us with information that is very useful and has broadened our horizon of how to deal with terrorism."
"[I enjoyed] meeting people from all over the world and getting to know their experience on dealing with terrorism."
"[I appreciated] getting the UN perspective on terrorism."