Preventing Terrorism in the United States

Preventing Terrorism in the United States1

Preventing Terrorism in the United States

Following the Guidelines of the American Psychological Association of Style

Introduction

“At 8:46 on the morning of September 11, 2001, the United States became a nation transformed,” (United States Government, 2004). Since this time everywhere in the United States has become a need for security. Buildings that once could be entered into with ease now require tight security measures in order to enter. Airspace has been carefully monitored ever since to avoid from terrorist attacks in America to ever happen again. Here is what happened:

An airliner traveling at hundreds of miles per hour and carrying some 10,000 gallons of jet fuel plowed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. At 9:03, a second airliner hit the South Tower. Fire and smoke billowed upward. Steel, glass, ash, and bodies fell below. The Twin Towers, where up to 50,000 people worked each day, both collapsed less than 90 minutes later. At 9:37 that same morning, a third airliner slammed into the western face of the Pentagon. At 10:03, a fourth airliner crashed in a field in southern Pennsylvania. It had been aimed at the United States Capitol or the White House, and was forced down by heroic passengers armed with the knowledge that America was under attack. More than 2,600 people died at the World Trade Center; 125 died at the Pentagon; 256 died on the four planes. The death toll surpassed that at Pearl Harbor in December 1941. This immeasurable pain was inflicted by 19 young Arabs acting at the behest of Islamist extremists headquartered in distant Afghanistan. Some had been in the United States for more than a year, mixing with the rest of the population. Though four had training as pilots, most were not well-educated. Most spoke English poorly, some hardly at all. In groups of four or five, carrying with them only small knives, box cutters, and cans of Mace or pepper spray, they had hijacked the four planes and turned them into deadly guided missiles (United States Government, 2004).

Another account of what happened comes from Yale Global Online (2016):

Ten years ago, a small group of men launched unprecedented terrorist attacks on icons of American power. The dramatic attack by Al Qaeda ushered in an era of seemingly unending war between organized states and shadowy groups. This YaleGlobal series examines the continuing reverberations from the 9/11 attacks, which lured the US into long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The US has successfully foiled attacks since, but Al Qaeda remains intent on igniting global war to establish an Islamic caliphate, warns Bruce Riedel, former US intelligence officer and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Saban Center for Middle East Policy, in the first of two articles. A key caliphate link would be South Asia. Despite many attempts, Al Qaeda and the Pakistani group Lashkar-e-Taiba have failed to bait India into war with Pakistan. The extremists keep plotting, hoping to ignite reckless conflicts between the US and Iran, Egypt and Israel. Fortunately, the extremism appalls most Muslims, and most state leaders detect the traps (Yale Global Online, 2016).

New York University also states the accounts of the 9-11 attacks as well: “The terrorist attack of 9/11 is not only a significantly traumatic event,” (Yoshida, 2006).

The purpose of this paper is to answer one question which arise out of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (United States Government, 2004). “What can we do in the future to prevent similar acts of terrorism?” (United States Government, 2004).

Findings of the Commission

In general there were four main points that did not prepare the United States for 9-11 from 1998 to 2001: imagination, policy, capabilities and management. The specific findings of the commission were that unsuccessful diplomacy, lack of military options, problems within the intelligence community, problems in the FBI, permeable borders and immigration controls, financing, an improvised homeland defense, emergency response and the congress all contributed to the problems of why 9-11 was able to take place (United States Government, 2004). Here is how things have improved to make America safer:

Since 9/11, the United States and its allies have killed or captured a majority of al Qaeda's leadership; toppled the Taliban, which gave al Qaeda sanctuary in Afghanistan; and severely damaged the organization. Yet terrorist attacks continue. Even as we have thwarted attacks, nearly everyone expects they will come. How can this be? The problem is that al Qaeda represents an ideological movement, not a finite group of people. It initiates and inspires, even if it no longer directs. In this way it has transformed itself into a decentralized force. Bin Ladin may be limited in his ability to organize major attacks from his hideouts. Yet killing or capturing him, while extremely important, would not end terror. His message of inspiration to a new generation of terrorists would continue. Because of offensive actions against al Qaeda since 9/11, and defensive actions to improve homeland security, we believe we are safer today. But we are not safe. We therefore make the following recommendations that we believe can make America safer and more secure (United States Government, 2004).

Conclusion – Recommendations of Commission for Preventing Terrorist Attacks

The recommendations include the following coming from the United States Government (2004):

attack terrorists and their organizations
prevent the continued growth of Islamist terrorism
protect against and prepare for terrorist attacks

How will this be done? (United States Government, 2004):

unifying strategic intelligence and operational planning against Islamist terrorists across the foreign-domestic divide with a National Counterterrorism Center;
unifying the intelligence community with a new National Intelligence Director;
unifying the many participants in the counterterrorism effort and their knowledge in a network-based information sharing system that transcends traditional governmental boundaries;
unifying and strengthening congressional oversight to improve quality and accountability; and
strengthening the FBI and homeland defenders.

Now there is also a National Anti-Terrorism Center in the United States that works towards fighting terrorism (United States Government, 2004).

References

Riedel, B. (2016). Yale Global Online. New Haven, Connecticut: The MacMillan Center.

Retrieved from

United States Government. (2004). National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United

States. Washington: United States of America. Retrieved from

Yoshida, S. (2006).9/11 National Memory Survey on the Terrorist Attacks. New York: New

York University. Retrieved from