Essay On Homeland Security

To date, the terrorist events of September 11th 2001 are the single most catastrophic incidents of terrorism perpetrated upon American soil. It is a horrifying reminder of the pervasive images of hatred toward Americans which plague the minds of many individuals abroad. Nineteen male conspirators entered the United States with false visas and lived among us under the guise of neighbors. These men spent their time within our ranks to acquire and to hone an intimate knowledge of aircraft piloting and controls, and to examine and understand the weaknesses in the critical infrastructure protection of our national aviation transportation system (National strategy, 2007). The hatred, coupled with training in Afghan Jihadist camps, led men of brain and muscle to carry out the instruction of the powerful al-Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden, in a vile plot to systematically reign terror upon the American homeland.
In a time of severe need and desperation, it was made obvious worldwide that a severe and immediate overhaul was due the security of the United States and its citizens. In the months immediately following the attacks, President George W. Bush, initiated legislation for the conception of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), an all encompassing agency, with a “primary mission [to] (A) prevent terrorists attacks within the United States; (B) reduce the vulnerability of the United States to terrorism; and (C) minimize the damage, and assist in the recovery, from terrorist attacks that do occur within the United States” (Department of Homeland Security, 2002). In June of 2002, President George W. Bush proposed the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, a new government agency which would operate under a mission to...

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... as a recruiting tool and proved to be a highly successful strategy. Russian intelligence reports have confirmed that Ibn al-Khattab along with Shamil Basayev, a high ranking Chechen commander, established military training and religious indoctrination camps in places such as Serzhen-Yurt which are depicted in Islamists propaganda videos. In 1998, Ibn al-Khattab and Basayev created the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade. The team was comprised of Chechens, Arabs, and other foreign jihadist, all of whom were attendees of the training camps or of high recommendation by al-Qaida influencers. The Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade is one of the three Chechen groups that the U.S. State Department lists as terrorist organizations, specifically for its involvement in the Dubrovka theater siege in 2002 which led to the deaths of 160 men, women, and children.