Background
Following the events of September 11, 2001, the United States embarked on an unprecedented effort as the Global War on Terror (GWOT), with a special emphasis on preventing such attacks on American soil. This paper will analyze these efforts and identify the ongoing challenges.
Defining of Counter Terrorism Success
We have to define what we mean by “success” or “failure” of the United State’s post-9/11 counter terrorism efforts:
- If by “success” we mean no more 9/11-magnitude terror acts on American soil -- then the reforms have definitely been a complete success.
- If by “success” we mean stopping every terror attack, even by lone individuals – then the reforms have definitely been a complete failure
Recent failures show that still more needs to be done to prevent terrorism on American soil.
Success Analysis vs. Failure Analysis
Much can be learned from analyzing successful CT efforts. Unfortunately, details are scarce, perhaps deliberately so. But much can also be learned from analyzing CT failures, details of which have entered the public domain. Some examples used in this paper are the “Underwear Bomber,” the Fort Hood shooting, and the Boston Marathon Bombing.
Recent Failures in the Domestic War on Terror
Terrorism is executed in two phases:
- Planning Phase, where information is communicated planning the attack
- Operational Phase, when the actual attack takes place
Successful counterterrorism needs to detect the threat during the planning phase in order to be successful. Recent attacks that made it to the operational phase before being detected show failures in three areas:
- Intelligence Gathering
- Intelligence Sharing
- Intelligence Analysis
Finally, a short note will be provided regarding the c...
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...om the past and its mistakes to work more diligently in order to prevent the September 11th attacks. The bombing of the World Trade Center in New York was unexpected, but gave the government an opportunity to improve security and avoid future attacks. The carnage at the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania again provided the U.S. government a chance to work against the terrorist network responsible, but again, the government failed. Finally, the assault against the U.S.S. Cole in the port city of Aden gave the U.S. one final opportunity to learn and prevent something from happening again, but the next year, the unthinkable happened and the 9/11 attacks occurred, killing thousands. Had the United States had managed to link the attacks and understand the emerging pattern of attacks against U.S. targets, the destruction, chaos, and death of 9/11 might have never happened.
Clay Dillow’s “To Catch a Bombmaker” was published by Popular Science in October 2015. This article educated the reader about the FBI’s Terrorist Explosive Device Analytical Center— a key aspect in the fight against terrorism. Dillow focused on ethos and logos to strengthen the validation of his claim concerning the importance of the TEDAC and was successful in persuading the reader to believe in its significance as well. He used expert quotes from FBI agents to give the article credibility; In addition, he presented statistical data in a clear and concise manner and gave many factual cases in which the TEDAC facilitated the government in their pursuit of terrorist and bomb makers. As proven by Dillow in “How to Catch a Bombmaker,” the Terrorist
"Terror Hits Home: The Oklahoma City Bombing." FBI. FBI, 21 May 2010. Web. 22 Jan. 2014. .
Host: On September the 11th 2001, the notorious terror organisation known as Al-Qaeda struck at the very heart of the United States. The death count was approximately 3,000; a nation was left in panic. To this day, counterterrorism experts and historians alike regard the event surrounding 9/11 as a turning point in US foreign relations. Outraged and fearful of radical terrorism from the middle-east, President Bush declared that in 2001 that it was a matter of freedoms; that “our very freedom has come under attack”. In his eyes, America was simply targeted because of its democratic and western values (CNN News, 2001). In the 14 years following this pivotal declaration, an aggressive, pre-emptive approach to terrorism replaced the traditional
When a giant explosion ripped through Alfred P. Murrah federal building April 19,1995, killing 168 and wounding hundreds, the United States of America jumped to a conclusion we would all learn to regret. The initial response to the devastation was all focused of middle-eastern terrorists. “The West is under attack,”(Posner 89), reported the USA Today. Every news and television station had the latest expert on the middle east telling the nation that we were victims of jihad, holy war. It only took a few quick days to realize that we were wrong and the problem, the terrorist, was strictly domestic. But it was too late. The damage had been done. Because America jumped to conclusions then, America was later blind to see the impending attack of 9/11. The responsibility, however, is not to be placed on the America people. The public couldn’t stand to hear any talk of terrorism, so in turn the White House irresponsibly took a similar attitude. They concentrated on high public opinion and issues that were relevant to Americans everyday. The government didn’t want to deal with another public blunder like the one in Oklahoma City. A former FBI analyst recalls, “when I went to headquarters (Washington, D.C.) later that year no one was interested in hearing anything about Arab money connections unless it had something to do with funding domestic groups. We stumbled so badly on pinpointing the Middle East right off the bat on the Murrah bombing. No one wanted to get caught like that again,”(Posner 90). The result saw changes in the counter terrorism efforts; under funding, under manning, poor cooperation between agencies, half-hearted and incompetent agency official appointees and the list goes on. All of these decisions, made at the hands of the faint-hearted, opened the doors wide open, and practically begged for a terrorist attack. So who’s fault is it? The public’s for being
has not achieved its goals, and that in some areas, it has even backfired. Steele
September 11, 2001 was one of the most devastating and horrific events in the United States history. Americans feeling of a secure nation had been broken. Over 3,000 people and more than 400 police officers and firefighters were killed during the attacks on The World Trade Center and the Pentagon; in New York City and Washington, D.C. Today the term terrorism is known as the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives (Birzer, Roberson). This term was clearly not defined for the United States for we had partial knowledge and experience with terrorist attacks; until the day September 11, 2001. At that time, President George W. Bush, stated over a televised address from the Oval Office, “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.” President Bush stood by this statement for the United States was about to retaliate and change the face of the criminal justice system for terrorism.
After the attacks by the predominantly Saudi extremists on 9-11, the administration of then President George ‘Dubya’ Bush went into overdrive to be seen as proactive in the effort to make sure that the attacks could not be repeated. With the passage of The USA Patriot Act, the then President Bush asserted, we would be handed our intelligence and law enforcement officers the required tools and abilities to fight this new and ‘present danger.’ The document lays out the assertions of the President as of October 26, 2001 as given during a speech at the White House. Also included are the contrasting comments and opinions of Suzanne Spaulding, who has served in the intelligence community for 25 years under both Republican and Democratic presidents and is currently Under Secretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security.
a comprehensive research service. Retrieved May 2, 2004, from Terrorist Attack by Al Qaeda: http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/033104.pdf. Gunaratna, R. (2005, September). Retrieved September 2005, from http://strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/parameters/articles/05spring/henzel.pdf. Gunaratna, R. (n.d.).
BENAC, N. (2011). National security: Ten years after september 11 attacks, u.s. is safe but not
...ne before, it is likely to fail because people will not be enough committed to the changes going on.
...d the success of these attacks, s they are foiled before any serious damage can be done. Increased intelligence into the operations of al Qaeda has allowed the United States and its allies to be more successful in completely destroying the terrorist organization.
Terrorism can take many different forms. Tragedies like 9/11 and domestic terrorism can both be prevented with increased homeland security. To prevent attacks like 9/11 from happening in the future, addressing issues with domestic terrorism, and the growth of homeland security, the U.S. still needs to be concerned with terrorism. Disasters like 9/11 still need to be prevented in the United States. The U.S. needs to be more involved with terrorism in general to keep domestic attacks from happening. Homeland security needs to be studied and improved in order to prevent terrorism. In conclusion, is it imperative that the United States continue its fight against terrorism.
Seidenstat argues that security is a relative thing and that no set of policies or measures can eliminate all terrorist acts (Seidenstat 2009 ,4). Terrorists will stop at nothing to foil our defenses. They are very patient and creative in planning their attacks. Terrorists will continue to invent ways to defeat our security measures while we are busy with our lives and forgetting about the last attack. Sometimes they don’t need to do nothing but wait for us to let our guard down so they can easily slip passed security measures.
To succeed, you must be willing to persevere in your efforts and you must keep a positive, hopeful attitude. In this work, it is often unclear who you are reaching or whether change is occurring. Thus, you must trust that your work for a better world matters. Sometimes change is occurring under the surface as a result of many individual actions, and suddenly the results become clear as in the cases of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the break-up of the former Soviet Union and the end of apartheid in South Africa.