Targeted Mode of Transportation in the US for Terrorist - Essay Example

Student Name: Student Number: Unit Name and Number: Lecturer/Tutor: Title of Assignment: Date due: Targeted mode of transportation in the United States for terrorist High speed rail transport has become one of the targets for terrorist attack in the United States. This is as a result of continuous attack on rail transport across major cities of the world. The Madrid bombing came just few months after 39 people were killed and left over one hundred people injured in the city of Moscow. Intelligent units in Singapore intercepted another terrorist plot in the year 2001 to bomb different sites in the city and subways (Rand Corporation, 2004). Several instances of subways attack by Jihad militant is reported in European cities like Milan’s railway station which left nine people dead while over sixty injured. Terrorist threats to release toxic substances and gases in Masco’s subways further explains that the exposure of our transport system to terrorist. The 1995 Sarin attack on Tokyo subway which left over five thousand people injured while over fourty dead left no doubt that transport system is the new target for the terrorist to carry out their ill activities. For those extremist who are out to kill and do it indiscriminately and in mass, subways, trains and buses have become the ideal target, the launch of bombing campaign in Paris 2000 on the commuter trains and the suicide bombers who have killed very many people in Israel buses is not an exclusion but further proves the vulnerability of the transport system. What makes the high speed rail most vulnerable and lucrative target for the terrorist is the publicity and the body count which is highly sought by the current terrorist. High speed train is built with such sophisticated technology and attracts most of the world attention as researchers and scientist struggle to diagnose the mystery and technology behind its set up. This will be a high boost for terrorist in United States if they can manage to penetrate and vandalize this kind of technology hence gaining publicity all over the world. It should be noted that the high speed rail will be vulnerable mostly because of its publicity and not because it goes faster. A study by Rand Corporation (2007) going by the title “Transport Security” clearly states that the recent terror attack on passengers’ rail across major cities simply signifies to the extent of vulnerability of this mode of transport to terrorist. Due to the unique characteristics of high speed train, it appears that it can have a real value to be targeted by a group like al Qaida as they increasingly continue to reach to the United State of America to lure and train within homegrown known by Rand Corporation as “lone wolf” (p. 23). In the analysis by Rand Corporation on the threats passengers in the rail are exposed to, it is realized that most terrorist use small devices and explosives which are entirely unconventional. The attack majorly targets passenger rails compared to freight rails as they are not interested in goods and cargo but interested on the body count they will have by the end of the day. In his study, Jenkins and Butterworth (2010) find that almost all terrorist are great opportunist and will try as much as possible to attack the area which they will maximize the damage. They want to attract the world attention and will always target those high sensitive areas of the public interest. The security officers are not in the position to have all the public areas entirely manned and these small avenues are the best areas for the terrorist to enter into the system and hit their target. Rails system faces the same difficulties in giving protection and security because of the fixed schedules and largely publicized activities within the station. Also there are very many unmanned access points which the terrorist can use. Rail system is largely lucrative target for terror attack due to expensive facilities and equipment installed in the areas and its dense populated nature and is of great economic interest. Cyber attack is also another area which the terrorist used and can use to cause damage on the rail system. It does not necessarily lead to high body count or deaths but can cause damage in the operating system of the train and bring the positive train control to a standstill hence paralyzing its operation. Most digital disaster can be caused by either hacking the operating system or introducing foreign malware which can cause accident whenever the train takes off. It should be noted that not all hacking which takes place within the system of the train are directly aimed at causing damage but some are properly calculated theft activities which takes place within the rail company. Cyber attack can work better with high speed train than other type of trains since it is majorly based on technology hence more attractive to cyber terrorist than inter-city rail. The fact that the high speed train system majorly composed of digital technology, hacking this system would be the most devastating thing to experience Jenkins and Butterworth adds that if a company starts to experience any kind of social attack or cyber attack then the company should be well prepared to handle other security issues because the terrorist or the attackers have many techniques to continue with their activities. The impacts of the cyber attack by terrorist are tangible and as David (2008) puts it, terrorist are enemy of economic development and will hinder any kind of economic growth in any system of the government they enter into, and for that, U.S government should take safety precautions concerning the terrorist threats. The destruction of transport system within United States could prove disastrous as movement of goods and services would be hampered hence no trade. People also cannot move easily as all communication system would be brought to a standstill. A U.S. intelligent report which can be traced back to February 2011 states that terrorist and other violent sect would be most likely target the U.S freight industry and this report is based on the recent attacks which have been seen on rail freights and passengers trains in other parts of Europe since the main aim of al Qaida is to vandalize and attack United State transport industry. The report further states that though there is no enough evidence on the terror attack on the major industrial control system, terrorist groups have grown immense interest how to conduct cyber attack on freight and passengers rail system within the United States. There is need for robust security program to be set up for the high speed rail to help in counter attacking terrorist activities. The security details should consist of continuous vigilance, unpredictability and integration of the security system. Whenever suspicious look are seen within the train compound, this should be reported with immediate effect to security personnel. Surveillance should be established in the key entrance points or areas with high pedestrian traffic to monitor the occurrence and report any kind of fishy character within the public. The U.S government security system should not be easily predictable but should be more sophisticated and difficult to understand so that the terrorist are not in a position to learn and access to it. Lastly, government should coordinate all the rail transport system within the United States to avoid confusion within any point hence preventing any unnecessary terror activities. The government should train more anti terror police unit specifically to deal with rail transport system. Security checkup should be increased as high speed rail is just like any other mode of transport like air which needs thorough scrutiny of the passengers. Read More