What Does Counterterrorism Mean - Essay Example

Running head: Counterterrorism Question Counterterrorism refers to any act or measure taken to prevent or curbterrorism. (www.intelligence.gov/o-glossary.shtml). It involves strategizing on the methods and techniques that will be used to detect potential terrorist attacks and stop them before devastation strikes. It is important to understand the motivations behind terrorism when engaged in counterterrorism effort because it is the first step to finding lasting solutions. This is because understanding the root cause of a problem means that the problem is half solved. Arguably there are various reasons for terrorism attacks and hence each motive requires different approach to tackling terrorism. Some of the reasons include political conflict, religious clashes, gaining publicity and in some cases divine instruction to conduct terrorist attacks. (Victoroff, 2006). The terrorist believe that such motives justify their actions although many will agree that there is no justification to terrorism whichever way we look at it. For example the September 11 attack was fuelled by religious motives and political motives. When governments or those in authority understand the motives behind terrorist attacks then they can forge on in their efforts to reduce these tensions and dissatisfactions in an intelligent way hence counter terrorism. It seems that counter terrorism is a tactic of warfare. These efforts are usually retaliation with equal or greater force as applied y terrorist in order to disempower them. Often than not counterterrorism efforts will include the military and the police force that wage war against these organizations. Although the idea is to fight crime, innocent civilians may suffer in the process. The role of due process in counter terrorism is that both parties feel that they are entitled to use force in fighting for their ideologies (political or otherwise). The victims feel a need to avenge wrongs and in effect the problem doubles in the long run. In fact one of the implications of characterizing terrorists as the enemy rather than mere criminals is that it breeds ground for war. Question 2 Due to the sophistication of technology surveillance has changed from the traditional way to a new surveillance. The new system of surveillance includes monitoring inside activities of terrorist groups through satellites monitoring, or spying. Additionally, eavesdropping communication, tapping wire money transfers to trace terrorist funding etc. (Clarke & Newman, 2006). The ideal surveillance technique would be one where the counter terrorism units would gain clandestine sources within the terrorist groups or cells but this situation is almost impossible since these groups tend to be so close knit and bond by strong allegiances. (Clarke & Newman, 2006). It seems that the shift from traditional surveillance methods to the new type has had problematic effect in the civil liberties of the people of United States in that their communication is often been intercepted as the authorities try to trace terrorist linkages. In this light privacy has been infringed on. Additionally, surveillance has had negative connotation to discrimination especially for communities that are associated with terrorist groups. For instance in some place Muslims and Arabs are frown upon and are seen as potential threats due to association with al-Qaeda and Taliban groups. More to that the frequent travel advisories and terrorist alerts instill fear in the lives of people hence multiplying the power that terrorist groups have over the people in US. This denies such communities freedom of movements and enjoyment of life. The quality of life has been reduced to that of slavery like nature. It therefore seems that the counter terrorism efforts have to strike a balance between protecting the liberties of the people and preventing further terrorist attacks. (Meggle, 2005). Notably in order to achieve this all stakeholders have to echo what is important to them. Freedom or security. Nonetheless, even though the government means well in using the various technological resources to counter terrorism there has to be a point where a line is drawn between what is acceptable and productive and what is not. For instance, the fight against terror has not gone down well with most Americans and the Bush administration has faced immense criticism from taking this approach. Fight against terror has caused many soldiers to die fighting a meaningless and avoidable war. The US citizens are constantly targeted for terrorism acts in many parts of the world. In turn their families face devastating losses and pain. Therefore there should be limits where by all other measures of counter terrorism are explored and fight against terror is viewed as the last desperate attempt to rid terrorism. Question 3 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court is a legal regime that seeks to gather foreign intelligence and information to aid the US government in its counterintelligence efforts. It enjoys immunity against legal redress if and when it breaks ordinary law. (Tien, 2001). FISA obtains its powers from the FISA Act of 1978 and in order to exercise this power the Supreme Court has to review whether constitutional requirements are met before law enforcers can proceed. Importantly electronic surveillance by FISA is only enforceable in the US boundaries. In foreign countries this does not hold. The difference between a FISA court and the ordinary courts is in the jurisdiction. The FISA court deals with matters of counterintelligence and national security say espionage, assassination, terrorism prevention and such like. It ensures that the authorities can conduct their duties efficiently without delays of getting court orders to track down potential terrorists. The ordinary court n the other hand handles cases of criminal investigations and fully operates under the ordinary laws provided in the constitution. The concerns that exist behind expanding the FISA court may not be constitutional. This is because it breaks away from upholding the citizens' right to privacy as well as the freedom of expression. If FISA was to be expanded other counterproductive effects would arise. For instance slump in the economy as modern communication technology would be shunned. Also, domestic unrest would be inevitable as people launch attacks on the criminal justice system. Question 4 Aviation security has tightened since 9/11. For example cockpits are locked with high-tech gargets that only the pilots can open. This prevents hijackings popular with terrorists. Similarly air crews now undergo intensive training in detecting suspicious individuals and alerting security before take off. Additionally, sophisticated screening of luggage to detect explosive or weapons that may be used to terrorize passengers are in place. There is also more passenger screening and verification of their identities. Further increased presence of police around airports and liaison between airline security and law enforcers has been witnessed. The provisions of the aviation and transportation Act include severe penalties for individuals who destruct security procedures at airports or assault security personnel etc at the terminus. In addition it provided mandatory training of personnel on security screening and emphasized through background checks on all airline employees when hiring. All public airlines should install advanced screening gadgets and subject all passengers, luggage, cargo, carry-on etc to screening in order to eradicate dangerous explosives, biological or chemical weapons that may endanger life. Presence of a transportation security administration i.e. a federal employee who is in charge of screening procedures. He has the jurisdiction to authorize use of new screening measures, conduct impromptu security tests on personnel, hire and fire security etc. http://www.tsa.gov/assets/pdf/Aviation_and_Transportation_Security_Act_ATSA_Public_Law_107_1771.pdf These provisions changed the aviation security dramatically in terms of the numerous checks that passengers have to undergo. It is to some extent tedious and traumatic to little children. However high security has not caused slump in the travel industry and passengers remain unfazed. Racial and religious profiling plays a significant role in securing aviation industry in that certain races and religions associated with terrorism are treated with more suspicion have to undergo through background and screening checks before boarding a plane. As such this has slowed terrorist groups from attacking airlines as they think of other vessels to target. However racial profiling can be used in positive light say recruiting security personnel of different races in order to create an atmosphere of unity. They may also be used as spies into potential terrorist as they are the best people to apprehend their own kind. References Clarke, R.V, Newman, G. R. (2006). Outsmarting the Terrorists ISBN 0275992306. Greenwood Press. Meggle, G. (2005). Ethics of Terrorism & Counter-Terrorism. ISBN 3937202684. Ontos. Title 1-Aviation Security Public Law 107-71. Posted on Nov. 19, 2001. Retrieved on December 4, 2007 from http://www.tsa.gov/assets/pdf/Aviation_and_Transportation_Security_Act_ATSA_Public_Law_107_1771.pdf Tien, L. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers). Posted on September 27, 2001. Retrieved on December 3, 2007 from http://w2.eff.org/Censorship/Terrorism_militias/fisa_faq.html#06 Victoroff J. I. (2006). Tangled Roots: Social and Psychological Factors in the Genesis of Terrorism. ISBN 158603670X. 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