Assessment of the US Security - Essay Example

Assessment of U.S. Security Your Full Your Assessment of U.S. Security The attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 was an opening for several terrorist attacks. Since this attack several attempts at buckling the city of New York have been made by underlying terrorists. Fortunately since the September 11 events, the city has unleashed a massive war on terrorism. However, there is the New York subway system, New York Time Square, the New Freedom Tower, and the Jamaatu ul-Fuqra left up to option for attacks. These locations and persons assorted across the great plain of New York reflect several threats and weaknesses afforded by terrorist attacks. Discussion The New York subway system is governed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It has 468 stations in its network. It has over 840 miles of track that service approximately 5.1 million passengers per week. In 2007, The New York subway system was ranked number 4 amongst the worlds transit system with a massive 1.563 billion riders per year. In 2009 subways cars were reported to travel 344.5 million miles per week with 8,279 miles per day being covered by 6,380 cars (Subways, p. 1). The subway system is massive and very vulnerable. A transportation system of this size is evidently significant to the operation of New York City on a day to day basis. This is an unfortunate acknowledgement that is apparent in terrorist attacks. Al-Qaeda associates openly plead guilty to plotting severe attacks on the Metropolitan subway system in 2009. The MTA: 1. Lacks special securities. 2. It is located under the city. 3. It has limited control of passengers. The MTA has had no reason in the past to afford special conditions on behalf of terrorism. The subway stations have had no need to sanction high end security to avoid bomb attacks. This ultimately makes an attack by suicide bombers an element of surprise. A surprise attack has the quality of being able to do massive amounts of damage with little resources. Being located underground is not a positive outlook when dealing with bomb threats. Bombs have the capacity to cause a massive collapse of the railway structures. Dependant on the type of explosive being used and where these explosives are located in the MTA system, there can be enough collateral damage to corrupt the entire underground network. The major issue that is presented with any public transportation is accessibility. Any local person can use the facilities at any given time. In the case of the New York underground railway terrorists are afforded a twenty-four hour gap to engage in any attack. They have access from any publicly available entrance during the process of each attack. They also have locations to choose from. This is the highest level of security hazard for the purposes of this argument. The idea that the government can not knowingly defend subway locations against each planted cell is apparent. These forms of attack have the largest element of surprise. Nobody expects that subways would be a ultimate target. The unfortunate side effect of this is that as unimportant as they sound, the subway trains of New York being disabled could to some extent shut the city down. Jumaatu ul-Fuqra is a terrorist group that originated in New York in the 1980’s. This group was formed on the beliefs to purify Islam by using excessive violence. The group operates using several terrorists cells located in the U.S. and Pakistan. These cells operate as individual communities and employ over three thousand members. A group member by the name of Clement Rodney Hampton was convicted of the World Trade Center bombing of 1993 (Jamaat ul-fuqra, para. 20). Since its birth in 1980, Jamaat ul-Fuqra has demonstrated several threats. The terrorist cell organization sends of several flags of awareness for the U.S. government. These threats can be identified as follows: 1. Unknown terrorist cells. 2. American citizen employment. 3. Cult like communities. Being unable to identify cell locations of any terrorist colony is a dangerous outlook for the U.S. Allowing cells to go unwatched for extended periods of time allows groups to carefully develop attacks. These cells create front businesses that allow them to finance training, weapons, and other terrorist activities. The group is currently reported to having two law firms set up in New York (Jamaat ul-Fuqra, para. 25). In 2003 the government created a master list of terrorists. The list would be comprised of several law enforcement branches. The list ultimately turns out the capture of suspected terrorists. After the capture of these groups, the CIA in turn hands them over to their authorities in their own country (Hulnick, p. 207). However that is a treat compared to the Patriot Act revisions of 2003. In the revision it was argued that during the likelihood a possible terrorist is identified that the courts take strong action. In this case the courts would withhold bail from captured terrorists and enact the death penalty for those individuals who were found guilty of a terrorist act. Aside from that the court wanted to provide administrative warrants for suspected terrorists to be place under immediate surveillance without seeking approval for each case (Hulnick, p. 206). The threat for terrorist acts is much more volatile when members can not be defined. The Fuqra group was reported to have “received hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in donations from America”, (Jamaat ul-fuqra, para. 17). These findings do not exempt American-natives from having dealings with this group. The Fuqra creates groups like the Muslims of the Americas to create legal communities. This particular group was established in 1980 for American-born Muslims. The size of the organization at that time was about 200 individuals of men, women, and children. They live by their own laws and operate under their own standards (Jamaat ul-fuqra, para. 8). In “Revising the Basic Elements” it discussed about calculating the actual presence of a group. The methods presented here show how to analyze terrorist cells in order to determine the level of threat the group can demonstrate. Thinking like the enemy is half the battle. Once they can be analyzed, understanding and counteracting what they will do next can be formatted into a valid strategy. However, these methods come with consequences. Intervening in terrorist activities can lead to significant aftermath (Peterson, pp. 26-30). This strategy comes in a close second. If not for the Patriot Act revision it would have been the first on the list. The Fuqra is a large group that has no boundaries. They are ultimately suicidal and in most cases their whereabouts are unknown. This group does not stick to the same attacks or attack locations. They swarm on whatever weaknesses they can find. The following is a list of a few of their accomplishments: 1. In 1983, member, Stephen Paul Pastor planted a pipe bomb in a Portland hotel. He was also suspected of planting an identical bomb in the Vedanta Society Temple in Seattle. 2. In 1990 the Jamaat ul-Fuqra was suspected of operating under alias fronts, the “Muslims of the Americas” and the “Quranic Open University”. 3. In 1990 members of the Jamaat ul-Fuqra are suspected of as many as 17 fire bombings and 10 open cases of assassination. 4. The Red House Commune in Virginia is considered by authorities to be the base for the Jamaat ul-Fuqra terrorist group. 5. In 1993, the group had an operation out of Colorado that laundered more the 350, 000 dollars through the “Muslims of the Americas” and a fraudulent security firm “Professional Security International (PSI)”. Not being able to identify an enemy or determine the extent of their capabilities his a definite security alert. Especially since the groups can be free enough to run false organizations that can control government monies. The Jamaat ul-Fuqra is not the most acknowledged terrorist organization, but its actual size in numbers is not known. In addition it has member ties to the Al-Qaeda. The New York Freedom Tower is the building that will replace the World Trade Center in New York. The building will have a 186 foot tall base made of concrete. It will stand 1,776 feet tall to the spire. The building will be symmetrical and aside a memorial of the victims that died in the 9/11 tragedy (The freedom tower, para. 3-6). The new building is not complete yet, but the plans show promise to leave the building more protected than it predecessor. However, the following vulnerabilities are still present: 1. Height of building structure. 2. Significance to U.S. environment. The new building peaks at a height of 1,776 feet. That makes is 300 feet taller than the World Trade Center. In light of past events that makes it a target. Not to mention the fact that terrorists cells can recap on the amount of damage the first attack on the Twin Towers caused. Taunting terrorist events in the past with a more immaculate structure may stir up a second attempt. The Freedom Tower is likely to be under some form of terrorist attack in the future. In the past a 1,500 pound bomb was left in a delivery van. It turned out to be the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center of 1993. The only real focus to prepare for these unexpected the 9/11 Commission focuses on preparedness. In this case individuals in these cases only have the immediate assistance of their peers and not government policy makers. Building structure and security have to be utilized appropriately to account for unforeseen actions (9/11 commission, p. 278-280). The idea that the World Trade Center is vital to out operations in the U.S. is appealing to terrorist. The purpose of any activist group is to make a statement by causing the most significant damage. In the case of the Freedom Tower there is one grand statement to be made. Should another attack be successful on the unit, it would be considered an exceptional foreign statement. The Freedom Tower made this position simply because U.S. alert is up. It is not likely that another attack can be presented in the same way with security provisions made on airline services and heightened alerts. The last attack was over 9 years ago at this point. The attack before that was 8 years prior. The numbers are in our favor considered construction of the new building is not expected to be complete until about 2018. New York Time Square is a major commercial district located in Manhattan. It is crammed full of theaters, billboards, commercial businesses, and studios. The area itself is typically highly populated on any given day to include city police and shop security. This makes the Square highly tempting for terrorist threats, but not too vulnerable. Times Squares threats and vulnerabilities are listed as follows: Threats: 1. Highly enforced by law officers and security. 2. Over populated and overcrowded streets. Vulnerabilities: 1. Large commercial plain. 2. Limited number of exits. 3. Surrounded by potential hazards. When attempting to process a terrorist attack, it is likely that the presence of law enforcement wants to be avoided. Causing alert to authorities before a plan gets underway can cause an effective interruption. Terrorists will more than likely try and locate an area that is highly populated, but draws little attention. The largely crowded area is a centerpiece for city activities. There are company building located here that draw crowds daily, such as Coca-Cola Company and the Paramount Studios. Terrorists entrance may go unnoticed, but making a dramatic escape will be hard if activities go public. The city has strategies that can completely shutdown the Times Square. The fact so many important building are located in the center of Times Square. Terrorist cells could plot a serious form of attacks on production of studios or complete destroy business networks from this one location. The large population that the Square has due to commercial activities is helpful in the event that attacks want get high body counts. The fact that the Square is populated with large incorporations and extremely tall buildings covered with blinding billboards is no secret. But these same building transform into heavy collateral damage in bombing events. If a bombing completely imploded a building, blocks of damage could be done. In the case of New York Times Square there are several between 42nd and 47th Street. History shows us that terrorist attacks produce persons that are willing to die for there cause. Being in the middle of a population that has limited routes of escape would be a positive outlook for a bomb threat. Terrorists will probably be drawn to this area because of its limited crowd control. This location made is not very relevant to the concept of crime. It should be placed in the category of unavoidable collateral damage. This is said because the amount of tragedy that comes from this type of location would be considered an event of fate. It would almost be like an earthquake that rips through the earth. It is not a controllable environment by no means. It is open to trauma. On the upside, terrorists may view it as an effective attack location, but the revolt of hundreds of commuting New Yorkers may pose a bigger threat than a few passengers from United Airlines Flight 93. Conclusion Terrorists are attempting to run rapid across. The growth of terrorist cells and the new forums for attack are endless. The way the U.S. is handling reforms to control the outbreak of massive terrorist outbreaks on U.S. soil is a bit reassuring. The judicial system is taking necessary acts to make statements to ongoing terrorist cells. All these things topped off with the new foundations for preparedness equals a secure U.S. wall of reinforcement. The persons and locations have a plethora of threats and vulnerabilities to offer up to the U.S, we shall overcome. References 9/11 Commission: The 9/11 Commission Report.(W.W. Norton 2004). Retrieved from http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf Hulnick, A.S. (2004) Keeping Us Safe Secret Intelligence and Homeland Security. Praeger. Jamaata ul-Fuqra. (2001). Satp. Retrieved from http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/pakistan/terroristoutfits/jamaat-ul- fuqra.htm Peterson, M.B., Morehouse, B., and Wright, D. (2001). Intelligence 2000: Revising the Basic Elements. IALEIA and LEIU. Subways. (2011). New york city transit: Facts and figures. Retrieved from http://www.mta.info/nyct/facts/ffsubway.htm The freedom tower. (2011). Glass steel and stone. Retrieved from http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/BuildingDetail/439.php Read More