Road to Counter-Terrorism - Essay Example

In the early history of terrorism, to be killed by invaders meant there was a great reward waiting for you in heaven as presented by suicidal martyrdom. This dates back thousands of years in most religions and societies. Terrorism against an enemy can therefore be viewed as an act of religion. However, it is viewed as a crime against humanity by the victims of an attack.

Modern terrorism has been a tool used by both sides of colonial conflicts mainly in the mid-20th century. The frequency of religion-based terrorism gained roots in the last 20 years of the 20th century hence becoming more and more frequent. There is also another kind of terrorism today that brings about destruction to industrial and agricultural systems. This can be termed economic terrorism.

The underground mass transit system is a vulnerable place for a suicide bomb attack. This is because in these subways there is life and vibrancy, especially during weekdays when people are scrambling to get to work on time. The number of commuters that could potentially lose their lives is alarmingly high making it a possible threat.

The international airport area also poses a potential site for terrorism. This is because of the many inbounding and out bounding flights every day. This gives a chance to any terrorist who would want to bomb the area by strapping it to his body. The aircraft may also be skyjacked and be forced to land in a country to the terrorists. Terrorists may also fire indiscriminately and throw grenades at the thousands of people in the airport.

Terrorists may also target large public areas like the major university which contains a big number of students, the convention center that attracts tourists, and the campus football stadium which holds a large number of football fans. This can be done by sneaking in the bomb amidst the large masses of people or throwing grenades. They could also execute it by kidnapping some of the students.

Another possible threat of terrorism could occur at the chlorine chemical plant that contains a major water port. This is an imminent danger because chlorine is a flammable chemical. Arsons and fire bombings could be a way of executing terrorism to the plant which will cause an unimaginable fire.

For the underground mass transit system, the department of public safety can oversee that bomb sniffer dogs are used to detect any bombs in the subway, installation of cameras to monitor passengers and possibly identify suspicious persons, installation of silent alarms and motion detectors to avoid interference with the ventilation system to make a chemical or biological attack more lethal in the train. As a representative of the protection of all transit systems, I would advise commuters to report any suspicious people or abandoned bags or packages in the subway. The public safety department may also appoint police officers to undertake random bag checks using high-tech detection devices to screen commuters for chemicals used to make homemade bombs.

For large public areas, the course of action to take to control it is by advising people as a representative of the protection of large public facilities, to report any suspicious behavior from any individual. The department of public safety should ensure that there are security guards at the convention center to screen people and their luggage and installation of security cameras to monitor the airport. The street department should ensure order on roads to avoid unnecessary traffic jams which may be vulnerable to terrorist acts.

Terrorism at the chlorine plant may be controlled by testing the waters in Patriot River for toxic substances through the department of Mid America toxicology lab. This is to prevent massive deaths due to ingesting toxic substances in water. The department of hazardous material response team should step in to decontaminate the water if it is contaminated.

Recommendations for Patriot city are to educate its people to be alert and look out for any acts of terrorism and report immediately to the appropriate authorities, for the city government to hasten their action to counter terrorism by directing required funds to the various departments.

Patriot city has enough resources and assets to counter-terrorism. They can do so through the various departments taking initiative to control or curb terrorism in all the potential areas in the city. If all the proposed courses of action are considered and implemented then terrorism incidences will reduce and eventually might come to a halt.