Post and Pre 9/11 Terror Attacks - Research Paper Example

Post and Pre 9/11 Terror Attacks Name Institution Abstract In the wake of 9/11 attacks, there have been several researches on terrorism and terrorism-related issues which might not be surprising. In pre and post 9/11, America continues to witness the most destructive terrorist assaults in the recorded history leading to far bloodier conflict as component of the subsequent war of terror. In the international politics of the first decade of the 21st century, terrorism is becoming the defining issue. It is from such background that the research would be focusing on the pre and post 9/11 attack. In October 2000, the suicide bombers attacked the USS Cole while refuelling in Aden Port. The attack was attributed to the al Qaeda with their explosion rippling a hole in the ship’s hull killing 17 sailors while injuring 39. However, in July 28, 2006, the Seattle Jewish Federation shooting occurred in July 28, 2006 after the 9/11 attack. The research would focus on two-terror attack in defining the nature terrorism. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Topic 4 General Objective   4 Research Questions 4 Introduction 4 USS Cole Attack, October 12, 2000 5 Seattle Jewish Federation Shooting, July 28, 2006 6 Comparison of the terror events 7 Summary and Conclusion 9 Annotated Bibliography 10 References 13 Post and Pre 9/11 Terror Attacks Topic The research aims at exploring the nature of terrorism in both post and pre 9/11 attacks. The major pre 9/11 attack is the terror attack on USS Cole the naval ship while fuelling at the Aden port in Yemen and for post 9/11, the research focused on Seattle Jewish Federation shooting which led to death and sustenance of injuries. General Objective   1. To establish the nature of terrorism in both pre and post 9/11 2. To determine the measure used by the united states in averting the occurrence of terror attacks 3. To demonstrate the level of knowledge on the researched nature of terrorism Research Questions 1. What is the nature of terrorism in post and pre 9/11 attacks? 2. What measures in place to avert the occurrence of terror attacks? 3. To what extent has the research covered the issues on terrorism? Introduction In the immediate aftermath of September 11, 2001, terror attacks destroyed the sense of security and invincibility in most countries. As a result, the United States launched the Global War on Terrorism, which is becoming the longest period of continuous war in the country’s history. The enactment of different laws and executive orders influenced the daily lives of people (Alcantar, 2013). Such steps aimed at preventing further attacks and restoring the feeling of safety to the country shattered by the attacks. However, the execution the laws came under fire considering they were compromising the civil rights and due processes that agencies considered the national security. Indeed, most people have been asking the safety of the counterterrorism measures and ushering in the unwanted consequences, emboldening, and inciting of the country’s enemies; as a result, such factors encourage the spread of terror groups, skewing the security checks, and balances, which form the foundation of democracy of most countries. In October 2000, the suicide bombers attacked the USS Cole while refuelling in Aden Port. The attack was attributed to the al Qaeda with their explosion rippling a hole in the ship’s hull killing 17 sailors while injuring 39. However, in July 28, 2006, the Seattle Jewish Federation shooting occurred in July 28, 2006 after the 9/11 attack. The Pakistani-American Naveed Haq walked into Washington State and shot six women leading to the death of one. According to the shooter, the US foreign policy and wars in Iraq were contravening the rights of many people. From the two attacks, the attack on USS Cole showed that the terrors groups are planned properly and execute their plans in unexpected manner. However, Haq’s attack reflects inadequacy in the country’s security systems. USS Cole Attack, October 12, 2000 The Navy destroyer USS Cole anchored in the Port of Aden in Yemeni when a small boat packed with explosives rammed into its sides, which lead to tearing a 40-foot hole through the outer hull of the ship. As a result, 17 people died while 39 sustaining serious injuries. Since 1996 when a truck bomb exploded near the apartment complex in Saudi Arabia’s Dhahran and killed 19 American servicemen, the attack was the deadliest attack against the US military. During the attack, the ship harboured at the port to refuel. After the attack, the terrorist group identified as al Qaeda claimed the responsibility for the attack while the US judge held Sudan liable for the attack while other reports released that more than $13 million in Sudanese frozen assets to the relatives of those killed in the attack. In response to such attack, the United States Navy reconsidered its rules of engagement (Best, Krueger, & Pearson-Merkowitz, 2011). The first step to ensuring the safety of the sailors, the first naval ship on the scene that assisted to stricken Cole was the Royal Navy Type 23, which had a full medical and damage control teams on board. Upon acceptance of the offer, the ship immediately diverted to Aden. The attack on the USS Cole is considered the worst on the American target since the bombing attacks that occurred in the embassies in Nairobi and Tanzania two years earlier that led to the death of 224 people (Freilich et al., 2013). With the declassification of the documents showing frustrations among the top White House counterterrorism officials over the failure by the government to respond to the attack despite numerous sources of evidence showing the al Qaeda leading poetry on murderous attack and publicly taking credit for the attack. Seattle Jewish Federation Shooting, July 28, 2006 The shooting of the Seattle Jewish Federation occurred when Naveed Haq shot six women of which one suffered the fatality. The shooting occurred at the Federation of Great Seattle building located in Belltown Washington, USA. Although the state convicted the shooter in 2009 and sentenced to life without any parole plus 120 years, the police classified the shooting as hate crime considering what the shooter is alleged to have said during the 911 call. Additionally, the shooting is considered as one of the most serious crime ever occurred within the city. Haq, 30 years old, was US citizen of Pakistan descent and surrendered approximately 12 minutes after the shooting. From the attack, it clear that most terror activities are spearheaded by people having proper knowledge of the country and have time to plan and execute their terror activities. The shooter killed the Federation’s assistant director and injured five other women of which one of them was five months pregnant. From the collected information, it was alleged that the shooter forced his way through the security door while holding a gun to a 13-year-old girl’s head. The terrorist began shooting after telling the Federation members of the Muslim-American status and being angry with US and Israel due to foreign policy issues. From the conversation with the police, it was clear that the shooter blamed the Jewish people for their problems citing that Muslims were tired of being pushed around by the existing situation in the Middle East. With the rising rate of technological application, most terror grouped are using online sources to research on their targeted institutions. Consequently, Haq targeted the Jewish Federation after conducting a serious internet search for existing Jewish organizations. Through investigation, the police established that Haq had been looking for new on Middle East and made several anti-Semitic comments. Comparison of the terror events The level of security is one of the factors determining the economic growth of a country. The United States is one of the countries that experienced several attacks from the terrorists due to their firm stand on the fight against any terror group. Since September 11 of 2001, the country has been on the forefront in outlining strict security measures to prevent experiencing such an attack that claimed the lives, many innocent citizens. From the attack, most Americans believed that none of them was safe due to the magnitude of destruction that the attack caused (Sinclair & Antonius, 2013). From the two events, it is clear that both the terrorists made proper plans and outlined the mechanisms of executing their plans. In the Seattle Jewish Federation Shooting, the terrorist used a little girl for shield and passing through the security agents. In the current terror attacks, most groups use hostages in leveraging their needs and ensuring that the security agencies listen to their plea. In a mid of technological advancement, most terror groups are using internet and social platforms to identify their areas of target, security levels, and security gaps they could use to execute their plans. Consequently, the shooter used similar method to identify the target. While aiming to minimize the magnitude of destruction arising from the terror attack, it is important to ensure there is an effective intelligence within the state. However, for the terrorists to execute their terror activities, they have to study the security gaps within their areas of target. In both cases, it is evident that the country has security gaps (Beck, 2002). In Yemen, bombing of the naval ship reflects inadequacy of the country in dealing with unauthorized ships moving around the state’s water body. Moreover, the naval ships usually have strong security scanners, which allow detection of threats. However, the sailors failed to utilize the resources within the ship to avert the magnitude of destruction from the terrorists. From the Seattle shooting, the major question that arises is how the terrorists acquired the gun and passed through the numerous security agents before engaging people in the shooting. The major difference from the attack is that, in the naval terror attack, the terrorists attacked their target directly but in the Seattle shooting, the terrorist reached the target indirectly through human shield. Besides, most terror groups are using methods, which make it difficult for the security agencies to attack them directly since they leverage their bargains using innocent people, which make it difficult for the security agencies to engage them in shooting (Bharucha, 2014). In addition, most of the cases reported involved Muslims. They train in restricted regions, which mostly is unknown to a great population of people with their team leader giving directions on which countries to attack. In most cases, the terror groups often make clear the motives behind their attack. In the Seattle shooting, the terrorist’s motive was to air out the hatred on foreign policy spearheaded by the states and Israel. However, in the naval attack, the reason behind such motive is still unclear though the al Qaeda claimed responsibility for the attack. America is also experiencing crossroads in war against terrorism (Hough, 2006). Debates have been underway on whether to develop policies relating to counterterrorism or counterinsurgency in the Middle Eastern countries to act as contemporary driver of discoursing security with the United States. The Al Qaeda developed adaptive strategy in Afghanistan making the fight more complicated than initially projected by the state (Green, 2015). America vowed to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat these terror groups in areas they consider their strongholds like Afghanistan and Pakistan. Besides completely wiping the out, the state also aims preventing them to return in the country in the coming future. Counterterrorism and counterinsurgency policies are becoming to downfall since they only focus on the strengths and weaknesses of their implementation on both short term and long-term basis. Moreover, these factors compromise the ability of the policies to curb terror attacks from international perspective Summary and Conclusion Concisely, terrorism remains a great threat to the global economy and pertinent measures are necessary to curb the rising trend. Without such strategies, there is likelihood of the terror groups taking the leadership of the whole world over the next two decades limiting freedoms of humans. Most countries are on alert for countering attacks from different interest terror groups. The international cohesion against terror needs constant strengthening to curb such malpractices. International security has become a major issue considering the impact it has on the economic activities of the countries. Moreover, terrorism plays an important role in establishing proper international relations. Countries considered as terrorist hotspots like the Middle East tend to register low international trade. From the two case studies, it is clear the terror groups use different methods in executing their plans. In a mid of the rising level of technology, terror groups are using the social and internet platform in acquiring information about their targets. The new technologies opened up modern model of terrorism like internet use. Terrorists have been able to utilize the use of internet to run their communication; nevertheless, the United States managed to develop programs with ability to intersect the information the terrorists are relaying. Moreover, technology changed structural of the terror groups from centralized and hierarchical structure to much more reliable and efficient method of diffusing networks within regional terrorist groups. With increasing decentralization of terrorism, there is a greater loss to Al Qaeda in relation operational capabilities. As a result, the terror groups are likely to pull off yet another attack like 9/11. These decentralizations also pose several threats to the people. Decentralization makes it difficult for state agencies responsible for intelligence services to keep track of the efforts by terror groups to ensure they do not execute their plans. The Al Qaeda have also been recruiting people pose as civilians. This is their new ideology to ensure their plans move as planned. Annotated Bibliography Alcantar, B. M. (2013). Psychological determinants of popular views of domestic and transnational terrorism. Frenso: California School of Forensic Studies. The aim of the study is to distinguish various psychological determinants influencing opinions on transnational terrorists and terror attacks. The study addressed the putative relationship between the dissociative experiences, patriotism, and religiosity. From the analysis, the author found the strength of political beliefs, self-identified political affiliation, and religious faith to predict the beliefs involving terrorist events like whether the states would succumb to future attacks. Moreover, the findings indicated that the more liberal people’s self-identification, the more they are likely to believe the state would be involved in the attack while the conservatives are positive to the idea that the attack would be religious in nature. Beck, A. T. (2002). Prisoners of hate. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40(3), 209-216. According to the author, the terrorism attack in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001 including domestic terrorism in the US and other places prompted psychoanalysis of terror attacks. According to profound perpetrators being wronged, the foreign powers and domestic power structures were undermining their values. The fanatic ideology of the perpetrators provided the matrix for the progressive malevolent that represents the oppressors reflecting the image of the enemy. The counterpart of the enemy image is idealized through collective self-image of the movement, faction, or cult members. Moreover, the narcissism improves their collective self-image as a pure, united, and righteous. With the foot soldiers in war gain glory through martyrdom acts, the instigators often have their personal narcissistic goals and plans. Best, S. J., Krueger, B. S., & Pearson-Merkowitz, S. (2011). Al Qaeda Versus Big Brother: Anxiety About Government Monitoring and Support for Domestic Counterterrorism Policies. Political Behavior, 34(4), 607-625. Various explanatory models of attitudes on the domestic counterterrorism policy of the US tend to incorporate the concern of individuals over terrorism but disregard the concern regarding application of surveillance by the government. According to the author, most researches of such kind argue that ordinary Americans would not perceive that the government monitors people like themselves; therefore, the surveillance programmes would not generate anxiety. However, the research questions such assumption on the historical and theoretical background. The research uses unique probability sample in demonstrating significant portions of the ordinary anxious feeling the Americans have on domestic government monitoring. Bharucha, R. (2014). Terror and Performance. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. The book examines the management of the mass media reports concerning the crime and terrorism in the US with major focus on the domestic terrorism threat by the police agencies in a bid to improve fear and ensure adequate support for the heightened surveillance protecting the Americans from risks. The author argues that terrorism fears from which Bharucha discusses from the concept of discourse of fear, which were grounded in decades of mass media propaganda concerning the fear of crime, and the political discourse that occurred after 9/11 which promoted the politics of fear. Freilich, J. D., Chermak, S. M., Belli, R., Gruenewald, J., & Parkin, W. S. (2013). Introducing the United States Extremis Crime Database (ECDB). Terrorism and Political Violence, 26(2), 372-384. Currently, the studies comparatively view homicide events perpetrated through the far-right extremist in the US. Nonetheless, the recent violence is highlighting the threat that far-right extremists tend to pose to the public: safety and national security. Little is known concerning the events in comparison to more common homicide forms. The study draws research on homicide especially the hate crimes and domestic terrorism, which the article aimed to address. Original open-source data on far-right radical perpetrated crime are integrated with traditional murder data to overcome methodological and other substantive obstacles that have blocked the investigation of this type of brutality. Various similarities and contrasts across these types of manslaughter demonstrate the heterogeneity in the nature of crime in the United States. Implications for policy makers and law enforcement, as well as the broader investigation of homicide and domestic radicalism, are discussed. References Alcantar, B. M. (2013). Psychological determinants of popular views of domestic and transnational terrorism. Frenso: California School of Forensic Studies. Beck, A. T. (2002). Prisoners of hate. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 40(3), 209-216. Best, S. J., Krueger, B. S., & Pearson-Merkowitz, S. (2011). Al Qaeda Versus Big Brother: Anxiety About Government Monitoring and Support for Domestic Counterterrorism Policies. Political Behavior, 34(4), 607-625. Bharucha, R. (2014). Terror and Performance. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Freilich, J. D., Chermak, S. M., Belli, R., Gruenewald, J., & Parkin, W. S. (2013). Introducing the United States Extremis Crime Database (ECDB). Terrorism and Political Violence, 26(2), 372-384. Green, Z. G. (2015). Commentary on “Toward Understanding and Treating Violence in America: Some Contributions From Group Dynamic and Group Therapy Perspectives”. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 65(2), 285-294. Hough, G. (2006). American terrorism and the Christian Identity movement: a proliferation threat from non-state actors. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytical Studies, 3(1), 79-100. Sinclair, S. J., & Antonius, D. (2013). The political psychology of terrorism fears. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More

Seattle Jewish Federation Shooting, July 28, 2006 The shooting of the Seattle Jewish Federation occurred when Naveed Haq shot six women of which one suffered the fatality. The shooting occurred at the Federation of Great Seattle building located in Belltown Washington, USA. Although the state convicted the shooter in 2009 and sentenced to life without any parole plus 120 years, the police classified the shooting as hate crime considering what the shooter is alleged to have said during the 911 call.

Additionally, the shooting is considered as one of the most serious crime ever occurred within the city. Haq, 30 years old, was US citizen of Pakistan descent and surrendered approximately 12 minutes after the shooting. From the attack, it clear that most terror activities are spearheaded by people having proper knowledge of the country and have time to plan and execute their terror activities. The shooter killed the Federation’s assistant director and injured five other women of which one of them was five months pregnant.

From the collected information, it was alleged that the shooter forced his way through the security door while holding a gun to a 13-year-old girl’s head. The terrorist began shooting after telling the Federation members of the Muslim-American status and being angry with US and Israel due to foreign policy issues. From the conversation with the police, it was clear that the shooter blamed the Jewish people for their problems citing that Muslims were tired of being pushed around by the existing situation in the Middle East.

With the rising rate of technological application, most terror grouped are using online sources to research on their targeted institutions. Consequently, Haq targeted the Jewish Federation after conducting a serious internet search for existing Jewish organizations. Through investigation, the police established that Haq had been looking for new on Middle East and made several anti-Semitic comments. Comparison of the terror events The level of security is one of the factors determining the economic growth of a country.

The United States is one of the countries that experienced several attacks from the terrorists due to their firm stand on the fight against any terror group. Since September 11 of 2001, the country has been on the forefront in outlining strict security measures to prevent experiencing such an attack that claimed the lives, many innocent citizens. From the attack, most Americans believed that none of them was safe due to the magnitude of destruction that the attack caused (Sinclair & Antonius, 2013).

From the two events, it is clear that both the terrorists made proper plans and outlined the mechanisms of executing their plans. In the Seattle Jewish Federation Shooting, the terrorist used a little girl for shield and passing through the security agents. In the current terror attacks, most groups use hostages in leveraging their needs and ensuring that the security agencies listen to their plea. In a mid of technological advancement, most terror groups are using internet and social platforms to identify their areas of target, security levels, and security gaps they could use to execute their plans.

Consequently, the shooter used similar method to identify the target. While aiming to minimize the magnitude of destruction arising from the terror attack, it is important to ensure there is an effective intelligence within the state. However, for the terrorists to execute their terror activities, they have to study the security gaps within their areas of target. In both cases, it is evident that the country has security gaps (Beck, 2002). In Yemen, bombing of the naval ship reflects inadequacy of the country in dealing with unauthorized ships moving around the state’s water body.

Moreover, the naval ships usually have strong security scanners, which allow detection of threats. However, the sailors failed to utilize the resources within the ship to avert the magnitude of destruction from the terrorists.

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