Terrorism Attack Schemes in the United States - Essay Example

Running Header: Terrorism Attack Schemes in the United States Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code & Name: Date of Submission: Terrorism Attack Schemes in the United States Introduction Terrorism in the United States has been one of the greatest security concerns of different administrations that have rose to power over the last many decades. America has often been on the threat of terrorism for a long time, and history has it that the country has suffered huge losses due to terrorism. Various terrorist attacks have been mounted on the American soil with the September 11 attack being regarded as one of the deadliest attacks that have ever happened on the planet earth. The attack led to thousands of lives lost, and billions of dollars going to the brink. Today, the United States Government is committed to taking key initiatives towards the prevention of terror attacks in America, alongside factoring long term solutions to counter the challenge of terrorism in America. Indeed, the American tax payer spends a lot of the tax revenue that goes into the Governments pocket on security details. America spends billions of dollars on efforts to counter terrorism, and thus the threat that the United States faces due to terrorism is a reality that the American people, as well as the authority has to face head on. This essay looks at America’s threat on terrorism, the new transportation mode that the Terrorist are likely to employ to attack America, the methods that they use to launch their attacks, and it sums up with the ways by which the authorities in the United States can employ to counter terrorism. Mode of transport for Terrorists in the United States& Reasons The terrorist often use different modes to carry out their attacks in different countries based on the security loop holes that are availed to them. However, in the United States the mode of transportation that will be the next target of terrorist attacks is likely through the road network where they will use trucks to transport their weaponry. A number of factors that will support this opinion will be discussed along this paper. Terrorists attacks often comes at a time that one least expects them, often the attacks are spontaneous with the terrorists targeting the United States, and all the country’s that are affiliated to the American policies, or what the Terrorist refer to the hate between the West, and the Islamic countries that are based in the East. Following the previous attacks that have been carried out in America over time, and the September 11th bomb attack, the American authorities have invested lots of resources to ensure that the security details of the Americans both in the United States and those in the Diaspora is up to date. The transportation modes that the Terrorists are likely to use has been censored, with highly technology equipments being established in almost all the entry points of the United States. These include the airports, the sea ports, and other avenues that are prone to be used by the Terrorists. The September 11th attacks led the United States authorities to increase their regulations with regard to entry of visitors in their land, and security details at the airports, and this makes this mode of transport be very difficult for the terrorists to employ. Increased budgetary allocation towards the security detail in airports and other entry points makes it difficult for the Terrorist to ferry their explosives, and bombs to America (Linden, 2007). The likely strategy that the terrorists are likely to employ may involve making of locally assembled bombs within America and use through the trucking industry, be able to transport the explosives, and other deadly weapons such as missiles to attack America. They are likely to use this mode in future because of number of reason that would be discussed; however, two core reasons for using this strategy is that the trucking industry in America currently has not had an up to date policy framework that guards the players in the industry with regard to dealing with terrorism, and two the funds allocated from the federal government to the trucking industry is much far below what is allocated to the other modes of transports such as air transport, and sea transport (Doyle, 2008). The inadequate funds means that the security details in this mode of transport may not be equipped as compared to the other modes of transport that are available. It has been noted that despite the trucking industry being one of the major sector in the transportation industry, it significantly lacks the resources that is required to prevent the trucks from being employed as a means of transport by the terrorists. The insufficiency in resources that is channeled to this sector makes the trucks to be prone to be used by the Terrorists to perform their attacks. Experts argue that a functional plan is very necessary to change the state of the trucking industry so that it can be safe and secure for the users and secondly, so that it can be secure from the threat of being used by terrorists to perform their attacks in the United States. It is said that the road networks and the trucks in particular need improved security, through the American authorities taking security initiatives without compromising on the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations in the US. The terrorists are likely to target this mode of transport through high jacking the vehicles, and containers, and using them in their attacks. For instance, the terrorists may highjack petrol tankers, and infuse their explosives, feign that they are the genuine users of the tankers; drive the tanker to or near the destination they plan to attack, and thus attack the place. This would be simpler for them as compared to using other modes such as the air transport where the security detail is beefed up through employing high technology sensor machines and anti-terrorism police at every entry and exit gate. The terrorist would find it easier to find their way into America like any other ordinary person, and when they arrive, they may through their networks assemble explosives from local market through exploiting the system. They would then use the loop hole in the trucking industry to carry out their attacks (OECD, 2005). Part of the blame of why this mode of transport is likely to be used by the terrorists may be attributed to the minimal support that the federal government gives to the trucking industry with regard to the money they are allocated to secure their daily functions and to minimize risks of terrorism. The industry has received no fund for securing the hazardous situations such as that of transporting dangerous materials that the terrorist may hijack and cause destruction (Brück, 2007). The low priority that the federal authority has given to establishing standards and regulations also adds weight to this matter. In addition to the said, the Government effort to increase the flow of cargo whereas the security detail of the industry is not proportionally increased creates a loop hole for the terrorists. To sum it up, this mode of transport is also likely to be used in future because the trucking fleets in America often transport hazardous materials, various types of fuels, and chemicals which can be deliberately exploded on impact by terrorists to cause destruction. Methods the Terrorists in the US use to carry the attack & Counter measures taken by authorities to prevent attacks There are different methods that terrorists might use to carry out their attacks in the United States. This depends on the security details, the target area and people that the terrorists attack, and the magnitude of impact that the terrorists plan to undertake. The flowing methods may be used by terrorist to carry out their attacks in America. Explosive devices: Terrorist often employs this type of method to attack their perceived opponents through delivering the explosives to their target through sending the explosives through post, vehicles, and often by a person who carries the explosive to the destined target place. Renown terrorist groups such as the Al-Qaida use their networks to hit their target through sending a suicide operative who carries the explosive to the vicinity, then detonates the explosive at the moment that the terrorists wanted. Shootings: This is yet another method where the terrorists choose to have shoot outs with the target groups or people. For instance, the Al-Qaida has used this method in Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, where they have has campaigns of shootings against the westerners in these countries. Another instance that shootings were used was In Europe, whereby an extremist was responsible for shooting dead Theo van Gogh, a Dutch film maker in Amsterdam in the late 2004 (Bjelopera, 2006). Kidnappings: This method is often used by the Terrorists as well as Islamic militia’s so that they can demand money in form of ransom or they can kill the kidnapped person in the long run as a show of their hatred to the Western countries, and policies. In the recent past, there has been increased number of incidences where people have been kidnapped. This particularly affects countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan where such incidences have been on the rise. For instance, ‘Kenneth Bigley’, a UK citizen was kidnapped in Iraq, and killed in 2004. We also have other methods that the terrorists can use to launch their attacks including surface to air missiles, using chemicals and so on. There are a number of counter measures that authorities can use to prevent attacks to the American people, and they include increased regulation with regard to the visitors that enter into the American soil. This entails scrutiny to ensure that these people are not at all linked to any terrorist group and have no intention to do so. This is the basic step that can be taken by the American authority to protect the country against attacks by the terrorists (Koch & Abraham, 2007). The second measure that authorities in America have to take is to clearly define the Threat. This is because the challenge of terrorism has become more transnational than international. This calls for the national security council to take initiatives that would define the politics of the century, through studying the foreign frontiers of terrorism, the opposing groups of states, and measuring the might of the states that support terrorism. This will help America build up its capacity to fight terrorism from all aspects, whereby both offensive and defensive measures will be captured by the authorities. Conclusion All in all, it is also important for the American authorities to promote openness in the political and economic sectors, increased tolerance, and observance of the rule of law as an avenue by which terrorism can be fought against. However, the success of such measures can be assessed in the long term as opposed to other measures whose effectiveness can be measured in the short run. The US is under the threat of terrorism, however I would emphasize the need of the authorities to take up whole round measures including employing dialogue with the parties concerned so as to come up with an amicable solution to the matters revolving around terrorism between not only America and the Islamist terrorist, but between the West and the East. References Brück, T. (2007). The economic analysis of terrorism. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis. Bjelopera, J. (2006). American Jihadist Terrorism: Combating a Complex Threat. London: DIANE Publishing. Doyle, C. (2008). Terrorist Attacks on Commercial Airlines: Federal Criminal Prohibitions. London: DIANE Publishing. Koch, B. & Abraham, K. (2007). Terrorism, tort law and insurance: a comparative survey. New York, NY: Springer. Linden, E. (2007). Focus on Terrorism. London: Nova Publishers. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, (2005). Terrorism risk insurance in OECD countries. New York, NY: OECD Publishing. Read More