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Post 9/11 Security. Are we doing enough?
Topic Started: Jun 9 2005, 08:12 PM (543 Views)
RagingFuryBlack
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In this post 9/11 World, are we doing enough to protect ourselves? This goes for any country, not just the states.
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Glitch
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I think we're doing a bit too much. I don't want to turn this into another one of those topics, but I don't think we should be in Iraq, for example. I also don't agree with the Patriot Act. I do agree with the tightening of airport security, though.
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RagingFuryBlack
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I wrote this for english, i may as well whip it out now.

Just take a few minutes, and read through this situation. I have my sources if you wish to take a look at them.



Imagine yourself working inside a large office building in a large
metropolitan area. You hear a large explosion outside on the street. A
suicide bomber has just preformed an attack outside your building. As you
rush out to the exits you are met with masked men wielding automatic
assault rifles. They open fire on the crowd of people. You hit the floor
just in time to avoid a spray of bullets. As you rush the other way, you
are met with car bombs. This is the new terrorism. Attacks are less
frequent now, but deadlier than ever. These attacks will become more
frequent and even more deadly if we do not keep up the measures that have
been implemented post 9-11. Even these measures however, are not enough to
keep all large-scale attacks at bay. It is not a question of will they
attack, but when and how.
The issue of terrorism in the United States and around the world is a
very pressing issue. With the events of September 11, 2001 fresh in many
American minds, along with the anthrax attacks shortly thereafter; people
tend to wonder, "How safe am I?" or "Is the government doing enough?" The
American government along with many other governments around the world are
doing enough to keep attackers at bay and to stop terrorist plans.

Terrorism is nothing new to anyone in the world. Israel has been
terrorized since it reclaimed the territory that had once been Palestine.
This brought rise to terrorist organizations such as Hammas. Terrorist
organizations such as Hammas rely on a supply of people willing to martyr
themselves in the name of their God and cause. The word martyr means to
commit suicide for a cause that is just to the person committing suicide.
These people usually attack by strapping various explosive and incendiary
devices, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), to their chests and setting
them off in crowded areas such as public busses, trains, and night clubs
(New Terrorism).
During the later parts of the Cold War, the Soviet Union attempted to
invade the country of Afghanistan. The United States government worked
closely with the Mujahideen to keep the Soviets from invading the country.
One of the principal leaders of this fight was Osama Bin Laden. Although
Bin Laden was involved in the fight against the Soviets he would not accept
support for his group from the U.S.
The United States provided arms and training to Afghan fighters during
that time. After the defeat of the Soviet powers, the Taliban government,
which we had helped, allowed the newly formed "Al-Qaeda", which means "The
Base" or foundation, terrorist organization to flourish in their country
without fear of prosecution. This allowed Osama Bin Laden to declare a
Fatwa, or holy war, on the United States and allowed him to train the
people to carry out the war. His justification for this holy war against
the western war is that we are infidels occupying the sacred, holy lands of
the Middle East. Bin Laden has promised to bring down the Western economy
and remove them from the holy lands by any means necessary, including
invading and attacking on foreign soil, as they have proved by both World
Trade Center bombings and the Embassy bombings in Africa (New Terrorism).
The use of terrorist tactics is not a new action on the United
States. We were attacked by a variety of groups in the past. We were
attacked by the Red Army terrorist group back during the cold war days.
They set off an IED inside a military base in Germany. Some more recent
attacks include the military operation in Somalia where we were met with
fierce resistance. There is some evidence that shows Bin Laden financed
the fighters in some form. Another attack on the United States was the
1993 World Trade Center bombing. In this attack, an IED was placed in the
back of a truck and parked in the parking deck. The truck bomb did not
kill many, but it injured over 6 thousand people. This was one of the
first real Muslim terrorist acts on American soil. It showed that the USA
was susceptible to foreign terrorism and that we were not doing enough to
keep them out of our country (New Terrorism).
The multiple embassy bombings show how even a presence of a few
hundred American people can make a good target for terrorists. In 1998,
terrorists set off an IED at a United States embassy in Kenya and Tanzania.
Between these two attacks, 258 people died and at least another 5 thousand
people were injured. This shows how two car bombs can disrupt the
democratic system in different countries. (9/11 Commission) The bombing
of the USS Cole was a very significant pre-9/11 attack. The attack killed
over 90 US soldiers and as well as blew a hole in the side of the USS Cole
while it was refueling off the coast of Yemen. This was a significant
attack because it proved that even military vehicles were susceptible to
terrorist acts (9/11 Commission).

The September 11 2001 terrorist attacks woke up American policy
makers. The attacks were the most successful, high scale attacks ever
executed on American soil. The attacks were compared only to the Japanese
attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The attacks took the USA by complete
surprise. No one expected a terrorist attack to hit American soil with
that much power (9/11 Commission).
In 1999, Osama Bin Laden approached a man named Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed about his interests in attacking America. Mohammed met with top
Al-Qaeda officers to discuss possible targets and methods for attack. Bin
Laden wished to attack many targets in the capitol of the United States.
Mohammed and Bin Laden discussed the different ways that they could
incorporate the use of commercial airliners into their plot. In the past,
an airliner was hijacked to free a member of a political organization,
never to be used as a suicide missile. The idea of typical terrorist
hijackings did not meet the need of the terrorist organization because
these plots are used for freeing other members of the organization.
Typical hijackings require a friendly country for the airliner to land in
and negotiate. Al-Qaeda lacked this "friendly country" to land a plane.
Mohammed also discussed the possibility of using explosive devices to blow
up an airliner in mid-flight; such as the attack on Pan-Am flight 103 over
Lockerbie, Scotland. It was not until later in the operation that the idea
of flying airplanes into buildings came into play (9/11 Commission).
The recruitment for the suicide hijackers was fairly simple according
to Al-Qaeda sources. There were many willing applicants for the suicide
attack, however only the ones that were judged to be able to blend into
Western society were chosen. These men were instructed to go see movies
and act as if they were tourists. They were told to blend in and "enjoy"
the culture while they were training for the attacks. These men took
several cross-country flights, looking for weaknesses in security as well
as to see what they could and could not smuggle onto the airplane. They
were able to get 4 inch knives onto the planes, and these were the weapons
used to hijack the aircraft. Several of the hijackers attended flight
schools inside the United States. They were not interested in taking off
or landing, just flying. This should have set off some indicators that
these men were up to no good (9/11 Commission).
On the morning of September 11 2001, the hijackers boarded their
planes. About an hour into their flights, the men made their moves on the
cockpit doors. The men claimed they had a bomb on board the aircraft and
instructed all passengers to remain seated. They proceeded to fly to their
targets, unnoticed by FAA officials and Air Traffic Controllers until
reports were received from flight attendants and passengers of a potential
hijacking. The plane that struck the Pentagon was suspected to have
another target; the White House, however, the pilot may have judged it too
difficult and instead went with the Pentagon. The events that lead to the
plane that crashed in Shanksville Pennsylvania are still a mystery. The
Commission believes that the plane was retaken, or was being taken over by
passengers (9/11 Commission).
The events of September 11 2001 have shown us that America is very
much vulnerable to terrorist attacks and that we must to much more to stop
people from executing these attacks on our soil. The development of the
9/11 commission as well as their report has shown what we need to do to
change our ways of operating as well as our counterterrorism measures. As
we look into the future, we see that attacks will not be as frequent, but
be as deadly, if not more deadly than those on September 11, 2001.

Before the events of September 11, 2001, our government agencies were
set up to allow something of this magnitude to happen. The two top anti
crime and intelligence agencies were not sharing information. The FBI and
CIA were in a sense competing with each other to see who could arrest who
first. This was their biggest mistake, for reports have shown if the
agencies would have shared information and leads they would have been able
to at least predict something such as 9/11 happening to within a few weeks.
There also may have been fewer hijackers because many of the people who
Bin Laden picked were on terrorist watch lists, and would not have been
issued visas (9/11 Commission).
The events of September 11 2001 also showed us that we lacked
security in many major areas. Our airplanes were not nearly as secure as
we thought them to be. Our borders were not being controlled well enough.
Many of the hijackers that applied for visas used their real names, names
that were on terrorist "Hot Lists", as well as those that were not to be
allowed into the country at any cost. We also learned that airport
screeners were not doing their jobs correctly. People were being allowed
to walk onto a plane with a 4 inch knife, a knife that which could easily
be used to take over an airplane (9/11 Commission).
Today our security in airports, seaports, as well as everyday safety
has improved drastically. Each industry has increased its security, as
well as complied with all new government standards. This goes to show how
one incident can make everyone understand how important security is to a
nation.
The security was improved at a national level in many ways.
President Bush signed an executive order to require that a Department Of
Homeland Security be created to secure our borders and to deal with matters
of counterterrorism. There has also been a newly created overseer of the
dealings of both the CIA and FBI. This ensures that information be shared
with each organization, and that all important threats are sorted out in a
timely manner (9/11 Commission).
Before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, our
airspace and airliners were very insecure. The cockpit doors were not
secure, baggage wasn't always checked, and we used privately employed
screeners to screen baggage. Today, all baggage is screened for bombs and
other weapons. All baggage screeners are now federal employees and our
cockpit doors are also reinforced. A new system of federal air marshals
has also been established. We now have armed guards in the air as well as
armed pilots. Our skyways are not nearly as vulnerable as they once were,
but still are vulnerable. However, when we are now attacked, there are set
rules of engagement for civilian aircraft. Pre-9/11 there was no set
standards, nor any permission allowing the firing of a missile onto a
commercial airliner. Today however, there is a set guideline for shooting
down Commercial Airliners (New Terrorism).
We hear about terrorists wishing to smuggle arms and weapons of mass
destruction into the country. Today we have radiation screeners to check
shipping containers coming out of our nation's seaports for signs of a
nuclear bomb. We also utilize a process called manifest checking. This
calls for the shipping manifest to be checked against the crates on the
ship. If something is out of place on the ship, it will be turned out to
sea or subject it to an intense search (New Terrorism).
With the terrorists changing tactics constantly, the government must
update the ways in which we detect and respond to terrorist threats.
Attorney General John Ashcroft is quoted as saying "It is not a question of
if terrorists will attack again; it is a question of when." Law
enforcement agencies have developed a system called "Red Teaming" This is
where they answer a set system of simple questions while thinking as a
terrorist would. Who? Who are the potential terrorists? What? What will
they attack? When? When will they attack? (Holiday or other important
National day) Where? Where would the next attack be most productive to the
terrorists? Why? What significance is the attack? And How? How will they
execute the attack? While this may not always lead to an arrest, it does
give law enforcement a good place to start looking for suspects (New
Terrorism).
There are a lot of new security measures in place Post 9/11.
Americans today are a lot safer in the air, on the sea, and during their
normal daily routine. This all goes to show you that one terrorist attack
can change the way we function as a country and how much safer we can be.
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.:The Eye:.
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I think sending soldier to Iraq is completely stupid! I mean what are you there for anyway? You alreay found the "bad" guys right? GET OUT OF THERE! Innocent people are being killed and it's just because Bush wanted to see a war. I was with Bush before this whole thing and especially went against him when I heard the "If you're not with me you're with the terrorist." thing.
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Excella
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Simply said, we could do better.
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Casey.
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I think that the secuirty is perfect right now. I don't want anymore tightning of secuirty, besides the Railroad Industry. I agree with Glitch, we are doing a bit to much. I mean, whatever happens in the states is what happens. We can't prevent a Hurricane or a Tornado to come here, and like I said before....if something happens, then we have to take it and move on.
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RagingFuryBlack
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.:The Eye:.
Jun 9 2005, 08:17 PM
I think sending soldier to Iraq is completely stupid! I mean what are you there for anyway? You alreay found the "bad" guys right? GET OUT OF THERE! Innocent people are being killed and it's just because Bush wanted to see a war. I was with Bush before this whole thing and especially went against him when I heard the "If you're not with me you're with the terrorist." thing.

Get out of iraq. Not what im looking for here. Iraq is not the topic. Are we doing enough to protect ourselves on the homefront to prevent another attack is the topic.


EDIT: To make it perfectly clear, i would like NO mention of the Iraq war in this topic. I ask Glitch to see my request through :)
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.Rob
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I was Flying on an airline,(I do soo often) and I noticed something weird. When we got our meal, There were Stainless Steel Knives in it! That cant be too safe....
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.:The Eye:.
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RagingFuryBlack
Jun 10 2005, 12:18 AM
.:The Eye:.
Jun 9 2005, 08:17 PM
I think sending soldier to Iraq is completely stupid! I mean what are you there for anyway? You alreay found the "bad" guys right? GET OUT OF THERE! Innocent people are being killed and it's just because Bush wanted to see a war. I was with Bush before this whole thing and especially went against him when I heard the "If you're not with me you're with the terrorist." thing.

Get out of iraq. Not what im looking for here. Iraq is not the topic. Are we doing enough to protect ourselves on the homefront to prevent another attack is the topic.


EDIT: To make it perfectly clear, i would like NO mention of the Iraq war in this topic. I ask Glitch to see my request through :)

Ok ok sorry. But that's just my opinion on it all. I think the security is enough especially in the airports. I was gong the other day to Florida and they stopped me and did a complete check of me just because I had and Aleve in my pocket... <_<
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Glitch
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Interesting essay. Very interesting.

Although I'd like to point out that the reason that Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden came to hate the US was because after we gave them weapons and told them to fight the Soviets, and they won, we simply picked ourselves up and left. Afghanistan was in tatters. The Afghanis felt abandoned, and that's why Osama bin Laden came to hate the US.

Which is exactly why I don't feel we should leave Iraq right this moment, because it's likely the same thing would happen again.
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RagingFuryBlack
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Read my Paper .:The Eye:. . You will see without those security measures, people may get through with weapons. IMO we should be more like Israel in our security measures for the skies. They are extremely rigerous in security, full background checks, searches, the whole deal. We arent safe, any way you look at it. There are still too many holes.
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Glitch
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RagingFuryBlack
Jun 9 2005, 07:24 PM
Read my Paper .:The Eye:. . You will see without those security measures, people may get through with weapons. IMO we should be more like Israel in our security measures for the skies. They are extremely rigerous in security, full background checks, searches, the whole deal. We arent safe, any way you look at it. There are still too many holes.

In my opinion full background checks and searches would only result in more unnecessary bureaucracy. What we need to do is prepare for another attack, rather than trying to prevent it, which is an almost impossible task.
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.:The Eye:.
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I think that we aren't safe anyways. I mean even if the whole 9/11 hadn't happened. Where I live murders and deaths are of at least 8 people a week. We aren't safe anyway, and I think it won't be helful to raise security because already these people (terrorists) have so many tricks that it's really impossible to prevent it. It is more useful though to prepare for an attack.

Oh and I don't want to be misunderstood its not that I don't believe in security and all, it's that I think we are exagerating.
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RagingFuryBlack
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Quote:
 

With the terrorists changing tactics constantly, the government must
update the ways in which we detect and respond to terrorist threats.
Attorney General John Ashcroft is quoted as saying "It is not a question of
if terrorists will attack again; it is a question of when." Law
enforcement agencies have developed a system called "Red Teaming" This is
where they answer a set system of simple questions while thinking as a
terrorist would. Who? Who are the potential terrorists? What? What will
they attack? When? When will they attack? (Holiday or other important
National day) Where? Where would the next attack be most productive to the
terrorists? Why? What significance is the attack? And How? How will they
execute the attack? While this may not always lead to an arrest, it does
give law enforcement a good place to start looking for suspects (New
Terrorism).


We need to do more of the above paragraph. "Red Teaming" is one of the best ways to get inside the heads of the terrorists. Once we answer those questions, we can at least protect and beef up security even more for said locations.

@ Glitch:

John Ashcroft
 

"It is not a question of
if terrorists will attack again; it is a question of when."


This quote shows how they will always attempt to attack, however, using methods such as red teaming, we can try to narrow down a list of targets, potential terrorists, ect. It gives us a place to start at the very least. As for the full background checks: If it takes that to slow down an attack, by all means do it. More than one of the 9/11 hijackers were on a terrorist watchlist and not suppoes to be allowed inside the USA. If we ran full background checks on each Passenger Manifest, we would have at least stopped a few attackers from getting on the planes. This is especially true because he used his real name, the name that was on the watch list, on his airline ticket.

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Curare
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I think we're right on the level of satisfactory as far as country protection. Pertaining to airport security, I think we're doing a fantastic job. We can't have everyone waling through the detectors naked, so we're doing as good as we need to.

Glitch
 
What we need to do is prepare for another attack, rather than trying to prevent it, which is an almost impossible task.


I really have to say something about this, because I totally disagree with it.

What you're doing is basically conceeding that we're going to be attacked again in the near future, and basically implying that the door should be opened to the terrorists to destroy our country. It is my understanding that you want us to just dig out some bombhouses and build some barricades, run to the door and let the terrorists in, and then run back and hide.

Horrible idea.

That is the exact opposite of what we need to do, that is, unless you are satisfied with the loss of thousands--possibly millions--of people, again.

We need to fight back. That is the only way this roundabout scheme will ever end. Protecting our country is a far more impossible goal than trying to fight back and prevent a fight altogether. I mean, what do you protect? There are so many things terrorists could do to us, many of which we don't know of. With that in mind, it makes more sense to fight back with what we do know, that is, our own tactics and weapons.

Otherwise, we'll be in this game of Tag for years to come.
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