Verified Document

Homeland Security Challenges Term Paper

Homeland Security In 1945, the United States put a final and definitive end to World War II when it used two atomic bombs on Japan, forcing their surrender. At that time the entire world learned of the terrible potential of weapons of mass destruction. Unfortunately, as the major nations have backed away from weapons of mass destruction (WWD), terrorist organizations have sought to acquire them. Worse, technological advances have made it possible for to be constructed on a small enough scale that they could feasibly be smuggled anywhere in the world.

We have seen isolated use of such weapons. Terrorists released the nerve gas Sarin into a Tokyo subway some years ago, anthrax was used in the United States with the Postal Service as the delivery method, and al-Qaeda killed thousands in 2001 by flying fuel-laden passenger planes into buildings (Quillen, 2002). The last event in particular demonstrated that some groups want to leave a large mark from their terrorist activities, making the threat of WWD in their hands a real threat.

One of the greatest concerns of those charged with protecting us from terrorist attacks is that of nuclear and radiological devices. The word "nuclear" immediately puts fear in people because what we know of nuclear weapons is the kind of wide-scale obliteration that occurred in Nagasaki and Hiroshima at the end of World War II. However, there are two kinds of nuclear weapons terrorists might use. One threat is more realistic than the other.

Nuclear weapons are strategic armaments built by countries for offensive and defensive purposes. They are relatively difficult to build and to use, and most countries keep careful track of them, making them hard for terrorists organizations to acquire and hard for them to use. A second kind of nuclear device has been called a "dirty bomb," but can also be called a "radiological dispersion device," or RDD. One of the biggest risk factors...

They can be set of with more conventional explosives such as dynamite (Litman, 2003). While they would not have tremendous destructive power, they could contaminate areas with radioactivity. Their capacity for inflicting terror as well as radiation sickness in a small area makes them of great concern to governments.
Major political changes in some countries over the past 15 years add to the concerns. With the breakup of the U.S.S.R., the resulting independent states have shown some lack of ability to track their nuclear materials. Individuals have seen opportunities to sell nuclear materials on the black market. It is quite possible that weapons as well as the raw materials to make atomic and RDD weapons have been surreptitiously sold. It is likely that some have been sold to both countries and organizations antagonistic to the United States.

Among the countries that used to make up the U.S.S.R., for instance, up to 650 tons of nuclear material is stored in scattered locations. Experts estimate that it would take only 8 kilograms of plutonium and 15 -- 25 kilograms of enriched uranium to make a nuclear bomb capable of inflicting great damage (Lee, 2003). However, This is still al large amount of material. Transporting such a bomb as well as detonating it would be problematic for a small organization. The real risk from terrorists are dirty bombs, which would do less physical damage but have serious environmental effects in the area near where it was detonated.

So the question becomes, who is likely to use such weapons. It used to be believed that terrorist organizations were left-wing oriented, concerned with the issues of exploitation and oppression of groups of people. Believing that, nations concerned with fighting terrorism tended to believe that if the social…

Sources used in this document:
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bunn, Matthew. 2005. "Preventing a nuclear 9/11: presidential leadership is the key to accelerating progress on securing nuclear weapons and materials." Issues in Science and Technology, January.

Joyner, Christopher C. 2002. "Violence in the Middle East." World and I (17), July.

Levi, Michael A. 2005. "Averting Nuclear Terrorism." Congressional Testimony, April 14.

Laqueur, Walter. 2004. "The Terrorism to Come." Policy Review (126).
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

France's Homeland Security Challenges and
Words: 3400 Length: 12 Document Type: Thesis

S., is used on events that require drastic recovery processes like floods (natural) or terrorist attacks (man-made). But the MOI would not be in control of the military in such cases (Lindstrom, 2004). "Today, France has 'a pool of specialized judges and investigators adept at dismantling and prosecuting terrorist networks.'" (Perelman, 2006) "France has a system, Vigipirate, used at moments of danger to the country. Instituted in 1978, Vigipirate has two levels,

Homeland Security and the War on Terror
Words: 4940 Length: 16 Document Type: Research Paper

Homeland Security and U.S. Intelligence Formation of Department of Homeland Security & U.S. Intelligence on Terrorism Definition of Intelligence Rationale for Formation of DHS Effectiveness of DHS Importance of Intelligence & Analysts Research Philosophy Research Methods & Its Limitations Data Collection & Analysis National security has been a major concern for United States in past few decades. However, since 2001, this concern has turn into a serious threat for national security. The given research is performed with the intent

Homeland Security Assessment the State
Words: 1216 Length: 4 Document Type: Research Paper

("Lynchburg Virginia Emergency Operations Plan," 2012) Elements of Disaster Response, Recovery, and Incident Command In the event of a disaster, the City Manager is appointed as the local spokesperson for all issues, events and the coordination of resources. They work directly with the Mayor and the City Council (who sit as an advisory board to the City Manager). In the event that there are any political issues, the Mayor will interact

Homeland Security Strategies
Words: 1708 Length: 5 Document Type: Research Paper

Homeland Security Strategies The United Sates Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Strategic Plan outlines the Department's vision for homeland security as outlined in the Department's Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR). The plan is a unified, strategic framework for homeland security missions and goals. The Bottom-Up Review (BUR) compliments efforts to align DHS's programmatic activities and organizational structure to better serve the department's goals and missions. The plan enables the Department to

DHS Report Card 2007 the
Words: 1790 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

The Congressional report card for 2007 goes on to say that an important part of leading an organization is to "provide clear statements of principles, priorities, and vision." But that said, it is unfortunate, according to the report card, that "...in spite of its mandate in the Homeland Security Act, neither the national policy nor the strategic plan...has been produced." During the fiscal year 2005 independent financial auditors reported

Homeland Security the World Has
Words: 2900 Length: 10 Document Type: Term Paper

On the other hand, the Department in itself was projected to deal with a large number of aspects surrounding homeland security. The arguments supporting the idea were focused on the principle that the citizens must be protected from foreign threats, such as terrorism, and they must be given the help needed to face the treacheries of nature. In aiming to accomplish the latter, the Federal Emergency Management Directorate was established.

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now