U.S. Defend the Home-Front Against

¶ … U.S. Defend the Home-Front Against Terrorist Attacks?

The United States will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the American homeland that occurred in September, 11, 2001. That particular day has already lived in infamy because it served as wake-up call for the country that has been immune to major terrorist attacks. Unlike other nations who have had these problems for decades and even centuries, this was something new in the United States even if there were previous attempts by local and foreign terrorists but it was never of this magnitude. Although the nation had its share of terrorist acts such as the Pan Am 103 bombing in December 1988, and the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center towers occurred, the 9-11 events brought home the reality that even a small band of radical and fundamentalist religious fanatics can take a major toll on a powerful and progressive nation. There have indeed various lessons learned and still being learned since the 9-11 events but have these lessons really been fully applied to defend the home-front from further terrorist attacks? The paper will delve on this matter and examine what have been the headways made since that horrifying day. Life for every American has without a doubt changed since that day but the United States alone was not the only one affected. Other nations have also realized the enormity of the problem with terrorist and terrorism that major strides have been made to curtail this menace not only on the American homeland but globally as well.

The morning of September 11, 2001 was like any other early fall day until tragedy struck with the terrorist attacks in the eastern part of the United States. The nation was caught in surprise but despite all the confusion, various departments and agencies of the government including private groups went full force to mitigate the effects of the devastating attacks. Once the ruble cleared and a semblance of "normalcy" began, one thing became clear in the aftermath of the attack -- that the United States was ill-prepared for such eventualities. The political machinery of the American government thence went into overdrive and started formulating plans, policies, and programs. These put in place systems, processes and entities that would meet future problems brought about by terrorist attacks on the home-front. The first immediate actions thereto were the implementation of the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act and the founding of the Department of Homeland Security.

The Patriot Act was signed into law by then U.S. President George W. Bush a little over a month after the 9-11 events. The law has often been deemed as a draconian measure that accorded various law enforcement agencies the ability to conduct investigations in terrorist-related events under less strict conditions. Foreign intelligence gathering within the United States also saw facilitation in the Patriot Act especially when the actions are geared towards combating terrorist threats. Further, the law provided for closer monitoring of financial transactions of local and foreign individuals and groups that may be involved in the terrorist machinery. Immigration policies of the nation also underwent a paradigm shift since with the Patriot Act, detention and deportation of immigrants and any non-U.S. citizen suspected of terrorism or related acts thereto could be readily initiated. Although the Patriot Act had a lot of "teeth" in terms of initially defending the home-front against terrorist attacks, the primary problems seen were with its implementation by various government departments and agencies that have different mandates.

Homeland security activities before, during and immediately after the 9-11 events "were spread across more than 40 federal agencies and an estimated 2,000 separate Congressional appropriations accounts (DHS, 2009)." There was no unified command to speak of and often the "right hand did not know what the left hand was doing." This was evident immediately after the law went into effect especially with regards to the cooperation, coordination and passage of information and intelligence amongst the various government entities concerned. Subsequently, the Bush administration saw it apropos to establish an executive department that will see to the full implementation of the Patriot Act and control, command, coordinate and facilitate all activities therein. In this regard, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was stood up during the first quarter of 2003. The creation of the DHS was the result of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which was ratified to prevent terrorist acts in the United States, ensure that the nation will be less vulnerable to such threats and attacks, and provide means to mitigate the damage caused by such incidents. The DHS then became the capo de tutti capi when it comes to the defense of the American homeland against all terrorist threats and attacks. Under the DHS's wings, 22 different Federal departments and agencies became unified and integrated with the DHS thus providing a more effective and integrated Department, creating a strengthened homeland security enterprise and a more secure America (DHS, 2009).

The implementation of the Patriot Act and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security were not the only measures done to defend the home-front. The United States brought the fight to the terrorist themselves when Afghanistan was invaded along with several allies of the United States. The Taliban and the al Qaeda went on the defensive and several headways have been made to weaken the them including of course the killing of Osama Bin Laden this year. Aside from all these, there were several victories that saw the curtailment of terrorist attacks and activities on the American homeland. Even homegrown terrorists who sympathizes with foreign ones were caught and these have all been made possible because of the emplacement of the Patriot Act and the DHS. But all of these actions were not done on a haphazardly and off -- the-fly basis rather they are the result of carefully laid out plans and program to ensure effective and efficient outcomes.

As the lead department in terrorist mitigation activities, the DHS comes up with a strategy plan detailing actions and initiatives. The latest Homeland Security Strategic Plan covers fiscal years 2008 to 2013 that has four strategic objectives to achieve victory in the nation's fight against terrorism and defense of the home-front, these goals are (DHS, 2008):

Achieve effective control of the U.S. borders to reduce the likelihood of terrorists entering the country;

Protect the interior and enforce immigration laws by increasing the efficiency of the systems for processing arriving visitors and immigrants without sacrificing security or respect for human dignity;

Strengthen screening of travelers and workers by improving the security and mobility of travelers and increasing focus on high-risk individuals through improved use of data, screening, fraud-resistant credentials, and biometric tools; and Improve security through enhanced immigration services by increasing security by denying immigration benefits to persons wishing to do the U.S. harm and integrating information with that of other Federal agencies with an aim of keeping out dangerous individuals.

The last several years since the implementation of the latest Homeland Security Strategy saw developments in stopping terrorist threats and activities. The case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who allegedly attempted to ignite an explosive device on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 25, 2009 (Garcia & Wasen, 2010); he concealed the explosive inside his underwear. The incident paved the way for the deployment of body scanners at airports across the country and along with body frisking, reduce the risk of terrorist carrying bombs on their persons. Although there is a strong outcry from civil libertarians regarding airport frisking and scanning, those who believe that the measures are important in the fight against terrorism would rather give up some of these rights for the safety and security that can be achieved.

By far the most important concern in the fight against terrorist is with regards those who have already entered the country -- legally or illegally and commit terrorist acts in lesser known areas in the United States. Although the Homeland Security Strategic Plan is a high-level document, it has also addressed the need for all facets of the American society to do their share in combating the menace of terrorism even at the community level. The next attack is far more likely to be detected by a local policeman on the beat than by an intelligence analyst or federal agent in Washington (Crowley, 2008); thus, states, cities, municipalities, towns, and communities should have the knowledge and capabilities of detecting the terrorist menace in coordination with the various agencies and departments of the government. Fortunately, this matter has been addressed in the 2010 National Security Strategy of the United States particularly emphasizing the "empowerment of communities to counter radicalization since the best defenses against this threat are well informed and equipped families, local communities, and institutions. The Federal Government will invest in intelligence to understand this threat and expand community engagement and development programs to empower local communities. (National Security Strategy, 2010)"

Immigration is also another concern because -- whether legal or illegal immigrants, this can be a venue for terrorists to wreak havoc on the nation especially once they are inside the country. Going back to the attempted Northwest Airlines bombing in December 2009 by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, he was traveling on a multi-year, multiple-entry tourist visa issued to him in June 2008 (Garcia & Wasen, 2010). Thus, he was able to attain his U.S. visa legally even though if one was to look at his background, there will be "red flags" already pertaining to his terrorist leanings. It seems though that the State Department, the embassies, consulates and missions charged with the issuance of various visas to foreigners do not have the resources and capabilities to conduct proper and thorough screening. In this regard then, it is critical to have better systems, processes, and procedures in place that can better vet and investigate foreigners seeking visas to enter the United States. "The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act of 2002 aimed to improve the visa issuance process abroad as well as immigration inspections at the border. It expressly required the development of an interoperable electronic data system to share information relevant to alien admissibility and removability and the implementation of an integrated entry-exit data system. (Garcia & Wasen, 2010)" The law is already in effect but better measures are required to strengthen the implementation thereto whereby the screening of legal visitors and immigrants will be stringent enough as to be able to identify any potential terrorist that want to enter the country.

After looking at the legal immigration side, it is then important to ensure that the U.S. borders from north and south to the eastern and western coasts are well protected and policed to prevent the entry of terrorists illegally. Auspiciously, this has been well planned in the various security strategies of the United States and several departments and agencies are in the lead to prevent any hostile entity from entering the country. But illegal immigration still remains a major threat to the nation because of the sheer size of the U.S. border. In this regard, the community level anti and counter-terrorism measures will prove invaluable because the grassroots level will provide the early warning system whenever unknown persons are in the community. This is not to insinuate having a "big brother" mentality of xenophobic tendencies by merely enabling the community to be able to determine if those in their communities are desirables or not without stepping on individual rights and liberties. This may be easier said than done because of the often conflicting nature of security and liberty but with due diligence, it will be possible to find a viable plan in doing so.