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War On Terror Analysis Term Paper

War on terror has changed significantly since the attacks of 2001. Terrorism has always been a part of American life, with the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901 by Leon Czolgosz. More recently, however, the United States has contested with terrorism stemming from extreme Islamist groups that are at ideological odds with the Western way of life. The war on terror that began in 2001 has grown to represent billions of dollars and thousands of individuals whose mission it is to never allow another attack on U.S. soil again, if they can help it. The tools of the U.S. have grown, yet so have those of terrorist groups worldwide. The war on terror began as an immediate strike into Afghanistan, and slowly grew into Iraq, and the world at large. More recently, it has been seen in places like Libya, Syria, Egypt, and Yemen. The war itself began as an immediate effort to retaliate for the September 11 attacks, but became a political philosophy of the United States to end terrorism and extremism wherever it may be in the world. This effort has not been cheap, and at first cost the U.S. some political points in International Relations. The effect, however, has been a significant damping of the capabilities of al-Qaeda, and overall the world has become a safer place as a result. The specific U.S. strategies have been a combination of military, intelligence, business, and even propaganda campaigns to sway the Muslim world to the idea that the United States was not anti-Muslim, only anti-terrorist.

With the beginning of the September 11, 2001 new counter-terrorism program for a country like the U.S., new techniques and practices must be relayed down the chain of command in order to properly train law enforcement officials. Specialized tactics, as well as broad strategies, have been collected by the recently created U.S. Homeland Security agency. It is from this powerful agency that law enforcement departments nationwide receive their training in the handling of counter-terrorism efforts. The Department of Homeland Security also offers valuable information and interactive cooperation between the various counter-terrorism agencies. This date exchange is the sort of connection...

The FBI also contributes to the nationwide goal of preventing terrorism with good Intel. Law enforcement agencies have an even broader and more elusive role; to face domestic terrorist threats while still fulfilling all of the existing duties of a police officer.
The first policy to put into place for an Intelligence Department's counter-terrorism strategy would be to teach each officer how to communicate with other response units in uncertain circumstances, and how to isolate trouble areas in order to contain threats. Counter-terrorism strategies such as this are necessary for all police officers in the department because it requires general knowledge of best practices and informs the officers what their role should be in case of a terrorist attack. The Patriot Act gave law enforcement incredibly important duties of surveillance and tracking suspicious individuals, which in turn meant that police departments began receiving far more money from the federal government for their counter-terrorism efforts than ever before.

The second policy would be to create several specialized counter-terrorism units trained specifically to handle potential terrorist threats. This unit could be assembled similarly to a military counter-terrorism unit, but within the purview of the local police. These units require equipment which is far beyond standard issue for police officers, including assault rifles, ballistics armor, flash bang grenades, instant voice communication, bomb defusing training and materials, and even specialized protective vehicles. The expense of these units is not to be underestimated, but the problem of terrorism can result in far greater expense, both political and economic, and so therefore some local police departments feel that full-time counter-terrorism units are worth their price.

Many terrorist attacks can be stopped before they even begin, but only if law enforcement knows about an impending attack ahead of time, which is where law enforcement intelligence becomes important in the third policy; linking intelligence with federal agencies. Terrorist…

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The future of counter-terrorism and the struggle of the War on Terror will be fought in many ways. The first line of defense will be the U.S. troops sent abroad to secure missions, similar to the one that killed Osama bin Laden. The second line of defense will be the spy agents and agencies that are charged with discovering terrorist plots and putting an end to them before they can be hatched. This line of defense is typically handled by the Central Intelligence Agency, however others like the FBI have had an impact as well. This line of defense grew dramatically, as the agencies had stopped spying as much after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and instead they now had to hire specialists in several different languages including Arabic and Urdu. The third line of defense from terrorists lie on U.S. soil, and is typically considered a combination of the National Guard, the FBI, the NSA, and the entirety of America's local police force. This line of defense is important because these professionals are constantly looking out for terrorists and suspicious activity, and are usually the first ones to notice this.

The final line of defense from terrorists lies in the population of the U.S. itself. This includes the general populace, which is now much more able to understand and respond to terrorist threats, due to the extensive coverage of September 11th. America depends on the good nature of its citizens to report problems and to prevent crimes from taking place, and overall, the citizenry can be trusted to this task. There is a subset of America's population that is Muslim that has an extra duty to be vigilant against extremists that may enter their communities. Often, terrorists will not associate with anybody outside of their immediate communities, and therefore the only way for law enforcement to know what these extremists are doing is from insiders who are willing to work alongside the police to resolve issues before they happen.

In conclusion, the evolution of counterterrorism has morphed from a backburner issue, into the most important aspect of American daily life, and finally into the current position of persistent vigilance. The laws that were passed in the wake of 2001 have had sweeping effects around the nation. The Patriot Act has strengthened the U.S. government's control over its citizens, and the federal agencies tasked with counterterrorism have maintained their expanded state for over a decade. The future of American terrorism and the war on terror have yet to be determined, however the world seems to have taken a firm stance against terrorism anywhere, as attacks have touched dozens of countries around the world. From Spain and France in Europe, to India, Indonesia, and Pakistan in Asia, to Somalia and Sudan in Africa. The threat of terrorism is, by nature, never ending, and therefore neither can be the world's attention to the issue.
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