War on Terror and Racial Profiling Ten years removed from the horrific and fatal attacks launched by Al-Qaeda on 9-11, U.S. leadership continues to grapple with the challenges and complexities of protecting our nation from terrorist threats. Domestic security agencies such as the FBI utilize a myriad of information sources, channels, and platforms to collect intelligence which may prove useful in unlocking potential clues to homeland security threats. One of these essential tools is the gathering of data based on certain demographic characteristics: "certain terrorist and criminal groups target particular ethnic and geographic communities for victimization and/or recruitment purposes, this reality must be taken into account when determining if there are threats to the United States" (Knickerbocker, B. October 21, 2011. P.2). While the FBI views this activity as essential in the prevention of domestic terrorist attacks, civil liberties groups denounce the practice as "industrial scale racial profiling" (Knickerbocker, B. October 21, 2011. P.1), anathema to U.S. Constitutional freedoms. "The American Civil Liberties Union pointed to growing evidence & #8230; that the FBI is illegally and unconstitutionally targeting innocent...
October 21, 2011. P.1). The stakes in this debate could not be higher; the protection of our nation from terrorist attacks, however; no justification for racial profiling can be posited that endangers the fundamental freedoms of American citizens.
Racial Profiling If seen from the perspective of law enforcement, racial profiling can be described as "government action that relies on the race, ethnicity, or national origin rather than the behavior of an individual or information that leads the police to a particular individual who has been identified as being, or having been, engaged in criminal activity" (Etienne, 2012). Though racial profiling is practiced in almost every country of the world, United
Media If 911 had not happened do you think the Summer of the Shark would have become the Year of the Shark? If not, what do you think the next big story would have been? (search news sites and other online references to find other news stories that could have been big, but were overshadowed by 9/11) The term "summer of the shark" has become a joke to refer to the way
Current Events Medical-Marijuana On July 12, 2011 the Seattle city council took the first steps toward the regulation of medical-marijuana dispensaries within city limits. The city would require that "medical-marijuana operations get a city business license and comply with city land-use, fire safety, and other rules." (Martin) The state of Washington has had legalized medical-marijuana for 13 years, but the voter-approved law is scheduled to change on July 22, due to the
This is to note that "Trinidad and Tobago alone account for 80% (1st quarter 2004) of all U.S. LNG imports, up from 68% in 2002. Therefore, any incident involving an LNG tanker along the Caribbean routes could harm not only U.S. energy security but also the economies of the Caribbean islands, affecting tourism and other industries." (Kelshell, 1) Such a trajectory has all the markings of an Al-Qaeda styled
Airline Terrorism As the name implies, terrorism is an attempt to provoke fear and intimidation. Therefore, terrorist acts are intended to attract wide publicity and provoke public shock, outrage, and/or fear. The intent may be to provoke disproportionate reactions from governments, and they are intended to achieve political or religious goals, not personal gain. Many definitions of terrorism exist, produced by the politicians, media, academics, think tanks, and of course by government.
Terrorism in Seattle Even before the World Trade Center attack in September, 2011, most major cities in the United States were not only aware, but anticipatory regarding the potential for a terrorist attack. Seattle has been fortunate in that it has never experienced an actual international attack, but has had three major domestic incidents since 1999 that continue to be in the minds of Emergency Management professionals. In 1999, Ahmed Ressam,
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