How a Terrorist Attack Can Take Place in the USA - Case Study Example

and Section # of Terrorism The U.S Department defines terrorism as preplanned, politically motivated violence carried out against nonviolent targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, aimed to influence a large number of people (Terrorism: Cause, Effect, and the Search for Solutions). It is an act that has a long-lasting psychological impact on the audience and has led people to become more cautious, fueling prejudice against certain groups of people and resulting in adoption of severe measures in the hope of tackling the issue. Different polls were carried out in the U.S since the 9/11 terrorist attacks portray the responsiveness of the people and their attitude towards terrorism. Poll # 1: ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2010. N=1,002 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.5 (refer Appendix) According to this poll, Americans since 2003 had started thinking that U.S was getting less safer every year. Nonetheless, in 2007-2008, 60%-62% Americans had restored their sense of safety in their homeland which was once again snatched by certain recent events. The most recent poll shows that 42% of Americans think that compared to September 11, 2001, the country is less safer today from terrorism. This can be attributed to the Christmas 2009 bombing plot by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was travelling in Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route to Detroit (More Effective Security, Not More Draconian Security). Similarly, when asked about the ability of the U.S Government to prevent further terrorist attacks, the majority of the respondents believed in the Government to a good to a fair amount. However, two things should be noted here: the 11/27/01 responses show that 24% of the respondents claimed that the government could prevent further terrorist attacks; right after an event like 9/11 takes place. This can be due to the exhaustive efforts of the Government to maintain public trust right after 9/11. Also, there are no polls after Christmas 2009 that can tell us the change in faith in the government after an attempt of terrorism. Poll # 2: CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. May 21-23, 2010. N=1,023 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3 (refer Appendix) It is interesting to note that according to this poll, the expectation of the people that a terrorist attack can take place in U.S over the next several weeks as high, with majority of the responses being ‘very high’ and ‘somewhat likely’. This clearly shows that terrorism thrives on fear of the masses. Terrorists understand the psyche of the people and make use of their vulnerability. There might be constant threats given to U.S government by terrorist groups and unfortunately, when such threats, even if they are baseless, are broadcasted over the media, further fuel fear in the masses and only motivate terrorists to carry out an act of violence (Terrorist Behavior). However when the same question was asked again but the respondents’ community was singled out as the terrorists’ target, the majority of the population responded that it was not at all likely that a terrorist attack can be carried out on their community. This shows that although the general feeling of fear and terror is there in the masses, people have the tendency to exclude themselves from directly encountering terrorists. Therefore, people are neglectful and incautious to events that can raise suspicion and if reported, can help the authorities to trace terrorists and counter their activities. Poll # 3: ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Nov. 21, 2010. N=514 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 5 (refer Appendix) The polls show that with time, people have reverted to traveling through airplanes as majority has learned to offset their fear, with people claiming to be worried about air transport falling from 59% to 30% from 2001 to 2010. This may be due to the recent technology being used in detecting weapons of mass destruction. The use of full-body x-ray images to screen passengers going on-board is much ethically debated by the opponents of the technology. However, as the poll results show, people are willing to sacrifice personal privacy for the sake of not only their won safety, but of others too; even when 35% of the population believes that the scanning machines may pose a threat to health. People, although, do have reservations for hand-pat procedures, with 50% of the respondents claiming that it ‘goes too far’. This shows that people are willing to compromise some sense of personal space over security but personal privacy is still not entirely negotiable. The increased security procedures do not deter people to travel via air; in fact 10% responded that they are more likely to travel through air now. Nonetheless, it is astonishing that 70% of the respondents are in support of profiling people, using their information and selecting a few that fall in the ‘suspicious’ category. Defining the ‘suspicious’ category is further discriminatory since factors like Nationality, Race and Religion are identified as characteristics of a terrorist and are amongst the top six factors. People would rather forgo going through the embarrassment of full-body search than contemplate about equality and human rights. Although appearance and behavior scored highly as factors to identify a potential terrorist (Suspicious Activity – See Something, Say Something), the spotlight is still on Nationality, Race and Religion. It is imperative to understand that stigmatizing a particular sect of people is not a move towards a long term solution but it only serves as a means to ignite hatred that eventually comes out as acts of violence. Poll # 4: Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. Aug. 25-26, 2010. N=1,029 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.7 (refer Appendix) This poll deals with two aspects: the capability of Barack Obama’s Administration to fight terrorism and the nature of Muslims living in the U.S. Both these major questions are inherently discriminatory. Being the first U.S president with ‘Hussein’ as a middle name and having reservations about Guantanamo Bay, Barack Obama is not deemed touch enough to deal with terrorist by 50% of the respondents. This shows that there is some prejudice in the general public regarding their current President. To counter terrorism, half of the population believes that severe measures should be taken and the current efforts are not satisfactory. Opinion regarding the Muslims in U.S is that 48% of the respondents believe that Muslims are peaceful and condone violence and 42% believe that very few Muslims support the goals of Al-Qaeda and Islamic fundamentalists. Although these figures are not extremely bad but they are not satisfactory either. There is a substantial amount of population that is still unsure about the motives of an average Muslim residing in U.S. The fact that only Muslims are considered to be a threat and a source of terrorism in a country that is rich with enumerate Diasporas has two negative impacts. Firstly, the identification of the source of terrorism is rendered faulty, as Muslims might be the ultimate actors of terrorism but a predetermined terrorist attack on a large scale requires much funding that can possibly come from different origins and can be backed by political-economic motives. Identification of the sources of funding of terrorism is as important as identifying the terrorist about to use a weapon of mass destruction. Secondly, as mentioned earlier, labeling people of a particular religion not only instigates them to do irrational acts but also instills prejudice in the masses who will ultimately expect such behaviors from them. Conclusion The opinion polls reflect that an average American is recovering from 9/11 to some extent that airplanes are not viewed to be dangerous; however, fear still grips an individual that his country might witness further terrorism. At one point people are willing to adopt full-body scanning and profile screening of passengers but on the other hand, are unwilling to negotiate on invasion of personal privacy with hand-pat procedures. 9/11 has imbedded prejudice against Muslims in general and the present U.S Government’s efforts to fight against terrorism are considered insufficient. Works Cited More Effective Security, Not More Draconian Security. 15 Decemeber 2010 . Suspicious Activity – See Something, Say Something. 15 December 2010 . Terrorism: Cause, Effect, and the Search for Solutions. 15 December 2010 . Terrorist Behavior. 15 December 2010 . Appendix Poll # 1 ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Aug. 30-Sept. 2, 2010. N=1,002 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.5.               "Compared to before September 11, 2001, do you think the country today is safer from terrorism or less safe from terrorism?"       Safer Less safe No difference (vol.) Unsure       % % % %     8/30 - 9/2/10 48 42 8 2     9/5-7/08 62 29 7 2     9/4-7/07 60 29 11 1     10/5-8/06 50 42 7 1     9/5-7/06 55 37 6 2     6/22-25/06 59 33 7 1     3/2-5/06 56 35 8 1     1/23-26/06 64 30 6 -     8/18-21/05 49 38 11 2     1/15-18/04 67 24 8 1     9/4-7/03 67 27 4 2                 "How much confidence do you have in the ability of the U.S. government to prevent further terrorist attacks against Americans in this country: a great deal, a good amount, only a fair amount or none at all?"       A great deal A good amount Only a fair amount None at all Unsure     % % % % %   8/30 - 9/2/10 12 32 45 11 -   9/4-7/07 15 34 40 10 1   9/5-7/06 15 31 43 10 1   1/23-26/06 19 31 39 11 -   9/8-11/05 14 27 41 18 -   8/18-21/05 14 28 43 15 -   9/03 14 31 48 7 1   9/02 12 38 43 6 -   7/02 13 33 45 9 -   6/02 14 30 44 11 -   5/02 17 29 42 10 2   3/02 18 38 39 5 -   1/02 18 40 37 6 1   11/27/01 24 39 32 5 1   11/5-6/01 17 35 40 7 1   9/11/01 35 31 30 2 1   6/97 10 26 52 10 3   8/96 12 23 49 16 -   5/95 12 24 51 12 1   4/95 13 24 51 11 1   6/93 22 37 32 8 1   4/89 16 30 38 16 - Poll # 2 CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. May 21-23, 2010. N=1,023 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.               "How likely is it that there will be further acts of terrorism in the United States over the next several weeks: very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely, or not at all likely?" N=524 (Form A), MoE ± 4.5       Very likely Somewhat likely Not too likely Not at all likely Unsure     % % % % %   5/21-23/10 14 41 31 12 1   8/28-31/09 9 25 42 22 1   12/1-2/08 9 27 45 17 1   9/5-7/08 7 23 43 27 1   6/26-29/08 8 27 45 20 1   8/6-8/07 9 32 42 17 -   5/4-6/07 11 27 37 23 2   1/19-21/07 9 29 41 18 3   8/18-20/06 16 38 31 13 2               "How likely is it that there will be further acts of terrorism in your community over the next several weeks: very likely, somewhat likely, not too likely, or not at all likely?" N=499 (Form B), MoE ± 4.5       Very likely Somewhat likely Not too likely Not at all likely Unsure     % % % % %   5/21-23/10 4 13 33 48 1   8/28-31/09 4 6 32 57 1   9/5-7/08 3 11 31 54 -   8/6-8/07 5 11 38 44 2   8/18-20/06 4 7 32 56 1 Poll # 3 ABC News/Washington Post Poll. Nov. 21, 2010. N=514 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 5.               "Are you personally worried about traveling by commercial airplane because of the risk of terrorism, or do you think the risk is not that great?"       Worried Not worried Unsure         % % %       11/21/10 30 66 4       9/06 39 60 1       9/03 36 63 1       9/02 32 67 1       2/02 33 64 3       10/3-7/01 42 56 2       9/13/01 59 40 1                   "What do you think is more important right now: for the federal government to investigate possible terrorist threats, even if that intrudes on personal privacy; or for the federal government not to intrude on personal privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate possible terrorist threats?" Options rotated       Investigate threats Not intrude on privacy Unsure         % % %       11/21/10 68 26 6       1/10 75 23 2       12/06 63 34 3       9/5-7/06 65 32 3       5/11/06 65 31 4       1/5-8/06 65 32 3                   "The Transportation Security Administration is increasing its use of so-called full-body digital x-ray machines to screen passengers in airport security lines. Supporters say these machines improve the ability to spot hidden weapons and explosives, and reduce the need for physical searches. Opponents say these machines invade privacy by producing x-ray images of a passengers naked body that security officials can see, and dont provide enough added security to justify this. Which comes closer to your own view? Do you support or oppose using these scanners in airport security lines?" Options rotated       Support Oppose Unsure         % % %       11/21/10 64 32 4                   "As far as youre aware do you think these new scanning machines may pose a health risk, or do you think thats not a serious concern?"       May pose a health risk Not a serious concern Unsure         % % %       11/21/10 35 52 13                   "The TSA says it will hand-search people who dont want to be screened electronically, as well as those whose electronic screening raises a question. A TSA screener of the same sex as the passenger checks for hidden objects by placing his or her palms and fingers on the passengers body, including sensitive areas such as the groin and breast. This replaces earlier hand-screening in which sensitive areas were touched only with the back of the hand. Do you think these new hand pat-procedures are justified to try to prevent terrorism, or do you think they go too far in invading personal privacy?" Options rotated       Justified Go too far Unsure         % % %       11/21/10 48 50 2                   "Do these rules make you more likely to fly on a commercial airplane, less likely to fly, or would they make no difference in your decision to travel by airplane?"       More likely Less likely No difference         % % %       11/21/10 10 20 71                   "In another approach, would you support or oppose the TSA profiling people, using available information about passengers in order to determine who gets selected for extra security screening at airports?"       Support Oppose Unsure         % % %       11/21/10 70 25 6                   "If profiling is done, for each item I name please tell me if you think it should or should not be included in a passengers security profile. How about a passengers [see below]?"       Should be included Should not be included Unsure         % % %       "Personal behavior" 86 12 2       "Travel history" 78 21 2       "Nationality" 55 43 2       "Personal appearance" 50 48 2       "Race" 40 59 2       "Religion" 39 59 1       "Sex" 32 65 3     Poll # 4 Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. Aug. 25-26, 2010. N=1,029 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.7.               "Wed like your opinion of the way Barack Obama is handling certain aspects of his job. What about the war on terrorism? Do you approve or disapprove of the way Obama is handling this issue or problem?"       Approve Disapprove Unsure         % % %       8/25-26/10 48 42 10       6/23-24/10 44 48 8                   "As president, do you think Barack Obama has been tough enough in dealing with terrorists, or not tough enough?"       Tough enough Not tough enough Unsure         % % %       8/25-26/10 43 50 7                   "Do you think most, many, only some, or very few Muslims living in the United States today . . . ?"       Most Many Only some Very few Unsure     % % % % %     "Support the goals of Al Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalists"   8/25-26/10 11 9 25 42 13     "Oppose the goals of Al Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalists"   8/25-26/10 35 13 20 15 17     "Support the use of violence by Muslims against non-Muslims"   8/25-26/10 11 6 21 48 14     "Are peaceable and do not condone violence"   8/25-26/10 48 14 16 13 9 Read More