Main Counter-Terrorism Strategies to Implement for Law Enforcement Agencies - Essay Example

While there are several implications for counter-terrorism strategy which can be gathered from the training manual produced by Al Qaeda, three strategies seem the easiest to implement with high strategic returns for law enforcement agencies. First and most importantly, the manual can let security officers know of plans which have not been executed as of yet and it can let them know about targets that may be attacked by terrorist groups and terrorist cells in the future.

Second, the manual allows security personnel to see what methods are used by Al Qaeda to recruit and retain individuals within their cells and counter indoctrination methods can be devised to break individuals away from these cells. Finally, the manual shows that the war being waged by terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda is indeed an unconventional war that may require unconventional methods on the part of security officers to ensure victory. To better understand these implications it would be best to discuss them individually.

The first implication gives us a clear understanding that there are specific targets that are high-security risks for the western world, therefore, protection of these strategic points has to be improved. Of course, it would be impossible to make things completely secure without denying many individuals rightful access to high-security locations, but as we have found out from the attacks of 9/11, the methods used by terrorists may be unstoppable altogether. For example, if terrorists can use hijacked airplanes to attack buildings on the land, it is also possible for them to use small submarines to carry out an attack on a seaport or a capital ship of the navy.

A terrorist who is a suicide bomber is certainly indoctrinated to give up life for a misguided cause and that indoctrination would be difficult to counter without knowing something about the religious guidelines that can be misconstrued to push a person into the killing.