Counterterrorism in the USA - Essay Example

Counterterrorism The happenings of the fateful and the historic 9/11 will forever remain edged in the memories of Americans, especially because the ugly scenario could have been prevented if only quick and necessary actions had been implemented. Which begs the one-billion-dollar question: What is the role of the Homeland Security and Emergency teams in keeping America safe from terrorists? Is there a balance that could be struck between the two? Mr. President, 9/11 is an important reference, and one that will help safeguard the mighty and United States from future attacks (Beresford, 2004). This report should flow between the President of the U.S., the Congress, and the peoples of America. The incumbent American president and future American presidents must find a way of ensuring that the mistakes of the 9/11 will not be repeated in future. Consequently, the most important question to address is the role of the homeland security and Emergency teams. They should be united in responding to disasters. The big question right now is not who was wrong or what went wrong. The most important question will be to be well prepared so that Americans will not be taken through the same traumatic experiences that saw them lose loved ones, friends, and relatives. The immediate issues that must be addressed are the loopholes in homeland security; there needs to be a timely and direct communication between the two bodies that literary hold the lives of millions of Americans in their hands. In this regard, the future presidents of America must first address insecurity. Security is paramount and ranks first among other issues such as healthcare and education (Beresford, 2004). While the 9/11 incident may have been a shock to the rest of the world, it was not surprise to America given that prior warnings of possible Al-Qaida terrorist attacks had been sounded by the FBI, the Scotland Yard, and the CIA. Perhaps, a major question to ask would be; did these warnings go unheeded? Who is to blame? Such loopholes should be addressed to avert future such crises. The most important lesson that can be learnt from the event was that there were failures in policy, capabilities, management, and imagination. What is obvious though is that the Hezbollah radical group and the Al-Qaida under the sophisticated and unpredictable leadership of Osama bin Laden had been regrouping for a possible attack in the US soil. Intelligence reports gathered that the groups had been regrouping following their immense success in the Soviet Republic (Beresford, 2004). Credible reports from Russian and German intelligence services, among others, reveal that the blame lay squarely with the homeland security. Their reports reveal that there is more they could have done to avert the situation. The emergency teams majorly relied on the Homeland Security to provide major alerts to the emergency teams. This does not seek to discuss the failures or undoing of previous regimes (Beresford, 2004). Rather, it seeks to find solutions. Mr. President, below are some of the suggestions that this committee seeks to put forward: Homeland Security to be Coordinated from White House White House can effectively stimulate and coordinate defense from the Oval Office by instituting Office of the Homeland Security; appoint an assistant to oversee it. The assistant should ensure that there is proper coordination between the Department of Homeland Security and emergency teams so that every single terror alert is dealt with within the shortest time possible. Of the essence in this proposal would be that proper coordination among the relevant bodies would ensure that ideological differences and conflicts due to logistics are greatly minimized. The homeland security also needs to work closely with governments in areas where terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Al-Qaida are prevalent (Beresford, 2004). Our crystal ball tells us that this will involve change in the U.S. foreign policies with other nations. It is the duty of the Congress to ensure that such laws are passed. A major question then arises: how much funds in the budget are set apart to finance anti-terrorist related activities. Of course, it would be the role of the Congress and relevant authorities to pass into laws bills that would finance counterterrorism measures. This further reinstates the introductory assertions that security is the first priority of every American citizen. There must have also been miscommunication between the FBI and the CIA, which further begs the question: Just what is the role of Homeland Security? The next government should ensure that these roles are exclusively defined and that there is a task force delegated to deal with such issues of effective coordination. Again, intelligence agencies have to have their own funds to be autonomous and work independently with Homeland Security. The FBI and the CIA should have direct channels of communication (Beresford, 2004). At least, this is a lesson that can be learnt from the unpreparedness that was witnessed in the 9/11 terrorist attack. Had there been reliable and unrestricted communication between the FBI and the CIA, there would never have been such an attack. The role of the new regime would be to streamline various counterterrorism agencies to work in liaison and move with speed to quell possible terrorist attacks. While this may take time, it would be worth the effort. Of the priority is for the next government to increase funding for anti-terrorism agencies, streamline communications between the CIA and the FBI, and have good foreign relations with countries that host the terrorist. This duty rests solely with the Congress. It is the function of the Congress to pass relevant bills such as increased funding towards counterterrorism measures (Beresford, 2004). Various reports show that the relationship between Homeland Security and Emergency Teams have been at an all-time low. An independent body should be instituted to deal with these issues if any meaningful gains have to be made in future (Beresford, 2004). The next regime is tasked with the role of making things right; with the duty of not making America to be a mockery of “effective counterterrorism measures” (Beresford, 2004), like it was witnessed during the infamous 9/11. America was shocked, but not surprised, because the attack was preventable. Reference Beresford, A. D. (2004). Homeland security as an American ideology: Implications for US policy and action. Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 1(3). Read More