Terrorism Response and Federal Government Level
Since the beginning of 21st-century terrorism has been one of the major threats to the global community. Currently, several terrorist groups like ISIS, Boko Haram, Taliban, and Al-Shabaab are sponsoring terrorist activities in their countries as well in other nations. Despite the increased terrorist threats, nations seem to be doing little to combat dreadful terrorist activities. The inability to get rid of this security issue can be attributed to the pervasive technology that aids terrorists to widen their network including coordination of activities. As such, the United States, the superior and most technologically and militarily developed country in the world is also living under the fear of terrorism. If America can whimper because of terrorism, then terrorism is a critical global problem without any particular nation deemed to have the possible solution. Global terrorist attacks have had severe impacts including psychological trauma and instilling fear on the victims. For example, September 11, 2001, which was carried on the American soil caused severe injuries, deaths and psychological suffering among the victims. Following the September 11 attack, the United States developed some security departments which have been effective in counteracting terrorism activities in the country. The success of the anti-terrorism departments could not have been achieved without the combined efforts of other security organs in America (Holgersson & Strandh, 2016). In America, security agencies have been established to deal with terrorism at different levels. The federal government undertakes most of the efforts to cut off terrorist activities, and it in the light of counter-terrorism agencies at the federal level: the research paper highlights the U.S. government’s role in homeland security programs; examines the motivation of terrorist group activities against the Americans and identifies the strengths and weaknesses of American homeland security’s counter-terrorism policies and tactical response options to terrorism.
The U.S. Government’s Role in Homeland Security Programs
Homeland security receives a lot of support from the federal government through border protection, guarding the nation’s valuable infrastructure in case of terrorist attack or threats and developing mechanisms to counteract biological attacks. The role of the U.S. government in the federal level is undertaken by the inter-agency security organs. In the event of terrorist threat or attack, several agencies are relied upon in preparing for and counteracting the terrorist operations. Holgersson, & Strandh (2016) presented to police, medical emergency services, and rescue services as the major actors of the federal government in the homeland security programs. The authors further assessed among the three agencies, which one was the most prepared and well-equipped in combating terrorist attacks. Of all the three players, police were found to be more equipped and prepared than the other two agencies. The emergency medical services and rescue services were effective in handling the scene terrorism activities, unlike the police.
The federal government duty of guarding the borders and being proactive on terrorism conforms to its constitutional functions of executing diplomatic issues, implementing intelligence and military policies and running departments and agencies that are responsible for combating terrorist threats and attacks. Through these functions, the U.S. government has established DoD’s Defense Counter-Terrorism Technology Task Force taxonomy that relays intelligence information to other agencies including the Homeland Security Office. The federal government’s overall role in homeland security is to develop a framework that identifies and disseminates information on evolving or existing terrorism threats, and on the domestic areas are likely to be targeted. For example, through the federal government efforts, The Homeland Security Information Network, Intelipedia and Program Manager of the Information Sharing Environment have been established to improve counter-terrorism information sharing at the federal level (Peeled, 2016).
Motivation of Terrorist Group Activities against Americans
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