9/11 Pros And Cons

In the airports, Muslim people became “the usual suspects”, were thoroughly searched and often interrogated. In her article, O’Connor claims that the lives of American Muslims changed forever, and the statement is hard to disagree with (“How 9/11 Changed These Muslim Americans’ Lives Forever.”) Those who had nothing to do with the September 11 attacks, their children and grandchildren were sentenced to face racism, hate and violence.

The Travel security agency, or the TSA, is an important agency whose job it is to protect our nation in airports and borders. Impressively, the Agency has stopped many weapons, and saved our citizens numerous times. According to several experts however, the TSA has never stopped a terrorist plot. Their methods have been questioned too. As our nation grows deeper and deeper in debt, the TSA is a huge cost that may need to be cut. In order to gain a clear understanding of the TSA, its successes, issues, and cost must be evaluated critically.

Airport security in the post 9/11 era is designed to create the illusion of safety, without actually protecting us from terrorism. It is important to recognize, that the TSA is incredibly ineffective, at preventing prohibited items from getting past its gates. In a recent test at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, undercover federal agents successful snuck in 95 percent of explosive materials, fake weapons and drugs. While this failure rate is certainly alarmingly high it is by no way unique. In a similar, but slightly broader Homeland Security investigation, the TSA failed 67 out of 70 tests conducted by the department’s Red Team across a variety of cities. Furthermore, the layout of security at airports is incredible ineffective. According to renowned security expert, Rafi Sela, “security should happen in rings, so different teams can check each other’s work.” However, in American Airports the only place that security happens is at one checkpoint.

A 2006 Today/Gallup poll found that 44% of Americans had the perception that all Muslims were too extreme in their religious beliefs and 22% of the respondents would not want a Muslim as a neighbor. Islamophobia in America skyrocketed as a result of the 9/11 attacks and changed the way that Muslim-Americans and other Americans were able to interact with one another. These statistics show that there was significant fear of Muslims in the years after 9/11. In the years following the attacks, the number of hate crimes against Muslims in America spiked and have not dropped to pre-attack levels since. As Graph 1 shows, in 2001, there were a reported 481 hate crimes and majority of these would have occurred in the months following September. Although

After the tragic events of 9/11, the government desperately needed to find a way to contradict terrorism. They approached this conflict by passing the Patriot Act in October 26, 2001, signed by President George W. Bush. This act widened the government’s authority to invade their citizens’ privacy, while reducing checks and balances like judicial oversight, public accountability, and the ability to challenge government searches in court. Even though the Patriot Act was purposely ratified to benefit our country from dangerous terrorists, some people quarreled and disapproved of it. In my perspective, I would have also disagreed on the Patriot Act.

Just like the Red Scare, people were protective over themselves avoiding any Muslim. They thought, “any muslim could be a terrorist spy.” People grew suspicious of muslims. The attack changed many people’s minds about how they saw Muslims. The were no longer the peaceful human beings. Most non-Muslim Americans saw them as a threat. Many innocent Muslims faced discrimination along with harassment and physical injuries. Angry Americans, who’ve probably lost someone in the attack of September 11th,2001, took out their frustration on the unimpeachable Muslims. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 481 hate crimes committed in 2001 were found to be anti-Islamic. Later years, that number increased. The first anti-Islamic hate crime was committed to Balbir Singh Sodhi only four days after the September 11th attack. The sad part of it is that Sodhi is not Muslim, he is a Sikh. He was mistaken to be a Muslim. Laila Alawa shared her experience as a Muslim aftermath of the September 11th attack, saying that “ ...being a Muslim kid in upstate New York meant being alienated and isolated without understanding why.” The discrimination is still going on today but very slowly, it is

The U.S. government took many steps to try to make the country safer. It tightened security at airports and in public buildings. A new cabinet-level department—the Department of Homeland Security was created. It works to protect the United States from any terrorist attacks (scholastic.com). The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) didn't exist before 9/11. The TSA was created to do three things: take responsibility for all modes of transportation; recruit, assess, hire, train and deploy security officers for 450 commercial airports from Guam to Alaska within 12 months; and provide 100 percent screening of all checked luggage for explosives. In the past, the TSA detected 50 million prohibited items, including 5,000 firearms on passengers attempting to board planes. Now, 50,000 TSA officers screen nearly two million air travelers each day

Through the history of aviation the importance of airport security has steadily increased. Since the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, many changes have taken place at airports to prevent such an attack from occurring again. The purpose of this paper is to: outline airport security procedures, discuss the different technologies involved with airport security, as well as examine the components of airport security. In addition I will also discuss the Transportation Security Administration’s role in our nation’s airport security.

On September 11, 2001, an Islamic terrorist group, known as Al-Queda, hijacked four American airplanes and attempted to crash them into important United States landmarks, such as the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the White House. Unfortunately, the hijackers succeeded at The Pentagon and World Trade Center. Nearly three thousand people lost their lives because of these attacks. Sixteen years later, people still remember it as one of the most tragic events in US history. On this day, the most massive terrorist attack to ever happen on American soil occurred, yet the after effects of 9/11 are even larger; because of 9/11, the United States has developed safer air travel and immigration policies, but unfortunately, innocent Islamic people suffered and are still suffering from hate crimes.

The 11th of September, 2001 was a momentous day in American history. 19 members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 & United Airlines Flight 175, and crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Hijackers crashed the third plane into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth jet, United Airlines Flight 93, crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives on 9/11 due to the terrorist attacks on that day. After 9/11, the power of the government increased, allowing police, the FIB and other government agencies the ability to search telephone, e-mail communications, medical, financial, and other records; in addition to easing the restrictions on foreign intelligence gathering within the United States. Along with the war in the Middle East as a result of 9/11, Islamophobia in the United States has reached new growth. Racial profiling and discrimination of Muslims, Arabs, and those with stereotypical Islamic names or appearances have not only increased in the past 14 years since 9/11, but the results of such actions are devastating to not only the Muslim community but also the rest of America. 42% of Americans support the use of profiling by law enforcement against Arab Americans and American Muslims. Hostilities towards Muslims and Arabs have only increased as a result of 9/11.

Terrorism is something that has shaken America for hundreds of years. One of the most crucial terrorist attacks was the “9/11” attack. After this attack, it made our nation’s leaders realize the danger of terrorism. After all the strikes on the U.S following the September 11 attack, the three branches of government has decided to place, enforce and interpret these terrorist laws to help protect our grounds and civilians; from President Obama and Bush’s proposals of the laws to the Supreme Court’s passing of these laws to the explanations of these new rules.

After that tragic September day, the government strengthened air travel rules and guidelines. Two months after the attack they enacted the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (TSA). Airports began using full body scanners and even x-ray equipment to ensure that no passenger was carrying any weapon or destructive items. Engineers made modifications to the planes including hardened cockpit doors and first-class cabin curtains were dropped by some airlines. Pilots can now apply to become a federal flight deck officer, allowing them to carry a loaded gun and act as a federal officer aboard the plane. Aviation increased the number of air marshals by almost 5,000

September 11th holds many hard and upset feelings around the world today. The harsh actions of Muslim extremists unfortunately completely changed the way Muslims are treated, especially in the United States. These events, exacerbated islamophobia. Unfortunately, “the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, connect Muslims and Islam to terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States.” (Byng) Although it has been over a decade since the attack, many still feel racist and discriminatory attitudes towards Muslims. Muslims are the targeted minority in the United States, “the 9/11 terrorist attacks shifted the social and political context for Muslims in the United States. Terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States carried out by Muslims places an identity at the center of national and global politics.” (Byng) The blame of the horrible terrorist attacks, rather than be placed on terrorists or religious extremist, has been placed on Islam in America. After September 11th, hate crimes towards Muslims skyrocketed, “the most dramatic change noted by the report was a more than 1,600 percent increase in reported hate crimes against Muslims -- a jump from 28 hate incidents in 2000 to 481 last year.”

In response to the terror attacks the 9/11 commission was formed to make recommendations to improve and remove weaknesses in aviation security. The commission recommended that passenger prescreening be enhanced, explosive detection capabilities be improved for passenger screening, deploy inline baggage screening systems quickly, better identification, screening and tracking of cargo, new harden cargo containers, examine human factors at screening checkpoints and finally institute risk-based prioritization for security policy while implementing a strategic plan for aviation security. (Price & Forrest, 2013, p. 38)

The report below is a decision support paper for the Transportation Service Administration directorate, which is a directorate under the department of homeland security. The main purpose of this directorate is to ensure the safety of the United States’ transport infrastructure. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the objectives of the TSA and determine whether they are in alignment with the objectives of the department of homeland security. This ensures that the directorate works towards achieving the overall goal of the DHS as stipulated in its objectives. This ensures efficiency as duplication of roles with other directorates in the DHS is eliminated. The report will also examine the agencies priorities in order to determine whether they are aligned with the departmental priorities. Any noted misalignments will be identified and recommendations provided on aligning them.