Summary: The United States Counterterrorism Strategy

Djibouti, a small 9000 square miles Horn of Africa (HOA) enclave located at the convergence of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, is strategically important to the U. S. Foreign policy. All instruments of U.S National Power – diplomacy, information, military and economic – are exercised as part of a deliberate and sustained ‘whole of government’ approach. The U. S. Ambassador to Djibouti, the Honorable Geeta Pasi, leads a State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Team in enabling U. S. Strategic policy vision in HOA, while enabling and collaborating with Djibouti in strengthening government, social, economic and international capabilities.

The history of Somalia is a bloody one, filled with failed occupation, anarchy and civil war. Early Somalia established itself as a merchant state. Its key geographical location by the natural strait between the Horn of Africa and Yemen made it a focal point for trade.This essay will explore the history of internal struggles of the Somalilands and its many wars. It will investigate the colonial influences and conflicts between Somalia and its imperial occupiers and how these influences set the stage for future conflicts between the clans. Also, it will attempt to define the reasons why Somalia has become a failed state. The importance of United States foreign policies will be discussed as they have

The dilemma facing state leaders for the past decades has been whether to respond to terrorism through a criminal justice approach or a more involved military approach. The criminal justice approach treats terrorism as a law-and-order problem in which the main burden is placed on the judiciary and police. In contrast, the military approach treats terrorism as a perilous threat to the national security of the state, which can only be countered with military force and wartime procedures. The argument of this paper is that military procedures are not warranted in dealing with terrorism because the terror threat is not lethal or influential enough to threaten our democracy, and even if it was, military action has proven itself to be so fraught with problems and costly risks in past interventions that continued use of such a tactic would not only harm our national security, but also could precipitate the fall of the American Empire. Instead, law-enforcement has proven itself to be an efficient counter-terrorism tool that results in the capturing of terrorists, acquisition of intelligence, and spurring of cooperation with allied countries.

Conflicts within the nation of Somalia were sometimes planned as a means to an end. Whereby the United States Government supported a certain regime before they used their power to gain control of the situation and overthrow the tyrant. In other cases the use of national power was used such as the Islamic Courts Union to gain control over Somalia by implementing logical line of operations by providing the people their needs and services to gain their trust. In these situations it would be considered as an irregular warfare environment, because they were violent struggles

Homeland and counter-terrorism programs outlines the policies needed to improve U.S. and global security in the 21st century. The policies analyze how the U.S. and foreign allies will work together toward goals by combating terrorism and their organizations. According to Joint Publication 3-26 (2014), joining with other key partners and allies to develop strategies and theater campaigns plans, helps protect U.S. interest in a common security agenda. This approach not only strengthens the U.S. but it also expands the international multilateral counter-terrorism agenda. For instance, U.S. policies heighten conversation on homeland security and counter-terrorism because it aims to serve globally and nationally. After the twin towns were attack, the department of Homeland Security created a policy called Homeland Security ACT 2002. This act covers multiple areas that needed improvement but it also gave an understand what is expected for security and the future of the country going forward. Science & technology, immigration, emergency response, and bioterrorism, are some of the policies that were created under the Homeland

A huge wake up call for the whole world was the 9/11 attacks. So many people’s lives were changed or taken away when this disaster struck in the United States. Many people are scared for life because of what happened that day and it got them to thinking more seriously about how to prevent terrorism and how to treat terrorists or suspected terrorists.

To keep our great nation safe requires the combined effort of a multitude of agencies and groups nationwide. The US homeland is the physical region that includes the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, US territories, and surrounding 500 nautical miles of territorial waters and airspace (Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2013). The keep the countries boarders secure and over 324 million Americans safe is a massive task and this broad stroke program involves federal government including the military, federal, state, local, tribal areas and the private sector along with other governments with shared interests. According to The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) there are three key concepts that are the foundation of America’s homeland security strategy.

How did 9/11 lead to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the breaching of civil rights?

Since the terror attacks of September eleventh, the United States has completely changed the way they handle counterterrorism. Responses by the first responders made it known that police departments were not prepared for such a catastrophic attack, which led to a complete revisal on police preparedness and training. Why is there a need for police agencies to be prepared? What types of training are officers going through to be prepared for possible terrorist attacks? How is the public responding to officers? This paper will explore answers to those questions through academic sources. However, this paper will not provide an opinion on how prepared law enforcement agencies are in the event of a terrorist attack. This paper will not mention any

September 11, 2001 was the day that changed global outlook on terrorist attacks and counterterrorist tactics. Terrorist can strike at any time and any given place affects anyone, simply spread fear in law abiding citizen’s world wide. Terrorist attacks on World Trade Center in New York City and Pentagon in Washington D.C., are big flow of miscommunication between federal agencies and incident such as terrorist attacks of 2001 should have not happened. Information and intelligence should have been shared among agencies such as Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Aviation Administration and other key agencies which work as first defense in countering the terrorism.

Internally, the U.N. leadership charged with handling peacekeeping operations did not have enough time to setup and receive proper instruction as to the events transpiring in Somalia. Second, the manner with which the U.N. planned to continue U.S. operations did not align with the actions taken by their predecessors. “Such changes of leadership, tradition, doctrine, personal chemistry, operating procedures, policy instincts, and bureaucratic systems were bound to disrupt the effectiveness and credibility of the military presence” (Crocker, 1995). Aside from operational failures by the UN and US in Somalia as a part of UNOSOM II, Richard K. Betts explains well another key reason why failure was imminent. In his article “The Delusion of Impartial Intervention”, he says that foreign nations can’t just provide military assistance in terms of a peacekeeping effort, because when the fight is “over” what is to say further uprising will not continue (Betts, 1994). Avoiding a lack-luster strategy of neutrality in times of conflict, he advocates for decisive action on behalf of a favored organization. In the case of UNOSOM II, coalition forces should have worked harder to politically intervene. By not rebuilding a political structure in Somalia, a vacuum of power continued to exist, resulting in a continuous oligarchy dominated by the

After the events of September 11, 2001, the United States had a unique dilemma. America was engaged in what would be called a “War on Terror”. This new conflict was unlike any in American history. Previously, in the context of war the United States had always fought a nation or group that had defined boundaries as to where they resided. This new conflict went away from these rules of the past. Terrorist groups were not bound to a region, but were instead united by an ideal. September 11 marked the first time in which terrorism would rise to the forefront of the nation’s agenda. This emergent wave of conflict required a different strategy than the those of the past because of the unorthodox nature of the opponent. One of the major innovations fostered by the “War on Terror” was the expansion of torture. The dramatic rise in terrorism sparked the unethical advancement of interrogation techniques in order to more effectively acquire information. The emergence of the “War on Terror” required government officials acquire intelligence in a new way thus spawning the emergence of “enhanced interrogation” methods, however, the morality of these techniques would come into question as they were revealed to the public.

As a direct consequence of September 11, a number of substantial challenges lie ahead in the area of counter-terrorism..   The most prominent of these is the changing nature of the terrorism phenomenon.  In past years, when terrorism was largely the product of direct state sponsorship, policymakers were able to diminish prospects for the United States becoming a target using a combination of diplomatic and military instruments to deter potential state sponsors.  Today, however, many terrorist organizations and individuals act independently from former and present state sponsors, shifting to other sources of support, including the development of transnational networks.

The U.S. must intervene in South Sudan, as it is an enduring interest within our National Security Strategy to maintain “An international order advanced by U.S. leadership that promotes peace, security, and opportunity.” General Rodriguez, commander of AFRICOM, should employ both diplomatic and economic instruments of power. By doing so, the U.S. risks a potentially long-term engagement in East Africa.

The greater Horn of Africa (HoA) is the sub region of the Eastern part of Africa that composed of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda. Threats to peace and security are interconnected and comprised various human insecurities that emanate from both intrastate and interstate conflict, and transnational security threats such as terrorism. This is because political, social, and security problems in the region further threaten development efforts and complicate interventions to alleviate, the various related challenges of the region. Mainly, Terrorism has been a source of serious security challenge to the Horn of Africa peace and development process. As terrorism is the main security challenge of the Horn of Africa region, Sun Tzu’s theory is relevant in the war with terrorist organizations operated in the greater Horn of Africa. For these countries’ could helpful in curbing the terrorist threat, if they examine Sun Tzu’s theory offensive strategy according to the existing context of the terrorist threat. The offensive strategy first should focus on attacking the terrorist’s strategy, and then their allies because the main strength of the terrorist is the strategy they follow. Giving priority on attacking the terrorist’s strategy would eliminate fertile ground for terrorist organizations motive. Therefore, this paper will evaluate, and analyze Sun Tzu’s theory such