Terrorism And The Attacks Of Terrorism In The United States

The United States of America has experienced terrorism in many forms over the years. From domestic terrorism in the 1920s (the Palmer Raids and Wall Street Bombing) to international and domestic terrorism in the 2010s (Najbullah Zazi, Cleveland Bridge Plot). But on February 26, 1993, the threat of terrorism took a significant leap when the garage underneath the World Trade Center was bombed.

Today, domestic terrorism is one of the major threats to the national security of the US. Since 9/11, the US intelligence services and law enforcement agencies viewed international terrorism as the major threat to the public security of the US but the threat of domestic terrorism has been underestimated. At any rate, American law enforcement agencies conduct active campaigns to prevent international terrorism but domestic terrorism become a serious threat to the national security of the US. In such a way, the US needs to develop effective strategies to prevent the rise of domestic terrorism. Otherwise, the US may face a threat of the consistent growth of domestic terrorism as do some European countries, such as the UK, for instance. Therefore, law enforcement agencies should focus their attention on the prevention of domestic terrorism because, even though domestic terrorism is unseen, it may be even more dangerous than international terrorism. Domestic terrorists undermine the country from within, while international terrorists attack the US from the outside and the US can raise barriers to protect Americans from the foreign threat, while domestic terrorism needs effective work of law enforcement agencies nationwide. Therefore, domestic terrorism is a serious threat to the national security of the US and American law enforcement agencies along legislators and the public have to unite their efforts in the struggle against domestic terrorism.

Terrorism has always existed in American policing, and while the groups committing these acts have changed, their intentions have not. Their intentions being to cause maximum fear and scare those who they target into doing and following their ideology. In the 1970’s and 1980’s in America, the main terrorist groups were associated with the environmental movement and race based groups, while other parts of the world were dealing with Islamic extremists, were committing terrorist acts across the Middle East without much intervention from the United States. In fact the group Al-Qaeda, who attacked the World Trade Centers in 1993 and 2001, found its roots in the 1980’s fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan with weapons supplied by the Central Intelligence Agency. While the U.S. Federal Law Enforcement agencies knew of these groups, they underestimated the capabilities of lone wolf, small cell, and whole terrorist organizations. This was due to the fact that the Federal Law Enforcement agencies top priority was general crime such as organized crimes and white-collar crime.

The 9/11 terror attacks is one of the historical and fatal events that changed the United States of America forever, especially in relation to terrorists and terrorism. While these concepts were on the minds of very few people in America's population before the attacks, the 9/11 incident made terrorism to become one of the major concerns for the whole nation. This is despite of the fact that they were carried out in New York City, Washington, and parts of Pennsylvania. Since it was a major concern, the terror attacks dominated all kinds of media and contributed to increased security measures for average Americans. Moreover, terrorism currently provides a major threat to global security that any time in American and global history (Dyson, 2001, p.3). As a result, it has become a fundamental aspect for law enforcement agencies and their initiatives, particularly with the rapid technological advancements.

Up until now, the world, and the United States specifically, has used brute-force tactics to combat terrorism, and to put it simply: it isn’t working. It is widely believed that the US even could have created and/or provoked terrorist groups like ISIS. For many years, the US has sent and stationed large groups in countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria in order to “minimize” potential

I do believe that domestic terrorism is still a treat within the United States because of the current violence against civilian population like black lives matter, the KKK or those that randomly attack our police officers. There attentions are to intimidate the everyday law bidding citizens in an attempt to their way of thinking our beliefs. “Homegrown terrorists are produced a number of ways. The first involves individuals who become radicalized by personal experiences. The second might involve a similar pat to radicalization, but it also involves some type of foreign connections.” (White 2014 p. 323) These are the ones that may have parents or other family members from another country and attempt to attack U.S. citizens. I believe that

Terrorism has had a profound affect on the world, as it has inspired fear and despair in the hearts of millions of people. Specifically in the United States, where in certain circumstances U.S. citizens will carry out acts of terror to further their own cause. Domestic terrorism has taken roots in many aspects of society through certain ideological groups, radicalization through media, and by acts of terror that cause immense civil unrest.

For the first time in American history the United States population felt vulnerable at home, the reality of being subject of such cruel actions said present and the war on terrorism became one of our biggest priorities. Together we have been able to make a lot of strides against terrorism, however as terrorism itself and those who carry it out have changed, at times we have also failed to foresee possible threats or to make the right decisions on time. Since 9/11 we have been able to eliminate both the Taliban and Saddam Hussein, considered two of the world’s principal supporters of terrorism. We have effectively denied terrorist organizations the ability to operate freely, and have made it clear that we will definitely engage military with any nation supportive of terrorism. At the same time, we have reinforced our homeland security and redesigned our border security as a way to dissert any possible threat. However, even though the United States have developed innumerable strategies in order to prevent terrorist attacks there is still a lot to cover. We are surely safer than what we were at the time of 9/11, and the possibilities of an attack at such scale happening again is minimal. The West has successfully contained the terrorists who perpetrated 9/11. But al-Qaeda has adapted from the bottom up, producing a network that's scattered, disconnected and decentralized. The new jihadist movement doesn't have an operational leader, but it is every bit as dangerous as the old one.

"Terrorism has more frequently been associated with violence committed by disenfranchised groups desperately attempting to gain a shred of power or influence" (Juergensmeyer 4), but more often terrorism has been for religion. Terrorism is done to get across someone religious views to others. We are seeing more acts of terrorism on the news today. ISIS being one of the biggest terrorist groups and has attacked on multiple occasions. More then ever, people are on edge to terrorist activity. Although we have come up with new ideas and ways to prevent terrorist attacks terrorism is still growing. After 9/11, the United States changed its policy on the process to board a plan. We try different ways to stop and prevent terrorist attacks but we still find new ways terrorists are attacking us. Terrorist attacks are never acts by on person rather its an act from multiple people. Juergensymeyer talks about different attacks and different ways those attacks where handled.

Living the United State when one thinks of a terrorist attacks often their mind will first go to a larger scale attack such as the events of September 11th 2001. “September 11, 2001 changed the United States forever, the terrorist attack that day marked a dramatic escalation in a trend toward more destructive terrorist attacks which began in the 1980s. It also reflected a trend toward more indiscriminate targeting among international terrorists. The vast majority of the more than 3,000 victims of the attack were civilians. In addition, the attack represented the first known case of suicide attacks carried out by international terrorists in the United States.” (Waston, 2002) However as the years have gone by we have come to learn that terrorist attacks are not always on a large scale and that even one person who is inspired by the ideologies of a terrorist group without being directly connected to them can carry out attacks. Those that engage in this type of terrorism are referred to as lone wolf terrorist. A recent example of such an even was the mass shooting at the San Bernardino Inland Regional Center in December of 2015.

September 11, 2001, started as a perfect day, but as the day went on, chaos and terror erupted in the streets of New York City. New York’s iconic World Trade Center fell victim to hijacked commercial airlines filled with innocent people. In 102 minutes, the world was forever changed by one of the worst attacks the United States has ever experienced. Many factors made the terrorist attacks of September 11th a day that is permanently etched into the hearts and minds of Americans.

In the past few decades, there have been various terrorist attacks throughout the world. Most importantly, countless acts of terrorism have been committed in the United States of America, that have gradually influenced the way the American security system and security at public buildings, public places, are run. Because of this act of terror, the American government has made protecting its citizens and country a top priority. These attacks, and the nation's response to them security-wise, still affect American's lives today physically and emotionally. Seeing that the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, September 11, 2001, and the Boston Marathon Bombing have happened on American soil, they have forever changed the way the country deals

The 9/11 attacks became a black mark in history that has affected the lives of many and will continue to do so for many generations to come. Terrorism took on a whole new meaning with the actions of Osama bin Laden. The attacks made the United States more aware of its vulnerabilities and reinforced the need for change in the security of the country to help protect our freedom. The attacks on 9/11 by Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al Qaeda group who was responsible for the acts, was a major turning point in America. It heightened the awareness of these terrorist groups, led to additional terrorist acts throughout the world, and changed the economic situation of our country as we went to fight wars to stop this terrorism.

Terrorism and the United States A cloud of anthrax spores looming in the sky of San Diego California

Have you ever had a fear for your family, your town, your country, or your world. How about the fear to have everything taken from you, destroyed, and not caring if it has hurt you or not? What about your fear and pain is, and can be someone else’s happiness? The fear of you being terrorized? That is terrorism. Someone else bringing fear and terrorizing you. That is a terrorist’s goal. Terrorism is common and is very difficult to stop. The government promises protection for the people, and their home, but they can not give that protection if they can not stop terrorism. Terrorism needs to stop to protect the live of the people, and their country.