Why Do Terrorists Target?

The September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks forever changed the way our air travel industry operates. It affected the government, the airlines, airports, employees, and passengers alike. There was not as much of a threat of terrorism before 9/11, so airport security was not nearly as thorough, and at times intrusive as it is today. Through the creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration, the evolving threat of terrorism has not been successful in carrying out another 9/11 style attack.

The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2011 prompted the world to reevaluate and drastically modify airport and airline security. “Four targets had been chosen, all iconic American buildings that would send a clear message of the depth of their hatred for the United States. All four planes crashed, killing all on board—terrorists, crew members, and passengers, along with hundreds who were killed inside the structures, on the ground, and the men and women who ran into collapsing buildings in an effort to try and save others” (Smutz 1). As Jason Villemez said “the decade after the 9/11 attacks reshaped many facets of life in America” (Villemez 1). Before the attacks, people did not think that large scale hostility towards innocent people in

Airlines can only keep passengers safe in the air while the airports are the ones allowing people on the planes. Terrorist attacks have been occurring extremely recently with the latest one being the Paris attacks.

The greatest impacts on aviation security were the events that unfolded on September 11, 2001. “American Airlines Flight 11, a wide –body Boeing 767, crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, at 8:46 a.m. EDT, hitting floors 94 to 98.” (Bragdon, Clifford, 2008, p.127). At 9:02 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767, struck the World Trade Center South Tower hitting floors 78 to 85. “A third airplane, American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757-200, crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., at 9:37 a.m.” (Bragdon, Clifford, 2008, p.127). A fourth airplane, United Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757, crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania; it is believed its target was the White House or Capitol Building. This plot constructed by Osama bin Laden exploited the vulnerability of the airplanes cockpit and control over the airplane. Bin Laden chose the Boeing 767 for its capability of holding 20,000 gallons of jet fuel to use as a weapon on the twin towers. The transportation system always recognized airplanes as a target of terrorist attacks, but never considered airplanes as been utilized as a weapon in an attack. Domestic agencies were searching for threats in the country. “The September 11 attacks fell into a void between the foreign and domestic threats. The foreign intelligence agencies were watching overseas, while the domestic agencies were waiting for evidence of a domestic threat from sleeper cells within the United States. No one was looking for a foreign threat to domestic targets.” (Kramer, R.M., 2005, International Public Management Journal, 8(3). Unnatural threats are generally man made and include explosives, biological weapons, conventional weapons, military weapons, improvised devices, sabotage, and also unconventional threats such as mental instability of pilots and

Maureen, who immigrated from Montreal, Quebec in 1995 moved to the United States for personal, political, and economic reasons. She was in pursuit of a better life for herself and her family and wanted to escape the growing linguistic and cultural intolerance of Quebec society.

Nearly 3000 people were killed during the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 and the coming months the media were filled with interviews, profiles and terrible stories of loss. Fear of more terrorist attacks spread the nation. As a reaction, the American population massively abandoned airports and chose to travel by car instead, which had a great impact on the airline business. But what no one mentioned –nor the media or politicians- is that air travel is dramatically safer than driving. The safety gap is so large, that planes would still be safer than cars even if the threat of terrorism were unimaginably worse than it actually is. According to research, 1595 people lost their lives because of the major shift from air travel to a much less safe way of traveling: by car. That is six times as many as the people who where on board of the doomed flights on September 11.

The September 11th attacks have had a profound effect on American history. Often referred to as “9/11”, these attacks were comprised of a group of organized terrorists known as Al-Qaeda. This extreme Islamic group assaulted several landmarks in New York City, Washington D.C, and the state of Pennsylvania. In New York City, two airliner jets were hijacked with passengers aboard and slammed into the World Trade Center. “The next attack resulted in a plane colliding into the Pentagon, government building; the last attack was in Pennsylvania when a plane crashed into a field. In total, 3,000 people died on September 11th, 2001” (History.com Staff). The September 11th-attacks have affected airport security by the new training of flight attendants, the formation of the Transportation Security Administration and new technical advances to keep up with increased terror threats.

The British police have arrested five people on suspicion of being linked to the attacks in Paris and Brussels. On Thursday, three men and a woman were detained in Birmingham, central England. Also, on Friday, another man was held at London’s Gatwick Airport. Chief Const. Marcus Beale said that there was no information that suggested that an attack in Britain was being planned. A security source had confirmed that these five people arrests were linked to last month’s suicide bombings in Brussels, which resulted in thirty two people dead and November’s Paris attacks which left 130 people dead. The four men that were arrested are aged 40, 59, and two are aged 26. The woman is 29-years-old. They are all being questioned by counter-terrorism

On September 11, 2001, there were a series of four coordinated attacks against the United States by a known terrorist group, Al-Qaeda, in New York City and Washington, D.C. (Associated Press, 2003). These attacks changed the security of aviation throughout the nation. After 9/11, the image of general aviation (GA) was tarnished because the 9/11 hijackers trained in small GA aircraft in the United States (Elias, 2010). Even though the hijackers trained on GA aircraft the area of aviation that experienced the largest overhaul is screening at public airports. Many experts say that since general aviation airports vary intensely in characteristics it would be difficult to implement intense security to all of these airports because they are all

Another reason a terrorist group would attack or target critical infrastructure would be to spread fear, anxiety, and panic throughout society by transforming a specific terrorist incident beyond it localized setting, thereby creating a perception that every citizen and critical infrastructure is vulnerable to attack. Therefore, when a nation is incapable of preventing a terrorist group from targeting or attacking it businesses, whether hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, transport, and even public venues such as movies and concert halls, it causes the affected government to appear incompetent and incapable of protecting its citizens and critical infrastructure from terrorist harm. Such was the case on March 22, 2016, when two groups of

Paris was the target of multiple terrorist attacks on November 13. Over 129 people were killed, and 350 more were injured. The most deaths occurred at the concert of a U.S. rock group. Hostages were taken at this location, and suicide bombers attacked several other locations. This is not the first terrorist attack in Paris, another one took place less than a year ago at the headquarters of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper. Both of these attacks were claimed by ISIS to be their own. They have taken over much of Iraq and Syria and have beheaded several journalist and Christians. The authorities believe that there were three teams of terrorists that performed the attacks. Seven of the terrorist were killed by the police or their own bombs. Most of

Coordinated attacks perpetrated by the Islamic State (IS) movement in the heart of Paris on Nov. 13 last week shocked France and the global community.

Friday the 13th, November, 2015 a terror attack had happened in Paris. This terror attack killed 129 people. Isis was the ringleader of this attack. People wonder how the attack had happened and where all this weapons came in. The official say the border security, surveillance capacity, and coordination between security services will be heavily inspected. In addition seven assaulter has been killed during this attack, but France and Belgium believes there are more suspects. There are lot of theories of why this attack had happened. A theory explains that this was caused so it could discourage powerful nations from carrying out more attacks against it, but we won’t be able to know the truth for the cause of the affect. It took years to know

November 13, 2015, a series of coordinated terrorists attacks, consisting of mass shootings, suicide bombers, and hostage-takings, occurred in Paris. Beginning at 9:20pm, killing over 120 people. There were three suicide bombings outside the Stade De France in Saint-Denis, along with another suicide bombing and mass shootings at four locations in Paris. The attacks were the deadliest on France since World War II, and the deadliest in the European Union since the Madrid train bombings in 2004. French investigators said that Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the suspected mastermind of the Paris terrorist attacks, died on Wednesday November 18, in a major police operation. Another key suspect linked to Friday's atrocities by ISIS attackers in the French capital

On the other hand governments support aviation industry by building airports, roads and hotels near airports, because they recognize this industry as an important ingredient for economic well-being. In addition governments arrange security at the airports to ensure safe journey. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have had negative implications for the industry. Over the years, all the airlines have changed their routes, marketing tactics and prices; they are also making an effort to reduce the fear and negative image associated with air-planes. Governments have imposed strict security checks on air travel passengers in order to avoid any unforeseen terrorist activity.