Zachary Ornelas
English 1311
Terrorism and Counterterrorism
The main priority and the main problem the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is terrorism. Especially since the tragedy of 9/11 that took 3000 innocent American lives. Ever since those attacks shook America to the bone, the main priority of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is to detect the when and where the next terror attacks will happen and stop them before anyone gets hurt like past terror attacks. One of the FBI’S mottos is "to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats and to enforce the criminal laws of the United States." That has always been the main priority but the terrorism part is more emphasized now since the 9/11 attacks happened. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and many other agencies around the United States have separate departments that deal of with foreign intelligence and terror threats called Counterterrorism.
Terrorism is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion. Terrorism is also defined as “Terrorism is the premeditated use or threat of use of violence by individuals or sub national groups to obtain political, religious, or ideological objectives through intimidation of a large audience usually beyond that of the immediate victims.” (Counterterrorism-A Game-Theoretic Analysis, Daniel G. Arce) “By simulating randomness, terrorists create an atmosphere of fear where everyone feels vulnerable, thereby extending their sphere of influence as far as possible. Suicide missions can heighten this air of anxiety and place greater pressures on governments to capitulate to terrorist demands owing to the greater casualties, on average, associated with such events-thirteen deaths per suicide attack compared with less than one death per non suicide attack.” (Counterterrorism-A Game-Theoretic Analysis, Daniel G. Arce) Terrorism is a major problem in today’s society because of so many terrorist groups being raised and trained in the Middle East Countries. Many terror groups succeed in their attacks on the United States such as the 9/11 attacks, the Anthrax Mail Attacks, and the 1993 World Trade Center Bombings. The 9/11 attacks could have been prevented if the FBI, CIA, NSA, and other government and state agencies would have communicated and passed along information about an imminent attack on the United States days before the attack was put into motion. If people within those agencies would have followed their chain of command and communicated with their colleagues and supervisors, the proper precautions could have been put in place to slow down the attack or even stop the attack on the United States. But many attacks have been also stopped due to the diligent people in the FBI and other agencies.
Counterterrorism is defined by Encarta Dictionary as activities to combat terrorism: military or political activities intended to combat or prevent terrorism. Counterterrorism is used to intercept and stop terror attacks from happening in the United States. Counterterrorism is also used to detect spies inside the United States such as the 10 Russian spies that were captured and sent back to Russia in July. “Counterterrorist policies may involve taking direct actions against terrorists or their sponsors. Such proactive policies may include destroying terrorist training camps, retaliating against a state sponsor, infiltrating terrorist groups, gathering intelligence, or freezing terrorist assets.” (Counterterrorism-A Game-Theoretic Analysis, Daniel G. Arce) “More defensive or passive counterterrorist measures include erecting technological barriers (e.g., metal detectors or bomb-sniffing equipment at airports), fortifying potential targets, and securing borders. These defensive policies are intended to deter an attack by either making success more difficult or increasing the likely negative consequences to the perpetrator. Efforts to deter terrorist events often displace the attack to other venues, modes of attack (e.g., from a skyjacking to a kidnapping), countries, or regions, where targets are relatively softer.” (Counterterrorism-A Game-Theoretic Analysis, Daniel G. Arce) Since the 9/11 attacks on the United States, communication has improve between government agencies, state agencies, and even local police departments by reporting any threats on the United States, credible or not, and working together to investigate those threats. The Federal Bureau of Investigation uses counterterrorism/counterintelligence “to foster communication and build awareness through partnerships with key public and private entities by educating and enabling our partners to identify what is at counterintelligence risk and how to protect it. It's all about identifying the research, information, and technologies that are targeted by our adversaries and establishing an ongoing dialogue and information exchange with partners to change behaviors and reduce opportunities that benefit the opposition’s efforts.” (www.fbi.gov) In present day, cyber terrorism is being used more and more, and with an “unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication.” “While both the threats and technologies associated with cyberspace are dynamic,
the existing balance in network technology favors malicious actors, and is likely to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Sensitive information is stolen daily from both government and private sector networks, undermining confidence in our information systems, and in the very information these systems were intended to convey.” (Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Dennis C. Blair)
With many more threats against the United States coming in daily to different agencies, communication is vital to investigate and ultimately stop these threats against the United States and its citizens. Counterterrorism and counterintelligence is also plays a vital role in stopping those threats. Without the intelligence and counterterrorism task force, the 9/11 attacks could have been just the start to a lot of terrorist attacks on the United States. Those people in the agencies that deal with counterterrorism need to stay diligent to keep the citizens of the United States safe.
References
· dictionary.msn.com/
Daniel G. Arce M., Todd Sandler
The Journal of Conflict Resolution
Vol. 49, No. 2, The Political Economy of Transnational Terrorism (Apr., 2005), pp. 183-200
Vol. 49, No. 2, The Political Economy of Transnational Terrorism (Apr., 2005), pp. 183-200
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30045107
· Blair, D.C. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, FBI. (2010). Annual threat assessment of the us intelligence community for the senate select committee on intelligence
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