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Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management Crisis and Emergency Management Newsletter Website |
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December
2003
Volume 5
- Number 3 |
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Perception of the terrorism risk By Ulrich Myboto Politic, which is linked to emergency management, economic, is also linked to terrorism risk. In today’s world, terrorist actions or events cannot be dissociated from the foreign policies of our governments. Since few of the world’s leaders decided to interfere in some countries affairs, my perception of terrorism risk went up. History has proven that actions taken always lead to consequence’s wether humans or economic. Since 9/11, the war in Afghanistan, and the war in Irak, I realize that nobody leaving in big cities such as Washington, New York, or Los Angeles is safe. The department of homeland security, who is in charge of protecting the homeland, is now focusing on foreigners who come here to study or to visit, and therefore ignore that terrorist always come up with unexpected plans that might cause great damages. Currently, with the war in Irak, countries which decided to fight “terrorism,” are victims of permanent attacks, with different scenarios. For instance, terrorists used a donkey who carried a cart full of vegetables to launch missiles against coalition forces. The above example is one among others that are happening daily against those who decided to fight terror. It appears to me that terrorists are conveying a message throughout these barbarian acts. They seem to tell to countries which are in the coalition, or to individuals who help the same coalition, that they can always find means to strike at any time. As long as certain countries will interfere for any reasons in some countries affairs, I do not think that my perception of terrorism risk will lower. Despite all measures taken by our leaders, we still as vulnerable as the first time terrorist stroke. I do not believe that governments have real ways to prevent incidents from happening because an attack could come from outside a country as well as from inside. For example, events such as the bombings in Bali, in Morocco, and finally in Turkey, illustrated that people within a country are capable of committing atrocities against their homeland and against innocents people. Whatever happened in Bali or Turkey could take place here; therefore, for me, luck is the only factor that is saving us right now. Since 9/11, all trucks and buses passing by route one (the Pentagon) are subject to search, while the regular sedans or SUV is exempted. From my point of view, that negligence reflects the incapabilities of the authorities to correctly assess the threat regarding terrorist action. As an individual who believes in peace, justice and harmony among people, I think that in order to realize how serious terrorism risk is, it is necessary to study history, politic, and ask questions such as why are we at risk? What make these terrorists commit those awful acts? The answers to these questions will help mitigation and response.
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