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March 2008                                                                                              Volume 14 - Number 2

Perspectives...

The Risk of Terrorism

By Brian Noble

Analyzing the risk of terrorism within the United States, is a delicate and complex issue. In order to assess the risk of terrorism, it is necessary to be aware of current threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences of pending attacks. Having a clear understanding of these issues will allow for better emergency planning, information sharing, and resource allocation. Although the U.S. government has done an adequate job maturing homeland security policies, additional follow through still needs to be done. Issues such as intelligence gathering, terrorism vulnerability, and cost effectiveness all need to be continually revamped and retooled for the ever changing tasks of combating terrorism.

Domestic terrorism seems to be alive, well, and perhaps stronger than ever before. Incidents such as the D.C. sniper, Virginia-tech school shootings, and the recent shooting at NIU all support this idea. Because of incidents like these, information sharing and resource allocation between primarily local and state agencies have gotten better. Whether this is due to updated policies or out of shear necessity, response to these incidents have become more timely, efficient, and appropriate. Although the response to these incidents has become more competent, the level of vulnerability to the risk of domestic terrorism has grown exponentially. The reason I say this is because of the sheer increase in numbers for domestic terrorism. When you raise probability of an incident, subsequently risk and vulnerability are also increased. Although various terrorism response has gotten better within our country, I believe more needs to and could be done to prevent these issues from happening. Perhaps having more counselors within schools, so they could possibly recognize red flags before the student comes to school with a firearm. Better training could be implemented for local police departments, in order to combat the ever growing threat of domestic terrorism. These are some ideas that may be plausible, in order to create some new domestic terrorism mitigation and response tactics. Regardless of what steps are taken, it is my belief that domestic terrorism will be become extremely prevalent, especially if our economy continues to deteriorate.

On the other side of the issues lies international terrorism. International terrorism is less likely to occur on a consistent basis, but it seems to be on a larger scale when there is an incident involving international terrorism within America. Due to the formation of the Department of Homeland Security, in combination with efforts from the Department of Justice, I believe they have done an adequate job in providing protection from international terrorism. Our country is safer than it was pre 9/11, but it is still not safe. Various agencies such as DHS and FBI need to continue attacking the financial lifeline of terrorist organizations. Furthermore, information technology sharing needs to constantly be reevaluated. Doing this will ensure a smooth line of communication between each individual agency. This will enable each organization to focus on agency goal oriented tasks or targets, as opposed to having two different agencies duplicate the same task or mission. In my opinion, a solid foundation for fighting international terrorism has been created. Expansion of DHS or other international fighting agencies is not necessary. However, it is necessary to maintain the fundamental base that has been created.

Although both forms of terrorism strike fear into the American public, I am more cautious of domestic terrorism. Of course the thought of a suicide bomber entering my neighborhood Starbucks sends a cold chill up and down my spine. But, the real fear is when people the government is trying to protect, begin to attack their government, their own people, and their own country. This essentially makes any subsequent effort to thwart international terrorism a mute point.