Terrorism and Homeland Security

Terrorism and Homeland Security

Introduction

Terrorism is the systematic use of terror or unpredictable violence against governments, publics, or individuals, to attain a political objective. It evolved from numerous attacks in the 20th century, to less frequent but more destructive assaults in the 21st century. Homeland Security defined is a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce America's vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do occur. The terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, were acts of war against the United States and the principles of freedom, opportunity, and openness that define the American way of life (White, 2009). The severity and magnitude of the attacks were unprecedented, and that dark day became a watershed event in the Nation's approach to protecting and defending the lives and livelihoods of the American people.

Analysis

What is terrorism? What does it involve? Who does it involve? In my mind, terrorism is, "evil, horror, and violence. It is the cruelty of killing mass numbers of people for illogical reasons." The Encyclopedia of Britannica describes terrorism as, "the systematic use of terror or unpredictable violence against governments, publics, or individuals, to attain a political objective." The FBI further describes it as either being, "domestic or international terrorism; domestic terrorism being the illegal or threatened use of violence within the United-states or without foreign direction in furtherance of political or social objectives; and international terrorism being violent acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United-States, or any state (White, 2009).

Terrorism has struck all through history and around the world. Even in ancient Roman times, emperors such as Tiberius and Caligula dealt with terrorism by using banishment, and execution towards those who opposed their rule. ...