AMERICAN DOMESTIC SECURITY IN A POST 9/11 WORLD

American Domestic Security in a Post 9/11 World

Introduction

9 September, 2011 came as a challenge to the government of the US. This challenge was of the kind that was considered to be far ahead of any challenge that natural disasters had presented in decades. The attack was indicative of a possibility of future terrorist activities and similar attacks that might involve more of society than natural disasters do while there were very only some institutions that were capable of coping with it. It was then that the requirement for a restructuring of the security policies was felt immensely. The paper offers a brief account of the security situation in America before the attack and then it attempts to shed light on the changes and steps that were taken by the country to counter the terrorist threat in a post 9/11 world.

Discussion

The dawn of the 21st century brought major security challenges for the country and for the world. The 9/11 attacks on the United States brought a new sense of danger for many people. The manner in which the attacks took place was the major concern and diverted the attention towards three elements of global security. First, the country was considered to be protected in a manner that it could ward off threats but this event clearly showed that the protective barrier was not as strong as it was presumed to be. Secondly, modern technology that people relied on for global success, such as the airplane, was used as a weapon and in a similar manner any other technology could be used for terrorism attempts. And lastly, the attackers were considered to have links via a network of 'global relationships' that stretched all the way to Afghanistan.

These threats to the security called for considerable changes to the policies and strategies that were in effect in the country. The American public was terrified and wanted more to be done to make them feel secure and protected. The response to this overpowering public sentiment and the vulnerability exposed by the successful attacks, demanded for a set of measures that would help in satisfying the concerns of the people and also help in improving the ability of the country to cope with the challenges that terrorism brought.

There were considerations for various counter terrorism measures such that they would be able to

Prevent (deal with preconditions and precipitants of terrorism and restrict any plans from being successful by intervening before terrorists get the opportunity to act).

Protect and responding (in case of prevention failing, minimizing the potential destructiveness of any attacks that might take place).

Control of effects (deal with the disruptive social and political effects of terrorism)

To employ counterterrorism measures keeping in consideration the above objectives required many efforts and required the use of many instruments in this regard such as diplomacy, attack on the financing of terrorism, military and intelligence means and several different kinds of special operations. The following month after the attack, Congress unanimously passed ...