Risk Assessment Terrorists and Acts of Terrorism

Risk Assessment

Terrorists and acts of terrorism have become unpredictable. Today terrorism has adopted a new dimension. This makes it difficult to differentiate between the preparation for a terrorist induced disaster and a natural/technological disaster. Over the years the United States has encountered several terrorist attacks in the eighties hijackings of planes was prevalent and in the nineties and the new millennium attacks on buildings such as the World Trade Center in New York and U.S. foreign embassies such as one in Nairobi, Kenya and Darussalam, Tanzania. The interesting issue is that it is not easy to predict their next mode of attack; many anti-terrorist experts are suspicious about the involvement of chemical or biological weapons (Heng, 2006 ).

In addition, terrorist are no longer bear the profile of the traditional enemy, some of them are Americans and not easy to identify as terrorist, Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma bomber, was born April 23, 1968 in Pendleton, New York, and grew up in that rural community near Buffalo, Niagara and Canada (Cable News Network, 2012). Therefore, evaluation of the magnitude and likelihood of potential losses in a bid to provide full understanding of the causes and impact of losses is not different between acts of terrorism as in natural disasters.

Terrorism Program Prior To 9/11

The United States had a terrorism combating program prior to 9/11, but it was not an effective one. This statement is true even after the 9/11. Prior to 9/11, there was an attempt by a group of terrorist in 1993 to bomb the twin towers. Mohammed A. Salameh using a yellow Ford Econoline van, planted explosives at the base of the buildings. This suspect was tied to an Islamic Fundamentalist Sect. According to Adam (2001) the attack was planned by Guzie - Hadas, an Islamist, who was had been for a long time a Mossad operative. This incident should have been the last if the United States was prepared for further attacks. One can argue that

9/11 was different from the attacks in 1993 and the answer is yes, and this is the reason why the United States has challenges fighting terrorism, the terrorists are continuously adopting newer tactics and technology that make it difficult for the U.S. To track them.

Risk Assessment in Regards to the Al Qaeda Capabilities Prior To 9/11

It was impossible for the United States to accomplish any risk assessment in regards to the Al Qaeda capabilities prior to 9/11. However, there was enough information pointing towards the possible hijacking but not the suicide attacks pointed at York's World Trade Center. Scientists are still not sure of the nature of attacks on either, the Pentagon or even the World Trade Center; some believe and purportedly have scientific evidence. According to Legge, (2010), there is no scientific proof that a Boeing 757 did not hit the Pentagon.

Preventing 9/11

As mentioned above, the United States government was aware of eminent attacks. However, the government was ill prepared by underestimating the potential of the enemy. According ABC News (2012) the U.S. intelligence officials had warned President Bush weeks prior to the September 11 attacks that Osama bin Laden's terrorist network was planning to hijack American planes. It appears as though the president and the White House officials never took this threat seriously. The only step the white house officials took was to issue private warnings to transport department. To them, "the threat of a hijacking by bin Laden's al Qaeda organization was general in nature" (ABC News, 2012)., According to White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, "they had general threats involving Osama bin Laden around the world and including in the United States." If the United States taken these threats seriously, the lives of those who died in the 9/11 attacks could have been prevented.