¶ … Terrorism What are the best plans that this nation can make in order to counter the threat of terrorism? Is negotiate with terrorists an option? Can a nation preempt a planned terrorist plot? Is retaliation a reasonable idea when counterterrorism is on the table? These issues will be addressed in this paper.

Counterterrorism Strategies

Scholars point to several ways in which governments respond to or prepare for potential terrorists attacks. Helen Fenwick, a professor of law in the UK, points to three "…standard government policy responses to terrorism": a) consider the fight against terrorism as warfare, which is essentially depending on the military and intelligence components of government (the U.S. has conducted military campaigns against terrorists); b) use a "police-based" approach, treating terrorism as a kind of criminal activity (which it certainly is), by employing actions through the criminal justice system; and c) use political tactics and try negotiation with rogue nations that harbor terrorists (Fenwick, 2008, p. 259).

On page 261 Fenwick entertains...

Any group can be banned and punished "…if it promotes or encourages terrorism… [Or] if it glorifies it," Fenwick explains. In the UK, if a particular group makes threats against citizens or the government, it can be proscribed (Terrorism Act 2006), which basically means that it has issued serious threats and it can be taken to trial where criminal sanctions may be applied to it. This is a proactive approach, and in the U.S. If a person is deemed to be a risk to national security, he or she may be detained and held for prosecution.
Negotiation: How does a government negotiate with a terrorist organization? This is a difficult question and the answer is rarely if ever definitive. When President Obama authorized the Navy SEALS to take Obama out in Pakistan, there was no negotiation possible. Still, if the United Nations is bringing desperately needed food and other supplies to needy refugees in Sudan, for example, and the two-and-a-half ton trucks carrying the supplies are stopped by a terrorist…