War on Terror Analysis

War on terror has changed significantly since the attacks of 2001. Terrorism has always been a part of American life, with the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901 by Leon Czolgosz. More recently, however, the United States has contested with terrorism stemming from extreme Islamist groups that are at ideological odds with the Western way of life. The war on terror that began in 2001 has grown to represent billions of dollars and thousands of individuals whose mission it is to never allow another attack on U.S. soil again, if they can help it. The tools of the U.S. have grown, yet so have those of terrorist groups worldwide.

The war on terror began as an immediate strike into Afghanistan, and slowly grew into Iraq, and the world at large. More recently, it has been seen in places like Libya, Syria, Egypt, and Yemen. The war itself began as an immediate effort to retaliate for the September 11 attacks, but became a political philosophy of the United States to end terrorism and extremism wherever it may be in the world. This effort has not been cheap, and at first cost the U.S. some political points in International Relations. The effect, however, has been a significant damping of the capabilities of al-Qaeda, and overall the world has become a safer place as a result. The specific U.S. strategies have been a combination of military, intelligence, business, and even propaganda campaigns to sway the Muslim world to the idea that the United States was not anti-Muslim, only anti-terrorist.

With the beginning of the September 11, 2001 new counter-terrorism program for a country like the U.S., new techniques and practices must be relayed down the chain of command in order to properly train law enforcement officials. Specialized tactics, as well as broad strategies, have been collected by the recently created U.S. Homeland Security agency. It is from this powerful agency that law enforcement departments nationwide receive their training in the handling of counter-terrorism efforts. The Department of Homeland Security also offers valuable information and interactive cooperation between the various counter-terrorism agencies. This date exchange is the sort of connection to data that police departments may need immediately in the event of a serious crisis. The FBI also contributes to the nationwide goal of preventing terrorism with good Intel. Law enforcement agencies have an even broader and more elusive role; to face domestic terrorist threats while still fulfilling all of the existing duties of a police officer.

The first policy to put into place for an Intelligence Department's counter-terrorism strategy would be to teach each officer how to communicate with other response units in uncertain circumstances, and how to isolate trouble areas in order to contain threats. Counter-terrorism strategies such as this are necessary for all police officers in the department because it requires general knowledge of best practices and informs the officers what their role should be in case of a terrorist attack. The Patriot Act gave law enforcement incredibly important duties of surveillance and tracking suspicious individuals, which in turn meant that police departments began receiving far more money from the federal government for their counter-terrorism efforts than ever before.

The second policy would be to create several specialized counter-terrorism units trained specifically to handle potential terrorist threats. This unit could be assembled similarly to a military counter-terrorism unit, but within the purview of the local police. These units require equipment which is far beyond standard issue for police officers, including assault rifles, ballistics armor, flash bang grenades, instant voice communication, bomb defusing training and materials, and even specialized protective vehicles. The expense of these units is not to be underestimated, but the problem of terrorism can result in far greater expense, both political and economic, and so therefore some local police departments feel that full-time counter-terrorism units are worth their price.

Many terrorist attacks can be stopped before they even begin, but only if law enforcement knows about an impending attack ahead of time, which is where law enforcement intelligence becomes important in the third policy; linking intelligence with federal agencies. Terrorist organizations can potentially be found anywhere in the country at any given time, which is why having ears and eyes in every American metropolis is valuable to the nation's overall intelligence gathering efforts. The FBI is an important ally to police departments in this area, as local police departments inherit technology developed by the FBI first. Police then dispatch that intelligence technology around their jurisdiction, and therefore reinforce the nationwide efforts on this front.

The final policy recommendation to counter-terrorism units is to teach the various forms of terrorism that may occur, including exceptional situations which may involve biologic, chemical, or even nuclear threats to American lives. It is also clear that automatic weapons, random explosives, suicide bombers, and hostage taking are all tactics that terrorists have used previously to great effect in violent undertakings around the world. Understanding the tools of terrorism is crucial to being able to mitigate terrorist threats. Just as the airline industries updated their aircraft and in-flight policies in the wake of the September 11th attacks, so too must police departments stay on the cutting edge of counter-terrorism strategy and training.

The future of counter-terrorism and the struggle of the War on Terror will be fought in many ways. The first line of defense will be the U.S. troops sent abroad to secure missions, similar to the one that killed Osama bin Laden. The second line of defense will be the spy agents and agencies that are charged with discovering terrorist plots and putting an end to them before they can be hatched. This line of defense is typically handled by the Central Intelligence Agency, however others like the FBI have had an impact as well. This line of defense grew dramatically, as the agencies had stopped spying as much after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and instead they now had to hire specialists in several different languages including Arabic and Urdu. The third line of defense from terrorists lie on U.S. soil, and is typically considered a combination of the National Guard, the FBI, the NSA, and the entirety of America's local police force. This line of defense is important because these professionals are constantly looking out for terrorists and suspicious activity, and are usually the first ones to notice this.