Central Washington University Terrorism Discussion

Withthe increasing fear of terrorism since 9/11, how do we prepare to prevent, deter and respond to an enemy that we do not know, that can strike at any time, whether it be domestic, international, or a lone wolf. Explain the challenges, opportunities, and obstacles, and how would you think we should tackle it

Terrorism is a great concern to our national security, the United States, and its allies. Since 9/11 the war on terror, how we prepare, deter, respond, and prevent international and domestic terrorism have changed drastically. The effectiveness of how the intelligence community operates when gathering information, analyzing it, and disseminating it perhaps has improved tremendously. The United States now leads a global effort against terrorism. The aim is to eliminate worldwide terrorist networks and reduce the effectiveness of terrorist threats. Success will depend not only on the leadership, initiative, and capabilities of the United States but also on the cooperation and capabilities of its international partners and allies (Richard D. Klausner, Lewis M. Branscomb, 2002).

However, there remain many challenges in achieving such a critical task. First, different terrorist groups or individuals have different ideologies as to why to commit an attack whether they are international or domestic. Second, Terrorists are also opportunistic and flexible. They learn from experience and modify their tactics and targets to exploit perceived vulnerabilities and avoid observed strengths. They are also patient and persistent (The Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures, 2003 ). Additionally, the September 11 attacks demonstrated our national-level physical vulnerability to the threat posed by a formidable enemy-focused, mass destruction terrorism. Finally, the lack of information sharing between agencies is one of the key challenges we face in the increasing fight against terrorism.

We must first eliminate the challenges to successfully achieve the task which is to prepare, to deter, to respond, and to prevent international and domestic terrorist attacks on US soil and against our allies. The federal government must adopt stronger terrorism-related laws. Improve the information sharing system, limit the terrorist ability to get their hands-on chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons, or high-yield explosives weapons, and use technology to our advantage. The more frequently and relentlessly we strike the terrorists across all fronts, using all the tools of statecraft, the more effective we will be. The United States, with its unique ability to build partnerships and project power, will lead the fight against terrorist organizations of global reach (National strategy for combating terrorism, 2003). The Intelligence community needs to gather and analyze intelligence, it must be share so other federal agencies so they can stay update with who, what, when, where, and how a terrorist group might attack.