Homeland security and terrorism in the United States
Globalization and advancement in technology has brought about increased interaction and cooperation among countries. On this regard, it should be noted that the interaction among countries has also led to cropping up of many social evils including terrorism. It should further be noted that, global politics have lead to enmity among countries thus leading to emergence of terrorist groups. Specifically, the homeland security in the United States has been at jeopardy due to terrorism. This scenario has lead to several attacks on the United Sates and its allies; thus calling for urgent measures to be executed to restrain this vice.
In the recent past, Mexico has been criticized of poor security measures, which may create loopholes for terrorists especially to neighboring states like Arizona. In regard to this memorandum, effective strategies and policies will be discussed in order to ensure adequate homeland security in the US and Mexico so as to curb terrorist operations. Introduction Proper security is inevitable for the prosperity and development of any human society. Basically, all nations should prioritize security matters if they aim at succeeding in any economic, social or political matters.
In this perspective, all nations should ensure adequate security for its members both within and out of their jurisdiction. It should be noted that, both internal and external security of a nation have equally same magnitudes and one should not be sacrificed for the other. It should further be noted that, the security status in Mexico has deteriorated and may be a good hiding place for terrorist who intend to attack the US. In this regard, the homeland security of the state of Arizona will be at jeopardy; since terrorist can easily access this state.
On this regard, this discussion will highlight essential policy measures that should be put in place by the department of homeland security in Arizona in order to fight terrorism in neighboring Mexican state (Borgerson, 2008). In the recent past, the United States and some of its allies has been a great target by terror groups especially the Al Qaeda. This has been attributed to poor relationship of the United Sates with most of the Middle East countries. On this basis, the inclination of the United States towards Israel and the fight against nuclear weapons has created enmity between the United States and Middle East states.
Additionally, the US has not been very clear on it’s involvement in solving the Gaza conflict thus raising suspicion among most of the Middle East countries. In fact, this enmity has led to a series of terrorist attacks to the United States and its allies in the recent past thus. On this scenario, many lives have been lost and millions worth of property destroyed (Bullock, 2008). Having been in the intelligence service for more than ten years now, my role in the intelligence unit will be very crucial in the formulation of terrorist policies.
Since the new director, has less or no idea on the issue of terrorism; my ideas will be very beneficial in the intelligence unit. On this basis, I will help the new director in formulating policies which will ensure that homeland security in Arizona is reinforced. With the help of data and information on terrorist from past experiences; this will be very helpful in coming up with effective strategies. Specifically, the war against terrorism in Arizona and the neighboring Mexico states should be prioritized in order to realize the expected security status (Faddis, 2010).
Adequate governmental and managerial reforms are urgently needed in order to curb the present homeland security matters. Perhaps, the structure of the intelligence unit and other security departments should be modified so as to ensure efficiency in their service delivery. It’s clear that in the process of maintaining homeland security, violence of any kind should not be confronted. The security agents should be informed that; in order to succeed in their endeavors, partnership with general public as well as other stakeholders in the government is very crucial.
A point worth noting is that, for success to be realized in home security; the security agencies should start with their hometown in their jurisdiction. In this scenario, local law enforcement, citizens and communities should be adequately empowered with the need of maintaining peace (Neme, 2009). In order to ensure homeland security, various strategies and policies should be put in place in order to ensure the security status in the neighboring jurisdictions is monitored. On this regard, deteriorating levels of security in neighboring states especially in Mexico will put homeland security at jeopardy.
In particular, uniform policies on terrorism should be stipulated and passed to all states for implementation. In our case, the fight against terrorism in the State of Arizona calls for adequate monitoring on the operations of neighboring Mexican state (Sauter, 2005). Importantly, the department of homeland security ought to stipulate adequate policies on immigration; which in this case will ensure maximum scrutiny of all immigrants. Firstly, the department of homeland security should stipulate basic travel requirements to all citizens in order to ensure the necessary security investigations are possible.
In addition, proper legislation should be put in place so as to ensure that all policies outlined by the department of homeland security are made into law. This will hereby help to remove suspicion among the citizens regarding the operations of the security agencies (White, 2008). As Teal (2010) observes, modern advancements in technology has affected all aspects of human society. I believe that tactics of planning and executing terrorism are affected as well. Towards this end, it is necessary for the intelligence department to ensure adoption of modern technology in their operations.
This will call for the scrutiny of all information passed via the internet and also through the mobile phones. In relation to this, the intelligence service should be empowered with the necessary resources so as to be able to monitor all communications of the citizens and the rest of the world. On the other hand, the intelligence service should be accorded the necessary powers to arrest and investigate any person they suspect to be a terrorist (Neme, 2009). The deteriorating security status in Mexico is posing a terrorist threat to the United States especially in the Arizona state.
Basically, in the recent past Mexico has been dominated by cases of drug trafficking among other crimes. In addition, the security measures and policies in Mexico are very worrying thus creating loopholes for crime. The government of Mexico has failed to implement effective policies regarding crime thus confronting law and order. In this regard, for the adequate security to be realized in the US; security agents and the government should put a watch on the security levels of Mexico (Borgerson, 2008).
It is evident that, Mexico is a neighbor to the Arizona state and thus a strategic location for terrorists. In connection with this, ineffective legal system in Mexico and the entire confronted security measures create a hiding place for terrorist. The department of homeland security in the Arizona state should act fast so as to ensure proper legislation are put in place so as to improve security in Mexico. Importantly, adequate policies should be stipulated so as to ensure tight scrutiny of all immigrants from Mexico.
It is quite clear that, most of the terrorist groups are partners to the drug cartels which are very dominant in Mexico (Bullock, 2008). Based on the security issue in Mexico, the intelligence service in collaboration with the government should ensure deployment of intelligence agents in Mexico and all borders. This move will ensure that all activities going on in the country are properly monitored to prevent any terrorist attacks into the US. The US government should collaborate with the Mexican government to ensure the necessary legislations are put into place in order to reinforce security operations.
Further, the federal government should provide for the necessary financial and human resources to the Mexican government in order to realize efficient and effective security personnel (Faddis, 2010). The main focus and aim of the department of Arizona homeland security is to minimize the vulnerability of Arizona to terrorism. On this aspect, it is charged with the responsibility of ensuring adequate awareness, reaction and revival from any disaster. With this in mind, the efficiency of the department can be reinforced by legislation of the necessary laws to ensure all threats are monitored.
With the appointment of a new director in the intelligence service, cooperation among the different stakeholders in the intelligence community is very important. More specifically, the protocol in the intelligence community should be respected and adhered to at all time. Based on this scenario, directives and information on any security issue should be accorded the ultimate respect. It is wise to note that, the security department is a very sensitive one which requires honest and loyalty (Sauter, 2005).
On the other hand, cooperation among all government departments is very essential in the endeavors of realizing a safer nation. In this case, the government should ensure that adequate resources are made available to the security department so as to facilitate its operation. Firstly, the government should ensure that it collaborates with the security department in ensuring efficient staffing. Based on this, adequate funds should be set aside so as to ensure sufficient intelligence personnel are recruited.
Secondly, adequate resources should be set aside so as to facilitate proper training for the intelligence community in order to help detect and prevent any terror attack. Another policy issue that should be implemented is on the provision of good payments and motivations to the intelligence community; this will ensure that they conduct their work efficiently and effectively (Neme, 2009). For success to be realized in the war against terrorist in the US, the department of homeland security in collaboration with the federal government should put into place long term strategies which will ensure safety of the citizens.
This move will call upon a combined effort of different government agencies and the private sector so as to help alleviate any terror attack in the future. First, there should be establishment of disaster awareness and reaction agencies; which in this case will help deal with the occurrence of any disaster. In fact, this preparedness agency will help in issuance of the necessary information prior to occurrence of a disaster. This will help people to move to safer places and also to carryout the necessary safety measures.
On this perspective, a lot of financial and human resources will be required in ensuring detection facilities are installed; thus the need for government support (Faddis, 2010). Fortunately, the new policies in the intelligence service have lead to drastic decline in terrorist activities in the US and its allies. Nevertheless, there has been immense criticism from different groups regarding the current policies on terrorism. On this basis, the US has been perceived to be undermining human rights since most of the suspects of terrorism are not accorded the basic human rights.
In addition, there has been suspicion on the US war against terrorist with allegations of bias against Muslims. In regard to this, the war against terrorism has jeopardized US relationship with Muslim nations (Borgerson, 2008). Recommendations The current policies on terrorism are ineffective and to some extent biased thus the need for revision. On this regard, the US should consider involving the international community and more so the Middle East nations in drafting acceptable and efficient policies on terrorism.
For instance, the US terrorist policies are not consistent with the Geneva provisions thus making them unacceptable. Further, the department of homeland security in Arizona should collaborate with the Mexican government in order to effectively prevent terrorism. Further, the department of home security should be restructured in order to ensure that experienced and efficient personnel are recruited. Conclusion Basically, the department of homeland security in Arizona has done a commendable work in fighting terrorist; whereby the number of terrorist attacks has drastically reduced in the recent past.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that, the implementation of the stipulated policies and strategies will be very crucial in order to completely prevent terrorist attacks. Reference list Borgerson, K. & Valeri, R. (2008). Terrorism in America. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers Bullock, J. Et al. (2008). Introduction to homeland security: principles of all-hazards response. London: Butterworth-Heinemann press. Faddis, C. (2010). Willful neglect: the dangerous illusion of homeland security. New York: Lyons press.
Neme, C. (2009). Homeland security: an introduction to principles and practice. New York: Auerbach publications Sauter, M & Carafano, J. (2005). Homeland security: a complete guide to understanding, preventing, and surviving terrorism. New Jersey: McGraw-hill publishers. Teal A (2010) Has Technology Changed Terrorism: retrieved August 17, 2010 from http://www. helium. com/items/1241369-has-technology-changed-terrorism White, J. (2008). Terrorism and homeland security: an introduction. New York: Wadsworth publishing.
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