Category: 9/11

Introduction

Broadly, terrorism is defined as the use of violence on people or property for political reasons. It’s the act of causing terror or fear upon the citizens of a particular nation. It’s a political tactic used by terrorist when they believe that there is no other better way to accomplish their desire. Terrorists are the individuals who practice terrorism; they can also be referred to as the agents of terrorism since they attack nations they are opposed to.

Terrorist targets specific group of people whom they belief have a connection to a certain view of the world that they posses. In this context of terrorism, there is the Bioterrorism (an intentional and deliberate use of harmful biological substances that causes danger to human and animal health). The biological substances may not have an immediate effect like the one caused by nuclear or chemical attack but gradually causes illness.

The most used biological substances are viruses, bacteria’s, and germs. The terrorists’ major goal is to exploit the media and get control of the news cycle. They do not necessarily aim at destroying the victims, but to make them objects of exploitation to send a message to the third party which in most cases is the government or head of state. The victims are used as the first step of transmitting information to the target group. There is certain organization among the terrorists whose work is to plan which media to exploit.

The information is then transmitted to the target audience. Terrorists carry out their operations in cultures where the government has put strong security measures and their aim is to exploit individual rights and shake their fundamentals. In most cases terrorist targets are buildings in busy cities, towns, and urban centers. The targets (buildings) are highly crowded, where most people carry out their daily operations (Linden, 2007).

On the other hand, highly populated areas are points of attack whether there are existing buildings or not. For example the United States September 11, 2001 bomb blast in New York City (World trade Center), was an ideal target for causing panic. Terrorists are pleased when they cause mass panic since this is their ultimate goal; the U.S.A. is more vulnerable to this attack and has a reason to panic.

The latest and most memorable terrorist attack was on the twin towers, September 11, 2001. This paper analyses as a case study September 11, 2001, terrorist attack, it will interpolate the measures to be taken to prevent a future attack as well as the effects that such an attack have on the lives of the affected.

Methodology

In reference with the case, I will use secondary data to give a detailed background on the case. I will analyze the security situation and measures that had been put in place before the attack and try to analyze the possible loopholes that were exploited by the attackers.

There were a lot of physical, psychological, and emotional damages that were done on the people on United States of America by the attack; I will interpolate them from data from the media houses and from written and electronic sources. The following are the objectives of my study:

• To find out the major loopholes that was exploited by the terrorists in the attack
• To find out the measures that can be put in place to ensure that such an attack will not occur again.
• To find out what is the most effective way to reduce water supply exposure to terrorist attack in United States and the world as a whole.
• To find out how terrorism recruitment can be suppressed (my area of focus will be in Yemen)
• To find out what is the most effective way to increase staff emergency preparedness training

Evolution of Terrorism

Terrorism began in the 13th century during the time of the Jewish Zealots and Assassins. The Jewish Zealots attacked the Roman forces and the fellow Hebrews. The other example of ancients terrorists were the Assassins. They presumed the role of an escape party for the Nizari Ismalis who mostly used assassination on their enemies.

One of their tactics was to send a single man to kill a leader of their enemy while risking his own life. This proceeded to the 16th century in which barbarism and terror were used to scare away their enemies. This was a result of dutiful and cultural conflict amongst different communities. Later, principalities and monarchies developed into nations which used supremacy to hold back the terrorist activities.

The term terrorism was recognized in 1795 when the revolutionary government instigated terror, with its agents referred to as terrorists. They used coercion and elimination strategies on their fatalities. At the end of the American Civil war, renovations were which resulted in the establishment of the Ku Klux Klan. Diminutive activist groups became known at the end of the 19th century shaping the revolutionary.

These groups murdered the leaders of many nations including but not limited to Spain, Russia, and the United States. Corporation and association lacked in the social groups which made revolution to be an unsuccessful political group. This paved way to the communism which became powerful in the 20th century.

In the late 19th century, scientific developments were made on firearms and the revolutionary group assaulted many nations. This was the time when there was an increase in the tide of nationalism in many parts of the world in which people’s identity was combined with political state (Chaliand, 2007).

Patriotism became a sturdy force in many royally kingdoms towards the beginning of the twentieth century. A group called the Black Hand became active and could use assassination to cause terror to its enemies. This act of terrorism saw the beginning of the First World War. In early 20th century, two events occurred that prejudiced the nature of conflict to what we know today.

These events were the two world wars which caused a lot of damage to international and government’s legitimacy. During this period, nationalism spread all over the world and became a strong force which was subjected to people from different colonial empires. The main point of focus was the nationalist identities. Nations became more close to their ethnic ties and international politics developed.

Nations which had been denied their opportunity of existence as separate nations realized their political ambitions; terror was one of the tactics that was used to execute their struggles. Contemporary terrorism commenced in 1968 after the popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) seized an airline in Israel. Surrounded by these assaults was the 1972 Munich Olympics assault in which 11 athletes from Israel were slaughtered.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization (LPO) concerned itself with the political attacks and was determined to search for a solution to end them. Its aspirations were opinionated which required Arafat (the leader of LPO) to stay away from terrorism in order to demonstrate to the people that he had the potential to lead a Government without the use of force.

The LPO’s terrorism acts ended and Islamic fundamentalism was spread in Middle East; this led to the emergence of the al-Qaeda and Hama. In 1979, a counter revolutionary militia was formed for the purpose of opposing the Nicaragua’s Sandinista government and in 1987 contra operating procedures were asserted where the human rights was bloodily abused.

People were raped, murdered, and others were kidnapped and property worth millions was destroyed. The target of the contras was the health care clinics and its workers. This came to an end after Violetta Chamorro was elected in 1990. Five years later, Oklahoma City was bombed and 168 people died and eight hundred people were left injured.

This bombing had been directed to the government of U.S.A. as reported by the prosecutors who were said to have carried out the offence. Some of the latest and most memorable terrorist attack is on the twin towers, September 11, 2001 and 2004; there was Spain train bombings in Madrid and other bombings in United Kingdom and London. Since then, U.S.A. has been experiencing terrorist attacks which have continuously caused fear among the residents.

The motive that was cited for the attack was the support of United State to Israel, trade sanction to Iraq, and its presence in Saudi Arabia. All these motives had been proclaimed earlier before the attack for example fatwa of August 1996. These motives were reinforced when bin Laden and al-Zawahiri after the attack repeated movies and documentaries stating the earlier warnings that the United States had been given (Chaliand, 2007).

September 11 2001 Historical Background

Of the recent past the attack is one of the major attacks that made the biggest destruction. The United States is considered as one of the most powerful country in terms of economic power and military preparedness but despite this the attack was made successful. It was made in a way that the security team could not detect. It occurred on two buildings (World Trade Centre and Pentagon) that were prime attacks from the attacker’s point of view. After the attack were done by al-Qaeda.

In 1996, Bin Laden, called on for American troops to get out of gulf of Saudi Arabia, he claimed that Prophet Muhammad was against permanent presence of American troops in Saudi Arabia. In the 1998 fatwa, Al-Qaeda wrote,

for over seven years the United States has been occupying the lands of Islam in the holiest of places, the Arabian Peninsula, plundering its riches, dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its neighbors, and turning its bases in the Peninsula into a spearhead through which to fight the neighboring Muslim peoples (National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas, & Lee, 2004).

They went further to say that the presence of troops from America in Muslim countries amounted to provocation of the entire Muslim community. Despite all these allegations and reasons that were given by the al-Qaeda, it is thought that the attack was also motivated by jealous that Islam countries have on the western countries especially due to the positive effects that globalization has brought to western countries. It is seen just as a way to air out their frustrations.

It is an attack that used mass casualty and mass destruction to ensure that they destabilize entire societal systems. In the attack it involved 19 men connected with Al-Qaeda, who made three incidents of bombing using hijacked commercial planes. The attack happened almost at the same time at the World Trade Centre in Manhattan, New York, Pentagon at the Arlington County, VA and a rural field near the Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The attack resulted in 2,986 deaths (189 from the Pentagon, 184 innocent victims and 5 hijackers). After the attack the then president of United States, George W. Bush, affirmed a worldwide war on terrorism. Terrorist attacks became the order of the day in almost every part of the world (National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas, & Lee, 2004).

What Went Wrong?

The United States is respected for its tight security all over the years, but on September 11 Attack shocked the world after they were able to sail through the tight security and make an attack.

The idea to attack United States was the idea of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who then advised Bin Laden on the issue. This was in 1996. This was the period that Bin Laden was in a transition period after coming from Sudan. This information was communicated to the United States and in 1998, in his statement the Director of Central Intelligence Counterterrorist Center reported to President Bush of the preparations that Al-Qaeda was making.

He noted that they were training personnel’s on how to hijack flights. There were three people mainly concerned with the attack; Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Osama bin Laden, and Laden’s deputy, Mohammed Atef. They held various meetings choosing the attack points. After all was done and said, the attackers started to trickle in the United States using different routes in the year 2001 (Goodin, 2006).

After the attack, there were various interpolations that were brought forward to try and explain what went wrong. Obviously there was a security lapse that the attackers utilized. Some of the loopholes so recognized could have been solved by mere operation of a better team, more effective information-sharing, and a more rigorous system.

Some were out of system failures that were far out of control. The security system was the one that carries the biggest blame however the attack had not been planned for one day, the al- Qaeda’s had been in the United States for a long time that they had learnt the operation of the security system of the country. The major loophole that was exploited by the terrorist is lack of alertness by the security officers of United States.

There was also the leaking of security information to the Al-Qaeda’s this was used against the United States. Security systems were not as tight as they should have been. Previously the Al-Qaeda’s had declared a holy war against the United States but the United States were ignorant in taking the warnings (National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas H., Lee H., 2004).

Security Measures

Security should not necessarily come at the price of liberty but considering the current trend in the world and the regular attacks by the terrorist then nations are left with no option. The government has the responsibility of protecting its citizens from the threat of terrorism and this can only be through provision of tight security measures and restrictions.

The United Nations’ (UN) Security Council imposed some restriction to democracies as a result of the terrorist acts. The restrictions included; denial of financial assistance to terrorist, refusal to support persons who have been involved in terrorist acts, criminalizing terrorist acts, encouraging states to be cooperative, and offering assistance on information regarding terrorists.

Appropriate measures should be taken on refugees and there should be coordination at the national, sub regional, regional and international levels. Democracies can be able to deal with these restrictions if only there is coordination and cooperation among the major stake holders of the nation and that information is channeled through the right channel in real time so as to reach the target audience and necessary remedial measures taken.

In most cases, before an attack is done, the attackers are fully aware of the security situation that prevails in the said country and the specific place. This should be the starting point. This means that when the attacker learns of a weak-point in the security team that they can exploit, this is the time and the area that the attackers focus.

In the case of the United States attack the security lapse is seen right from the borders where the attacker was let in the country without having undergone a high surveillance. They sailed in the country and even got time to spy the country and establish the weak area of attack. The concerned department up-to this point is the border officers, the police, and customs officers.

After the attackers were in the country, they were able to get in the plane and hijack it. This is another area that with high technology like the one adopted by the United States, they should have been detected. It shows that somebody was sleeping on the job. With good security there will be measures to effectively reduce exposure to terrorist attack in United States and the world as a whole and prevent recruitment of attackers (Barreli, 2007).

Computerization of the War against Terrorism

The United States has embarked on measures aimed at integrating war against terrorism with other countries by the use of computers. This has enabled a free and reliable sharing of information and data about the probability of other attacks. The system that is in use now is called Saab’s Widely Integrated Systems Environment (WISE).

It is a system that gets information from other countries’ data base and uses it to establish measures that can fight against terrorism. This investment requires a lot of financial support and highly qualified personnel. The system also gives information to other integrated countries which come together to look for solutions that can be used to prevent other attacks.

The system at time fails or can be tempered with, this requires that there should be continuous upgrading and getting intelligence reports. In case there is a problem in the system, it should be diagnosed as soon as possible. Experts both in the system and intelligence gathering should be deployed. In most cases hackers of a system are people who know very well how the system works, this means that only a few trusted people should understand how it works. Sharing of intelligence is also very important (Barreli, 2007).

War Equipments

The country has further invested heavily on the purchase of modern equipments especially on motor vehicles with the capacity to operate on the terrain landscape.

There are war jets that have sensors that can detect bombs from long distances and inactivate them. There are also modern bomb detectors that have been deployed to assist in the fight; they include highly maintained sniffer dogs that are trained occasionally to ensure their effectiveness. More to this, the state has modern weapons and has embarked on the training of the military, currently highly beefed up.

It is not the equipments that have increased but the spending which have significantly gone higher. The U.S.A. has the largest military budget in the world, and no doubt has the most advanced war equipments. The security budget is expected to grow at a rate of 3% every year, it is estimated that by the year 2015/2016, the country will spend $26 billion. There are also plans whose implementation has already commenced; they are aimed at increasing the number of troops to at least two million in number.

Collaboration with Others

The world has become a global village as computers are increasingly connecting people. This has also enabled economic integrations in countries efforts to be economically stable. After the economic integrations have been attained, the next step from this should be political integration. This will assist in ensuring that the countries protect their partner from attacks.

There are countries that are known to have a large number of terrorists, for example Afghanistan. They should also be involved in the regional integrations. This is seen as the move that United States had when it facilitated economic integration between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

A recent example is the trade agreement that was signed on 18th July, 2010, between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the intention of the agreement is to facilitate trucks to travel along Pakistan to India. If the agreement is well utilized the three countries are more likely to work together for the welfare of the other not only economically but also politically. This will be a milestone in reducing attacks.

United States has entered into collaborations with other regional, international agencies, and countries to fight the menace. For instance it has joined hands with the Australian government and other countries to dialogue with Muslim countries to stop the terrorist attacks. It has also established a working affiliation with, Indonesia (which is considered to have the highest Muslim population), to fight terrorism. U.S.A. involved other countries after recognizing that the fight could only be won through collaboration and use non violent interventions.

Dialogue is also another way that the country has embarked on. U.S.A. is currently collaborating with China, being an economic power house, and Japan to help bringing sanctions to the terrorist’s known countries like North Korea and Iran. Japan is also in the front line working together with U.S.A. and China to fight terrorism. Efforts has also been concentrated in Africa since it lacks self defense mechanism, South Africa and Kenya are also included in plans to fight terrorism.

Collaboration with the developing African nations is basically aimed at training on the ways to fight the vice. In the recent terrorist attacks that involve the Somali’s high jacking ships in the ocean, Kenya has been in the forefront of negotiations on these attacks. Soldiers from the developing countries got a chance to train with the Americans; this is fully on the support of the government funds (Barreli, 2007).

Intelligence Gathering Team

The country has deployed people who are aimed to assist in the fight against terrorism. These are people who are highly trained in criminology as well as relevant data collection. The crime experts are not restricted to the country only but are sent to other countries for this service.

It is also important to recognize the effort that the country has embarked on in training the immigration officer’s on the ways to counter terrorisms. They are trained on the need to protect the country and are educated according to their qualification and role on the strategies that they should employ to detect the terror attack. In the entry points, may it be in the ports or those points that can be accessed using motor vehicle; the high intelligence team has been deployed and gathered information from those people entering the nation.

Patrols in the high seas are also a recent venture that the country has employed aimed at stopping a terror at the earliest time possible. These patrols are composed of the customs officers, the high intelligence teams and the police. They are armed enough to combat terror. The above measures have been successful; however there are concerns about their effectiveness.

The above are among the measures that have been taken by the country in their fight against terrorism, it is worth noting here that all the above are government expenditure. Governments get its finances from the people through taxes and so incase of any increase in the expenditure it is the common man who suffers.

The budget of the security has the greatest portion in the country at about 8% of the total budget and as noted earlier it is expected to grow at a rate of 3% each year and it will approximately reach $26billions in 2015/2016. There is no other source that the government has other than the public (Barreli, 2007).

Staffs Preparedness

An English saying says “failure to plan is planning to fail.” As much as an organization, company or country has the required resources from the people to the physical resources, nothing can be attained if the resources are not organized and planned in such a way that production can happen.

The success of the management is to a great extent measured by how well it is going to organize the available resources to attain quality and efficiency in its operation. In the case of a country, there is the need that the military and security forces should be well trained to ensure that they are alert at all times.

Any information that is of threat to the security should be treated with the importance that it deserves; at no one point should they be caught off guard. Just to be on the safe side, customs officers though they may not be in the military, should be trained on some of the basic ways of monitoring and detecting people. Surveillance and using of risk management tools to screen those who visit a country should be utilized.

Effects of Terrorism

The most immediate effect of an attack is the massive deaths and injuries that it causes to the lives of human beings and animals. However, these are not the major targets but only victims of circumstances. Once the media is exploited then the whole nation undergoes a transition stage as concentration is shifted from major developmental issues to those related to the victims affected, the losses incurred, and investigations as to what were the causes of attacks.

The economic development becomes stagnated and heavy financial losses are experienced. A lot of property is destroyed. Creation of wealth is when a country can effectively protect what it has for the benefit of the current and the future generations in the cases of terrorists attack then there is a reduced aggression in creation of wealth since nobody is aware when such an attack will occur again.

Depending with the kind of attack that is involved the effects are different. For example attacks by nuclear weapons are different from the effects of explosive bombs attack. In the case of nuclear attacks the effect is long-lasting. Fear of a subsequent attack is a long lasting. In the deaths that occurred as a result of September 11 attacks, of all the people who were in the hijacked planes died and those who were working in the building. Almost three thousand people including the nineteen hijackers met their untimely death.

The majority of the deaths were civilians from the United States and from other 70 nationalities; the number of casualties of over 2976. Today there are people who still are nursing these injuries. Other than the deaths that were instant or those that were as a result of injuries, there are other deaths that resulted because of diseases resulting from the smoke and dust. Lung cancer is one of the secondary causes that were as a result of the attack.

United States of America is a major player as a consumer and producer in the world. The purchasing power of the Americans was reduced and thus demand of exports and home produced goods reduced. This led to reduced gross domestic earning of the world. Companies closed down and trade suffered greatly.

After the attack there was a wide spread panic in the country and the world at large. The panic was a renewed one of the attack that had been made in 1998 in the Kenyan and Tanzanian United states embassies. The whole world felt that the security of the country was reduced. United States is the world’s greatest trader, after the panic, many countries feared that if they trade with the country, then they may become terrorist target.

The economic situation of the country deteriorated. As a result of the attack, there was a wide-spread panic in the country, many people were not willing to invest in the United States thus the economic growth was highly affected. This was not by citizens only but also by citizens of other countries.

The budget that was/is used for security purposes has drastically increased. The effect of this is the shift from other sector investments. It has been noted that since the focus has moved to security purposes some sectors in the economy are highly affected.

The Local Crime Rate

The local security has been overshadowed by this mind of the international terrorism concern. There are increasing crimes in United States that the police have not been able to avoid effectively.

The rate of police ratio to citizen stands at 2.09293 per 1,000 people. This number cannot protect the population adequately. The crime includes; murder, car stealing cases, bank forgery, drug trafficking, sexual assaults, and money counterfeiting. These are crimes that the police can protect the country from if they were given support that they require.

According to the 2003–04 DUCO statistics, approximately 88% of young detainees had used an illegal drug in the 6 months before their arrest, while 70% were under the influence of the illicit drugs at the time of offence.

The study also shows that juvenile detainee’s were10 times more likely than adolescents in the general population to use amphetamine and hallucinogens and 16 times more likely to use inhalants”. The focus on the terrorism has left the country with a threatened future. The focus has been so much that there are no plans to grow the budget of the country’s internal security.

This has left the citizens at the expense of the local criminals. The number of murders that happened in 2007 (which is the lowest recorded since 1993) stood at 230. This is a very huge figure when compared with the number of deaths by terror attack. The military should not be given the full focus at the expense of the local man. As much as in case of an attack the lives lost may be high, the small rates of death through local crime are higher. The police should be empowered to protect the common man against local criminals.

Economic Situation

The globe is now recovering from the world economic crisis that hit in the end of 2007. It is thought that world economic crisis originated from the United States of America, because the focus has shifted to terrorist attack.

United States has experienced reduction of foreign income and trade with other countries. As much as the country would like to have peaceful borders and assisting the developing countries to build more security features, I feel that what the developing countries need now is a boost in their economy so as they can feed the population.

The deaths that are as a result of hunger and malnutrition in these countries take the first priority in their development. One of the major impacts of the crisis is deterioration in the living standard, this is because many jobs were lost as trade among countries was affected negatively, and companies were forced to lay off workers. Families’ living standard deterioration brought psychological suffering.

Reduction on Capital Expenditure

As governments tried to finance its budget deficit, the main area that suffered was the developmental budget. Infrastructures were delayed and their budget sliced because of lack of funds. This led to a slowed development and increased poverty; this is also because the major focus is on terrorist attacks but not on investments in other areas of the economy.

Reduction in capital expenditure means that the country will suffer as a whole. Insurance and banking companies were largely affected and many are them that seek for bailing out by the government. The lending rate and money available for lending reduced. With an inactive financial crisis the world economy cannot grow. The confidence of the people to the government was reduced and political environment was unfavorable, an element that leads to leaping economies.

Health is another area that the country has suffered as a result. This is again because of the focus of government funds and the gasses that were produced in the attack. Although the country has a good medical system, there are some diseases that have remained a threat to her citizen.

Some have killed several people, and other made the lives of citizens miserable. Such diseases include; cancer, obesity, diabetes, and chronic diseases. They are diseases that can be effectively controlled, however no much campaigns have been implemented to address them since the focus has shifted to terrorist attack.

As a result of the attack, countries took different centre stages. This means that there are those countries that supported the attack and those who did not. As a result there was emergence of enemies among countries. The world relation that is of great importance for the general development of the world was affected.

Generally, the Christian countries and the Muslims countries were seen to take different stand on the issue. The Muslims were of the opinion that the attack was necessary and legitimate whereas Christian countries were against. International wars were affirmed, for instance, the United States pronounced war against Afghanistan. The declaration of war led to more destruction as attack was made to fish out terrorists. In their bit to fish out terrorist even innocent people were killed, the economy of Afghanistan was drastically affected.

Conclusion

Terrorism began in the 13th century during the time of the Jewish Zealots and Assassins. Terrorism is one of the major world concerns of late. There has been an increased attack in different countries for one reason or the other. September 11, attack by Al-Qaeda has one of the greatest damage in the history of the world.

It was made successful despite the advanced security systems in the United States. The effects are felt even today over nine years after the attack. It is important for a country to put adequate measures to protect its citizens against any form of terrorism attack. United States has put measures to ensure that her citizen are well protected, this measures as discussed above are both within the boundary and also outside the boundaries.

It has also collaborated with other countries in this act, as well as enforcing the developing country to assist them not to be vulnerable. As much as this is important, a balance need to be struck that will ensure that the campaigns and investment has not been done at the expense of the common man.

The budget should be sensible and easy to handle. It should also aim at assisting the developing countries to become reliable and they will curb terrorism by themselves. This is not a one country game and measures should be put in place for quick detection of substances at the earliest point of attack, physicians should develop modern detection facilities to assist in the fight. Countries should sign and abide to international conventions that discourage terrorism.

Reference List

Barreli, L. V. (2007). Prevention, preparedness and protection. New York: Nova science publishers

Chaliand, G. (2007). The History of Terrorism: from Antiquity to al Qaeda. Berkeley: University of California Press

Goodin, E. (2006). What’s wrong with terrorism? New York: wisely

Linden, E. V. (2007). Focus on Terrorism, Volume 9. Focus on Terrorism. New York: Nova Publishers

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, Thomas H. K.,& Lee H. H. (2004).The 9/11 Report: The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United State. New York: St. Martin’s Press

The events, which happened on September 11, 2001, shocked millions of people all over the world. Those terrible attacked turned out to be one of the darkest spots in the history of America. Lots of people lost their families and friends, the situation in America shocked every person. (Langley 22) There are many mysterious facts, which still remain unknown to people, some of them are: a commercial third airplane over Manhattan, lack of response from Pentagon’s side, failures of air defence, and immediate destruction of WTC towers.

It is known that commercial airplanes have no right to fly over Manhattan’s Towers at low altitudes. However, video observation proves that, during the attacks of September 11, another commercial jet was noticed nearby the Towers.

There are several theories concerning the role of that third plane over Manhattan. One of the most spread theories was that the jet provided the terrorists with the necessary observational data in order to carry out the attacks properly.

The eyewitnesses are afraid to admit what they saw that terrible day in order not to put under a thread the lives of their families and their own lives. Such reasons may be justified indeed; however, the government should take care of every citizen and clear up why those attacks happened. It is unfair that civilians spend each day being afraid that their lives may be ended suddenly and purposeless.

Of course, it is always possible to accuse someone and lay all blame. However, in order to provide society with patience and ability to go outside without any fear, the government should evaluate own policy and improve it taking into consideration different factors. American government has already failed to protect people against intercept hijackers, the results of those failures were that “more than 3000 children lost parents” in one day. (Coates et al vii)

There are several types of failures, which the government and FAA made. FAA failed to report about the possible attacks in order to try to prevent the attack or, at least, save the civilians. NORAD could easily scramble the airplanes, but they did not. The failure to intercept the hijackers because of low speed and to redeploy because of deferred reaction was also considerable for the report concerning the attacks of September 11.

Another point that is still under consideration is the possible reaction of Pentagon, their abilities, and their failure to repel the attacks. It was know that Pentagon was ready for any air attack, the only thing they had to do is to announce people about the possible threat from the air.

Unfortunately, on September 11, Pentagon did not fire any shot. Was it another fault of the government or just a mistake that cost so many lives? The discussion may be lasted for years; the only true fact is that Pentagon had a possibility to repulse the attacks but did not use the chance. It is difficult and even useless to analyze why they did that way and did not choose another one, their inactivity will be one of the most terrible mistake in the history.

Three towers of the World Trade Centre were demolished into several seconds after the attacks. The WTC buildings were created according to rather high standards, and were the “golden symbols of wealth in a hungry world.” (Burbach and Clarke 173) However, first, two airplanes struck the North Tower and, in several minutes, the South Tower, and both magnificent buildings were destroyed.

The point is that those two towers were not the only ones, which were destroyed during the attacks of September 11. The WTC 7 was destroyed as well, in spite of the fact that no airplanes struck that tower and security arrangement was on a really high level.

The peculiar feature of the Towers, that molten metal was spreading nearby the wreckage during several weeks after the events. It is still one of the most captivating mysteries about the September 11 events. It is unknown what may cause the creation of molten metal pools around the destroyed Towers. Could it happen because of modern components of the Towers? Or, was it because of the things on the boards of the planes? Can it be that Towers were already a kind of danger for society, the danger that was discovered because of the crash?

In fact, people did not have a chance to comprehend what caused the destruction of the WTC 7 and why molten metal pools suddenly appeared nearby the Towers. Within some time, all the evidences at WTC sites were perfectly destroyed by the federal government. It is unknown whether such immediate destruction of evidences was taken because of unbelievable care about civilians or because of the very government and their mistakes that could not but be noticeable.

Lots of people wanted to know how and why the Towers were destroyed, what the reason for their sudden collapse was. The government did not want to demonstrate their weaknesses and forbad any investigations nearby the WTC Towers. Many questions needed many answers; however, people did not get any of them. They had nothing to do but just face the fact that the attack happen, lots of people were dead, and nothing can return their lives.

September 11, 2001 started as an ordinary day for America and the rest of the world. No one could even think that this very day will be the last one in their lives. After that day, so many people lost their families and hopes to live happy and safe. The government tried to hide numerous facts, but with time, these unpleasant facts become known and upset for people. We have nothing to do now but accept the truth and live with it.

Works Cited

Burbach, Roger and Clarke, Ben. September 11 and the U. S. War: Beyond the Curtain of Smoke. City Lights Books, 2002.

Coates, Susan, W., Rosenthal, Jane, L., and Schechter, Daniel, S. September 11: Trauma and Human Bonds, Routledge, 2003.

Langley, Andrew. September 11: Attack on America. Compass Point Books, 2006.

The 9/11 terror attack that occurred in America remains memorable to many people in the world. Terrorism is termed an act of attack by a group of individuals to a particular society, with the main aim of threatening or rather causing a sense of fear to the target community.

The forms of attacks always have very great impacts to the targeted community, thus distorting every ongoing activity. Moreover, whenever a terrorist event occurs, it acts as an alert to the target community, as well as others, about their preparedness to counteract a disaster.

Hence, one or more lessons can easily be drawn from a former attack and it would be crucial to help counteract a future occurrence of another attack, or even assist in preparedness of the community for action during similar future attacks.

This discussion is aimed at investigating the 9/11 attacks’ occurrence. Additionally, it will help to establish some of the lessons that were learned from the terror attacks. It is also essential to note that the intelligence community that learned the lessons has taken and applied such lessons in other recent attacks, as well as other attempted attacks.

Therefore, it will be crucial to find out how the community has applied these lessons, to either prevent or counteract any other similar attacks and whether they have learned to relate well with one another, as well as whether they have succeeded in their endeavors (Wysong, 2007).

The 9/11 terror attacks

The great and massive attacks by terrorists who targeted the world trade center occurred in the morning of September 11 in the year 2001. The attack not only affected the Americans, but also, the whole world, causing a lot of fear. It was suspected to have taken the form of Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks in the sense that the Al-Qaeda group had not always been in good terms with the Americans.

The report of the investigations conducted by the Newborn research personnel (Griffin, 2009) indicated that there had been prior plans by the terrorist group on the procedure of attacking the United States, including her capital city.

The terrorists hijacked four passenger Jet airliners that were meant for commercial services and crashed them at various destinations; the first and second jets crashed on the north and south towers of the world trade center respectively, thee third crashed on pentagon house, and the fourth jet targeted the White House (Griffin, 2009).

According to Bodden (2007), the attacks remain fresh in the minds of many people, more so due to the fact that many lives were lost, which included civilians and military officials. Therefore, the 9/11 attacks left a legacy that all Americans have in mind up to date.

Moreover, several reasons were behind the attacks on the United States by the terrorists. One, the attackers were angered by the availability of the U.S military group in Saudi Arabia, which was a devastating factor to the Al-Qaeda. Again, the terrorists were against the support that the United States gave to the Israelites, thus plotted a conspiracy.

Moreover, the al-Qaeda was suspicious about America’s participation in the sanction against the Iraqis. Nevertheless, this terror attack played a major role since the Americans learned various lessons from which future prevention or counteraction ideas can be drawn (Bodden, 2007).

Lessons learned from the 9/11 terror attacks

The 9/11 attacks have taught the Americans, as well as all other people in the world vital lessons. A countless number of lessons can be outlined from the 9/11, but some of them have been deemed more crucial, since their implications can be used as sources of strategies for counteracting attacks.

First, the Americans learned that unity is strength. The nineteen hijackers from the Al-Qaeda group might seem too few to hijack four jets, but they possessed immense skills that allowed them to terrorize the whole state, leading to loss of many lives.

In addition, they were all united by a common spirit while attacking a country that had several states operating independently. Thus, the lesson learned in this event is that oneness or togetherness among states and citizens would be vital in order to counteract any future attack.

Secondly, they realized that security plays a major role in a country; in this case, tight security before the occurrence of the attack would have allowed the detection of the schemed attacks early enough.

Security would be ensured in terms of personnel as well as other security devices that would detect any passenger holding an illegal firearm in the planes (Wysong, 2007).

Moreover, according to Posner (2005), Americans learned that massive immigration with no set strict policies would also be a source of such troubles, since the attackers must have come into the country peacefully to fulfill their motives.

Furthermore, communication is very important among people living together, since it is easier for people to make alerts early enough. Therefore, embracing modern and advanced communication technology is vital for security of the country, more so when such technology is accessible to all people.

More important, they realized that offices or administration blocks of a particular institution should not be centralized, instead, they should be separated and housed in different locations; this is after realizing that some organizations were left without any references after the collapse of the trade centre (Posner, 2005).

Application of the lessons from 9/11 to the recent terror attacks by the intelligence community

Due to the implications of the 9/11 terror attack, the intelligence community has taken the lessons learned from it seriously, and embarked on utilizing them in the recent attacks successfully.

The result of this is the detection of various attempted attacks and thwarting them before they actually happen, thus the reason why America has not experienced another terrible attack.

The first step that was taken by the intelligence community entailed uniting all the United States communities regardless of their residence states. This was a crucial step to overcome internal conflict such that, if any state suspects the occurrence of an attack, it would inform the others and all would unite to overcome the threats (Dixon and Stern, 2004).

Secondly, since security is deemed as an important factor that can overcome a disaster, the intelligence is always very alert. Security is not only ensured by those in the military grounds but also by all citizens, wherever they are.

In other words, involvement of all people in security matters plays a crucial role in supplementing the structural security plans.

In the recent years, aircraft security has also been ensured, including the installation of new facilities that are able to detect any form of a weapon that the passengers are in possession of before they board the flights (Posner, 2005).

On the other hand, many states always support immigration from one country to another. Recently, tight policies that govern immigration have been put forward by the government in all states to discourage illegal immigration.

These policies involve ensuring that all immigrants have valid and legal documents, as well as ensuring that the immigrants have are approved by the state for the purpose of reference in the event an attach occurs. More so, the community embraced the idea of modern global communication.

In this case, communication structures and devices have been improved, a factor that has contributed to terrorists being detected even before they perform their mission.

There have been rampant cases whereby terrorists have been nabbed while attempting to make good their intentions, a sign of success by the intelligence community from the lessons learned from the 9/11 attacks.

Furthermore, the intelligence community has been offering advice to large companies, dissuading them from consolidating their administration blocks in one building for the sake of their security.

Thus, the intelligence community has been able to succeed in applying the lessons learned from the 9/11 attacks into the recent fight against terrorism, since no such a serious attack has been reported since the 9/11, only the attempted ones where terror victims have been seized but rescued successfully (Jet magazine 2003).

Conclusion

The occurrence of the 9/11 terror attacks is recorded in history as one that claimed the most lives and caused catastrophic damages. It shook the hearts of many people around the world. At the same time, it contributed to the intelligence community grasping a lot, thus looking for ways to counteract a future attack.

This is in addition to realizing the best structures that should be put in place for the sake of ensuring security to the people. Moreover, the lessons learned from the attacks have been successfully utilized in various recently attempted terrorist attacks. Thus, the 9/11 attack is one factor that has played a great role in the lives of the Americans (Jet magazine 2003).

References

Bodden, V. (2007). The 9/11 Terror Attacks. Minnesota: The Creative Company publishers.

Dixon, L. and Stern, R. (2004). Compensation for losses from the 9/11 attacks. CA: Rand Corporation publishers.

Griffin, D. (2009). The mysterious collapse of World Trade Center 7: why the final official report about 9/11 is unscientific and false. Massachusetts: Interlink Books publishers.

Jet magazine. (2003). The weekly source of African American political and entertainment news. Vol. 104, No. 14. Johnson Publishing Company.

Posner, R. (2005). Preventing surprise attacks: intelligence reform in the wake of 9/11. Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield publishers.

Wysong, J (2007). Eleven lessons learned from 9/11. Web.

In relation to the September 11, 2011 attacks, people from all over the world are still in similar dilemma. The big question is whether to believe the explanation being offered by United States government. Most people still do not perceive how this tragedy could happen. The media, both print and electronic have been on this case, trying to establish what exactly happened prior to the tragedy.

Much has been written by scholars but in all these cases, the assertions made by the government that the tragedy was caused by terrorists allied to Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda have been the least of their concerns. In fact, sources reveal that most people believe the contrary that is the allegation that the US government initiated the attacks as a strategy of gaining control of oil in the Middle East.

This has attracted a lot of controversies in all kinds of media such as the television, internet and newspapers. New intriguing theories are being developed everyday concerning this issue, making it more difficult to know what is true and what is not. What was initially an inquiry into the truth of the matter has been converted to intimidating explanations of the strategies to attain world sovereignty.

These ideas are developed from the pictures of the tragedy especially that of the plane striking the towers and the explanations given by eye witnesses. Regardless of all these controversies, there are still those people who have hauled this boundary and gotten into serious investigations of the whole issue, in a rational manner.

Popular mechanics is one of these organizations which brought together nine qualified researchers to establish the validity of these conspiracy theories. It also employed many other professionals to assist in the research, in the team comprising of military personnel, engineers, aviation specialists and intelligence officials.

This research brought about a debate which was based on the quest to bring out the reality of the 9/11 tragedy coupled with supporting evidence obtained through scientific analysis and scrutinized through rational reasoning. It was discovered that most of the theories put forth previously were based on errors and misconceptions made during reporting.

This however can be sidelined since they were as a result of the confusion experienced on that day. Other opinions are considered as thoughtful attempts to mislead the people. There are yet other opinions that cannot be neglected since they give some evidence on the invalidity of the government’s explanation. No one has however come out to speak the perceived truth despite not believing the explanation offered.

The debate is surrounded by uncertainties, since both sides have doubts surrounding the events but none has mustered the courage to speak what they consider as the truth. Some of these conspiracy theories include the previously mentioned oil case, the government’s foreign policy, involvement of the intelligence officials including CIA, corporate imperialism as well as world politics.

None of these theories has however been supported effectively, making them just that, theories. There are also other arguments related to the events on the ground such as the temperature of the fire, laws of physics in relation to the collapse, and melting steel but none of these still bring out the real suspicions.

The biggest problem faced by these investigations is that the number of theories is increasing exponentially especially on the internet. This debate is therefore aimed at clearing the air and separating myths from facts in an attempt to come up with the truth. Of all the theories, it has been impossible to get evidence against the theory that the United States government has something it is not telling its citizens.

This debate has however tried at its level best to remain neutral at least until they get substantial evidence. Everyone is therefore being called upon to bring out what they perceive as the truth in this issue in order to bring the controversy to an end.

Abstract

Survivors of traumatic incidences may exhibit symptoms of stress and depression. The mounting menace of global terrorism has facilitated the need for scholars to research on the impacts of such traumatic incidences on the health of the victims. Natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes are also examples of traumatic incidences experienced by people across the world and they can equally cause mental and physical health complications. This research paper seeks to contribute to the available literature on the post-traumatic stress associated with the aforementioned forms of traumatic incidences by exploring the common effects that such occurrences cause to the survivors. The paper will analyse the 9/11 attacks and its consequences on the health of the survivors.

Introduction

Traumatic incidents are quite common in the contemporary times. Terrorism has been on the rise in the past few decades and it has increased the number of traumatic cases reported annually. Survivors of such traumatic incidences are at a high risk of suffering from stress and depression (Neria, DiGrande & Adams, 2011). It is estimated that roughly two thirds of people across the world pass through a traumatic experience in their lifetime (Ursano & Norwood, 2008). In the US, about one fifth of people are likely to experience a traumatic incidence annually.

Even though analogous global data is inaccessible, the data available indicates that a large proportion of people across the world have ever experienced a terrorist attack, mandatory relocation, or a crash, which is an indication that the general prevalence of experience to traumatic incidences globally is higher as compared to that of the United States. This research paper will explore the response by the community to traumatic experiences. The paper shall explore the health impacts of the 9/11 attacks and the response thereof by the affected communities.

Literature review

The consequences of natural or manmade disasters go further than just the material damage (Ysseldyk, Matheson & Anisman, 2011). Stress and other emotional disorders are likely to occur due to tragic incidences. The emotional tax can result in an extensive range of powerful, perplexing, and occasionally fear-provoking emotions (Neria, DiGrande & Adams, 2011).

It requires time to clear the wreckage and mend the physical harm of a disaster. Similarly, it takes time for victims of a traumatic incident to recuperate their emotional equilibrium and restructure their life (Victoroff, Adelman & Matthews, 2012). Research indicates that different people react disparately to traumatic events though there is a commonality in treatment. Literature is rich on the approaches needed to treat adverse emotional conditions. Listed below are some of the ways that can be used in the management of the psychological and emotional ailments arising from tragic incidences.

Management of emotional aftermath of traumatic events

Both natural and manmade disasters such as floods, earthquakes, terrorist attacks, and nuclear meltdowns are highly stressful and they equally affect both the victims and the bystanders (Ysseldyk, Matheson & Anisman, 2011). Such traumatic incidences may take away a person’s sense of security, thus making them vulnerable to stress and anxiety. Traumatic incidences affect both the victims and the bystanders equally and management of emotional disorders is thus inevitable (Eidelson, D’Alessio & Eidelson, 2003).

The management of the conditions commences with the recognition that different people react heterogeneously to disasters and other traumatic events. Avoiding repetitive thinking of the traumatic event and discussing the same with psychological experts and clergies may go a long way in fighting the resulting stress. The second way to manage psychological and emotional disorders emerging from traumatic incidences is through assuring the victims of their security (Ursano & Norwood, 2008). The victims have a tendency of assuming recurrence of the incidences, which instils fear among them.

The signs of stress among the victims of a traumatic incidence present themselves in numerous ways. Some people exhibit signs of anxiety, numbness, confusion, guilt, and despair. Such signs usually fade with time as the memories slowly fade. However, due to differences in response amongst different people, the signs may be more intense in some people than in others.

In such persistent cases, intervention by medical practitioners and religious leaders is essential (Ysseldyk, Matheson & Anisman, 2011). Such intervention is necessary when the signs of posttraumatic stress go for 6 weeks without getting better (Neria, DiGrande & Adams, 2011). Expert intervention may also be perpetuated by the inability of the affected people to attend to their routine duties, terrifying memories, nightmares, flashbacks, or suicidal attempts.

Given the emotional impact of traumatic incidences to both the survivors and bystanders, it is imperative to assist the victims to regain their sense of normalcy (Jhangiani, 2010). Even though stress responses may seem excessive, and thus result in distress, they normally do not turn out to be chronic predicaments. The majority of victims of traumatic incidences get well from even modest stress responses in between 6 to 16 months after a gory death incident.

Victims of traumatic incidences should be encouraged to involve themselves actively in their daily chores. Active involvement in such tasks will help to divert the attention of the affected and help fight stress (Eidelson, D’Alessio & Eidelson, 2003). Research regarding psychological responses to terrorism is continuing in a bid to come up with effective ways of dealing with stress that befalls most people after traumatic incidences. Researchers and medical experts have proposed the use of cognitive behavioural therapy in the treatment of stress and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to trauma.

Psychological impact of the 9/11 attacks

Numerous researches have been conducted in New York to establish the actual experiences of victims of the attacks (Jhangiani, 2010).Researchers of the post 9/11 attacks response reveal that most survivors of the attack exhibited signs of stress and anxiety (Pollard, 2011).

The Journal of Traumatic Stress, which preceded the 10^th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, revealed the psychological experiences of the survivors. The journal’s publishers based their information on a research conducted on college students and observed that even persons not directly involved in the attacks suffered from stress and depression (Neria, DiGrande & Adams, 2011).

This observation is a clear indication that such traumatic incidents affect both the directly involved persons as well as bystanders. Research conducted in New York by Ivy Tso, a psychologist, revealed that close to 40% of the city residents had signs of stress and anxiety (Jhangiani, 2010). The research further revealed that 8-10 percent of the city residents exhibited symptoms of PTSD, which is a secondary effect of stress. Just like the Journal of Traumatic Stress, this research was conducted on university students situated in Boston (Pollard, 2011).

Conventionally, most people who suffered from psychological disorders after the 9/11 attacks did not come from New York. It is reported that watching news on television caused stress and anxiety to a great number of individuals not at the site of terror. The most common type of psychological complications that came due to the 9/11 attacks is the PTSD, which presents itself in different ways including troubled sleep, uncontrolled tempers, and emotional numbness (Ursano & Norwood, 2008).

Interventions to post 9/11 victims compared with the literature

Conducting debriefing sessions

Debriefing sessions refer to guidance conducted by psychologists in which the victims of disasters are afforded a chance to express their feelings concerning their conditions (Walsh, 2007). Debriefing has for a long time been the first step in the management of stress-related ailments in the US and the 9/11 case was not an exception. Persons who were either directly or indirectly involved in the New York’s incident were afforded a chance to speak of their experiences (Jhangiani, 2010).

The assumption behind conducting debriefing sessions is that the victims feel encouraged when they share their experiences with fellow victims. Even though the topic on the effectiveness of debriefing sessions in treatment of psychological and emotional disorders has stirred heated debate, it has been used in the management of stress in the US for quite a long time. Debriefing sessions conducted by the US psychologists are consistent with the available literature that suggests the effectiveness of the same in the treatment of psychological conditions.

Active involvement

Active participation and commitment to one’s daily chores may help to reduce stress and anxiety among the affected individuals (Galea, Nandi & Vlahov, 2005). Generally, the pervasiveness of PTSD has a tendency to decline progressively in the months and years after a distressing incident (Walsh, 2007). This scenario was true for the Americans who suffered from stress following the 9/11 incident. Individuals who were actively involved in their day-to-day tasks quickly recovered from the condition. A study conducted in New York, “the attacks’ site, indicates that the rates of PTSD amongst the wide-ranging population reduced from estimated 5 percent in the year of attacks to about 3.8 percent in a period of two years” (Ursano & Norwood, 2008, p. 74).

The study also established that most people who were directly involved in the attacks including the first respondents had soon recovered from the condition. Conversely, rescuers who immediately retired after the incident exhibited serious signs of PTSD. In reference to a research published in the Public Health Reports, about 22 percent of firefighters retirees who were directly involved in the 9/11 traumatic incident continued to experience stress three and seven years following the incident (Norris, Stevens, Pfefferbaum, Wyche & Pfefferbaum, 2008).

Security assurance

As noted earlier, providing assurance of security to the affected individuals is another way of fighting stress among the victims (Jhangiani, 2010). Victims of traumatic incidences tend to worry more about the recurrence of the incidence than their current condition. Assuring the affected of their security is a major achievement in the fight against stress-related conditions. The 9/11 incident led to the killing of the Al Qaida’s leader, Osama bin Laden. His death was a major boost to the fight against stress amongst the 9/11 incident as the victims were rest assured of their security.

Treatment

Following the bill passed by the congress, the US government was compelled to afford treatment to the affected individuals. The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act set aside 4.3 billion dollars to cater for the treatment expenses for the victims of the tragic incident (Dimen, 2002). Even though the bill covers government officials who include firefighters, police officers, employees of the New York City medical examiner’s office, it was a major step towards fighting stress-related illnesses among the 9/11 victims.

Conclusion

Coping with both natural and manmade disasters can sometimes be disturbing as it may have negative impacts on the subjects. The impacts not only affect the survivors, but also by the rescue teams and clinicians. Research into the impact of traumatic incidences on the victims indicates certain commonalities in individual response to traumatic cases of different nature and it suggests that by comprehending these partly conventional patterns of response, patient outcomes could be improved. The available literature emphasises on the need to increase disaster awareness coupled with preparedness and prevention.

References

Brown, M., Beutler, E., Breckenridge, N., & Zimbardo, P. (2007). Psychology of terrorism. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Dimen, M. (2002). Day 2/Month 2: Wordless/The words to say it. Psychoanalytic dialogues, 12(3), 451-455.

Eidelson, J., D’Alessio, R., & Eidelson, I. (2003). The impact of September 11 on psychologists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 34(2), 144 -150.

Galea, S., Nandi, A., & Vlahov, D. (2005). The epidemiology of post-traumatic stress disorder after disasters. Epidemiologic Reviews, 27(1), 78-91

Jhangiani, R. (2010). Psychological concomitants of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks: A review. Behavioural Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, 2(1), 38-69.

Neria, Y., DiGrande, L., & Adams, G. (2011). Posttraumatic stress disorder following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks: A review of the literature among highly exposed populations. American Psychologist, 66(6), 429 – 46.

Norris, H., Stevens, P., Pfefferbaum, B., Wyche, F., & Pfefferbaum, R. (2008). Community resilience as a metaphor, theory, set of capacities, and strategy for disaster readiness. American journal of community psychology, 41(1-2), 127-150.

Pollard, J. (2011). Seen, seared and sealed: Trauma and the visual presentation of September 11. Health, risk & society, 13(1), 81-101.

Schein, A., Spitz, I., Burlingame, M., Muskin, R., & Vargo, S. (2006). Psychological effects of catastrophic disasters: Group approaches to treatment. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press.

Sundelius, B., & Grönvall, J. (2004). Strategic dilemmas of biosecurity in the European Union. Biosecurity and bioterrorism: biodefense strategy, practice, and science, 2(1), 17-23.

Ursano, J., & Norwood, E. (2008). Trauma and disaster responses and management. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publications.

Vázquez, C., Pérez-Sales, P., & Matt, G. (2006). Post-traumatic stress reactions following the March 11, 2004 terrorist attacks in a Madrid community sample: A cautionary note about the measurement of psychological trauma. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 9(1), 61-74.

Victoroff, J., Adelman, R., & Matthews, M. (2012). Psychological factors associated with support for suicide bombing in the Muslim diaspora. Political Psychology, 33(6), 791-809.

Walsh, F. (2007). Traumatic loss and major disasters: Strengthening family and community resilience. Family process, 46(2), 207-227.

Ysseldyk, R., Matheson, K., & Anisman, H. (2011). Coping with identity threat: The role of religious orientation and implications for emotions and action intentions. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 3(2), 132.

Appendix

Fighting stress and fear among the victims of traumatic incidents can be an arduous task. The mounting menace of global terrorism has facilitated the need for scholars to research on the impacts of such traumatic incidences on the health of the affected. Natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes are also examples of traumatic incidences experienced by people across the world and they can equally cause mental and physical health complications (Eidelson, D’Alessio & Eidelson, 2003).

The most affected persons are those directly affected by the incident such as the injured. Others such as rescue teams and healthcare providers are secondary parties and they can equally suffer emotional trauma. The media has been accused of increasing the fear and stress among individuals and citizens of various countries, since most media stations air news accompanied by graphic pictures and at times, they are disturbing.

This essay explored deeply how victims of traumatic incidences, whether primary or secondary are affected emotionally by such frightening incidents. The paper also explored possible strategies that may be used in treatment of severe conditions involving stress. The paper examined matters ranging from the scientific basis of posttraumatic depression response to the psychosocial and illusory structure of terror and other calamities ranging from unsystematic acts of aggression to warfare. The research unveils certain similarities in human reactions to disasters of varying magnitude and it holds that comprehending these partly conventional patterns of response can greatly affect patient outcome.

Based on ample examination of the available literature, the paper suggests that disaster intercession strategies should stress on the acknowledgment of the emotional impacts of trauma as well as preparedness and prevention. The majority of victims of traumatic incidences get well from even modest stress responses between 6 to 16 months after a gory death incident. Victims of traumatic incidences should be encouraged to involve themselves actively in their daily chores.

Normal emotional responses to traumatic events

Traumatic incidences instil fear and anxiety on the victim. The effect on the affected can be either short term or long term. Signs of emotional hardships may present in a number of ways to both the Survivors and bystanders, viz. shock and disbelief, fear of recurrences, sadness especially if the incident resulted in deaths, and lastly a feeling of helplessness (Eidelson, D’Alessio & Eidelson, 2003). Immediate symptoms of fear after a traumatic event include trembling, cold sweats, pounding heart, and rapid breathing (Jhangiani, 2010). If stress and emotional imbalances are not managed in time, they may result in complications in the end.

Inasmuch as traumatic incidences affect communities negatively, it may also have some positive results in some cases. A case in point is the 1974 tornado in Xenia (Neria, DiGrande & Adams, 2011). The majority of survivors in the aforementioned case admitted that they had learnt new and innovative means to handle similar cases in the future. Disasters are also said to bring a community together in pursuance of a specific goal, which, in most cases, involves executing strategies aimed at deterring the recurrence of similar incidences.

The two examples given above indisputably demonstrate positive impacts in the aftermath of a traumatic incidence. The aforementioned idea has been alluded to as ‘posttraumatic growth’ by a section of scholars and it is analogous to the popular benefited response described in the combat trauma prose (Jhangiani, 2010).

The September 11 attacks

The 9/11 attacks define terrorist attacks that occurred in New York in the wake of September 11, 2001. The gory incident that Al Qaeda, which is a self-confessed terrorist group, claimed responsibility and it left over 3,000 people dead including both civilians and security officers and properties worth billions of money destroyed (Ursano & Norwood, 2008). The attackers were on a suicide mission and they accomplished it through crashing four planes, viz. the American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 77, and the United Airlines Flight 93 (Jhangiani, 2010). Each of the four planes was used to bomb a specific business building, thus causing great damages.

The first two were crashed at North and South towers respectively, while the last two were crashed at the Pentagon and Washington, D.C respectively. Al-Qaida, the allegedly involved group, denied responsibility at the time only to change later and say that it had been involved in the attacks. The motive behind the attacks was to compel the US to withdraw the support that it had accorded Israel and the subsequent withdrawal of its troops from Saudi Arabia (Eidelson, D’Alessio & Eidelson, 2003). In addition, the group required the US to withdrawal its sanctions against Iraq. Records indicate that about 125 American troops perished in the incident (Ursano & Norwood, 2008). The attacks caused trauma amongst the survivors, families, and other bystanders.

A new kind of psychological first aid

Up to the time of the 9/11 attacks, the US had in place a strategy that emphasised the importance of conducting critical incident stress debriefing to get insight on the people’s psychological feelings after a traumatic incident (Schein, Spitz, Burlingame, Muskin & Vargo, 2006). However, the strategy has drawn criticism from psychological experts who have alleged that the sessions only serve the purpose of increasing stress amongst the affected victims.

The opponents of the debriefing sessions also cite brevity of such sessions in providing effective solutions to the stress that befalls most people after such incidences (Sundelius & Grönvall, 2004). Due to the issues raised by critics, the US has dropped the so-called critical incident stress debriefing in favour of ‘psychological first aid’ (Vázquez, Pérez-Sales & Matt, 2006). The psychological first aid is an extension of the critical incident stress debriefing and it allows not only the victims of traumatic incidents to participate in the talks, but also their relatives (Brown, Beutler, Breckenridge & Zimbardo, 2007).

What is Trauma?

Trauma can well be understood from different perspectives including physical harm or injuries inflicted on a person or a group of persons. Emotional trauma is a psychologically excruciating, appalling, nerve-racking, and every so often life-ominous occurrence (including viewing events) that may engross bodily injuries. Emotional trauma does not only appear when physical injuries occur, but it can also appear devoid of such injuries. Instances of emotional trauma comprise natural calamities, bodily or sexual violence, and terror campaign (Sundelius & Grönvall, 2004).

Natural disasters, for instance, typhoons, earthquakes, and droughts can cause deaths and wipe out homes or entire communities. The aforementioned calamities may cause solemn bodily and psychosomatic injuries. Violent acts directed at a person or a group of persons may also cause trauma among the affected. The 9/11 attacks are just examples of the most serious traumatic events in the contemporary world. Mass assassinations in institutions of higher learning and physical/sexual attacks are other common types of traumatic events across the world (Ursano & Norwood, 2008). Research indicates that such distressing events terrorise a community’s sense of security and they can influence a person’s judgment.

Effects of such traumatic incidences can be either instantaneous or deferred. Responses to trauma vary in sternness and they cover an extensive range of actions and reactions. Infants with inborn mental challenges, who have had traumatic experiences earlier in their childhood, or whom their guardians have neglected may be more responsive to trauma (Eidelson, D’Alessio & Eidelson, 2003). Recurrently experienced reactions amongst infants after a traumatic event include diminished trust and increased panic of similar events.

After a trauma, the victims may exhibit varied responses. The responses are more likely experienced by first-hand witnesses of the events as well as bystanders (Eidelson, D’Alessio & Eidelson, 2003). Many responses can be from individuals, places, or objects linked with the traumatic incidences. In some cases, responses to particular incident may vary greatly from one person to another.

People are generally astonished that responses to trauma can go for longer periods than expected. It may require weeks, months, and sometimes even a year or a period longer than that. Traumatic responses can be less severe if interventions are made in time. Such interventions include help and support provided by relatives and close friends.

The support of family members and friends comes in handy during this period. Unfortunately, such people are untrained in the areas of deadline with psychological trauma, and thus they end up complicating the situation by adopting ‘get-over-it’ attitude. This approach is flawed for traumatized individuals, as they might end up becoming more stressed. Therefore, the fact that family members are helpful and their support is indispensable, they should watch what to say to victims of trauma.

The majority of psychologists have argued that individuals, cluster, or family-based counselling sessions are supportive and they cite the Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) as the most effective form of therapy (Ursano & Norwood, 2008). Some scholars have also suggested the use of Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy in providing care and support to the affected groups. The most important aspect of the aforementioned therapeutic methods is connection and support to the victims.

Introduction

On September 11, 2001, a well planned and a devastating attack was directed to the United States of America. An Islamic extremist group called al Qaeda was responsible for these attacks. These attacks were a blow to the economic and the business fabric of the U.S., and as a result, of the world.

Despite the fact that the U.S. economy was slowing in the months prior to this incident, the consequences of the terrorist act tipped the economy further into depression. The tourism and the travel industry were among the severely affected by September 11, but the industries are recovering.

Background information about the disaster

The terrorist attacks which took place on September 11, 2001, usually referred to as the 9/11 attacks, were a sequence of attacks in which suicide bombers driven by religious fundamentalism and the hatred for the U.S., targeted the country’s citizens. That day, nineteen terrorists linked to the al Qaeda terrorist organization hijacked four commercial planes and every team was composed of an experienced pilot.

The pilots of two of these airlines headed them for the Twin Towers in New York. The third airline was directed towards to the Pentagon while the fourth one was crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Because of this disaster, 2973 individuals lost their lives and no one knows the whereabouts of twenty-four individuals until today.

Economic effects arising from 9/11

Major economic effects were felt after the 9/11 suicide attacks. The initial shock made the worldwide stock markets to drop significantly. The opening of the New York Stock did was hindered after the first attack, and activities for the day were postponed after the second attack.

The stock exchanged remained closed for a week. The London Stock Exchange and others were also closed. Gold prices, oil prices, and oil prices all spiked upwards. The Federal Reserve increased its lending to financial institutions in the U.S. to undertake uncleared credit payments.

Other sectors of the economy such as the insurance, agriculture, small businesses, and airlines were also affected. The insurance industry was severely affected following September 11 attacks. This is because of the huge costs involved and the unexpected change of events. The high number of deaths and extensive damage to infrastructure resulted in a massive infrastructure/casualty claim in history. The loss was approximated to be $40 billion.

Consequently, shares of most insurance companies reduced by over ten percent. Prior to 9/11, the agricultural sector was starting to pick up from years of low returns. However, in the aftermath of 9/11, the sector experienced major losses due to delayed deliveries into both the domestic and the international market.

The revenues of the agricultural sector are largely dependent on the quantity of exports made and the cost of inputs such as fuel and fertilizer. The changing geopolitical situations in the aftermath of the suicide attacks significantly affected the U.S. agricultural sector.

The September 11 catastrophe devastated up to 18,000 businesses, a significant number being small businesses, which were situated in and around World Trade Center. In the aftermath of the incident, government actions, for example, closure of airports, and consumer reactions, for example, reduced travelling worsened the condition of the vulnerable small businesses. Small businesses have insufficient cash reserves and are especially vulnerable to shocks and losses as opposed to large companies.

Effects of 9/11 on tourism and travel industry

The use of civilian airplanes as assault vehicles to cause destruction on the U.S. has no precedent in the history of the airline industry. That is why their use shook the confidence of many individuals regarding air travel (Harris, para.1; Reuters). An increasing number of visitors started to avoid popular tourist destinations as most of them became too frightened to travel.

Many tourists became cautious of busy places like theme parks and big cities. Following the attacks, a large number of travelers took swift action to cancel their flights while others made up their minds to postpone big trips. The September 11 affected the tourism and the airline industry in the U.S. and around the world as people became too frightened to board an airplane and travel (Cole, 54; Shackley, 120).

The tourism industry in Britain, for example, was affected since travelers did not want to go to the country for fears that it was the next terrorists’ target. Hotel bookings in Britain recorded a sharp drop in attendance and the visits to the country’s local attractions reduced significantly. This is because individuals usually do not want to travel to places where can be targeted by terrorist.

The demand by travelers for hotel rooms and a number of other travel-related services plummeted considerably. Many travel agencies had to deal with situations when the supply far exceeded the demand. For instance, the aviation industry had to tackle the issue of many empty seats on its flights by lowering both the price and the supply of their product. Therefore, the industry strategized to lower the price that passengers pay per ticket and reduce the number of air travels.

Cutting back on supply and price meant that the aviation industry required less labor. The Air Transport Association (ATA) estimates that the airline industry lost $1.4 billion in returns when commercial flights were cancelled for four days after the attacks due to security reasons.

As a result, the industry had to lay off a good number of its employees (Eaton, para 12; Bonham et al.). During the first one hundred days after 9/11, 273,000 jobs were lost and one year later, over 359,000 employees were dismissed from their positions throughout the United States.

A number of airline and tourism companies made their workers redundant offered them vacations without proper payments. This is the outcome of the airline and tourism industries not making any profits after the terrorist attacks (Loose, para.1; Homan).

There was thirty percent reduction in holiday bookings and flight consolidators had to deal with sixty percent reduction in bookings. For example, the British Airways laid off 7,000 staff members and reduced the provision of its services by ten percent. Out of these number, 5,300 employees who were serving as cabin crew or support staff members were dismissed from their positions.

With a reduced amount of disposable income, the laid-off employees were obliged to cut down on their spending. The demand for other products and services were also reduced. This trend set off similar spirals in other industries. Alternatively, the workers who were not dismissed were frightened of being dismissed, so they too cut down on their expenses.

The aviation industry lowered the demand for the different products they required. For instance, the demand for in-flight meals and airline equipment drastically reduced. Thus, the poor performance of the aviation industry affected other related industries in the sector.

For example, the company Rolls Royce that produces engines for airplanes axed a number of its employees after 9/11 because many airlines were not introducing new airplanes into their fleet.After 9/11, the various travel markets were affected in varying degrees (Sharpley, 20). To begin with, the number of tourists coming to the United States reduced by more than five million in 2001, and expenditure reduced by up to $ 10 billion.

Generally, in the short term international trips were impaired more than domestic trips as most people restricted movements to and from the U.S. Many people started to prefer short-haul travel destinations to long-haul travel destinations because of security reasons. People kept off from travelling to and from terrorism prone areas such as the Middle East and some parts of Asia.

The tragedy also had consequences on the different travel segments. The business travel and meeting markets experienced instant distractions. This is because the months of September and October are usually the high seasons for such trips.

Tourist hotels that mainly depend on fly-in customers were mostly affected in direct comparison to hotels that depend on drive-in customers. International leisure travel drastically reduced especially among senior citizens who are more susceptible to terrorist threats. “Ridiculously high” cancellations of bookings were made during the months of September and October following the attacks.

Domestic leisure travel during the end-year vacation was affected to a smaller extent as more people opted for shorter destinations. Leisure trips to local and nearby “winter sun” destinations and ski destinations were not severely affected since they are regarded as less prone to terrorist attacks.

On the other hand, the nature of tourism since the terrorist attacks has transformed in a number of subtle but considerable ways. As an example, people transformed their liking for food. Many Americans went back to the “comfort foods” and desired home-style feel-good dishes. This can be attributed to the unwillingness of most Americans to fly outside the country. Many people started to drive to neighboring cities instead of flying overseas.

The road to recovery

After being severely affected by 9/11, the travel and the tourism industries are on the road to recovery. Based on past experiences, the industries adopted belt-tightening measures to drive them through the extremely adverse situation they were facing. In as much as the laying-off of employees was meant to cut airline operating costs, a number of them adopted winning strategies, for example, differentiating their products from the competition and embracing eDistribution techniques.

Many airline and tourism industries strived to stand out from the competition by having both unique products and prices in the market. They achieved this by re-assessing their distribution links, focusing on non-GDS distribution, offering unique products and innovative products, focusing on drive-in traffic, and working with travel agents.

In embracing eDistribution, tourism and travel industries were able to save costs, penetrate new markets, and attract a wide variety of customers. This strategy uses the Web applications and the internet as the major channels for distribution.

The industries have practiced eDistribution by having online booking services for their customers, offering hotel packages, supporting affiliate programs, and allowing hotel consolidators to distribute their inventories. On a positive note, the U.S. flourishes on adversities. The country is composed of positive thinkers and forward-looking people who are ready to find solution to problems (Starkov, para.11).

The unfortunate events of 9/11 aroused a national psyche among the tourism and airline industries all over the country to work hard to overcome the devastating effects of the attacks. The industries demonstrated extraordinary resilience and determination in trouncing over the negative effects of the disaster. As a result of smart promotion strategies and appropriate price polices, the industries are now on the road to recovery.

Since September 11, sufficient resources have been allocated towards enhancing the security of the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security was created to achieve this goal. This re-arrangement of the structure of the U.S. government helped to alleviate some of the security concerns that passengers had before.

After the attacks, the airline and the tourism industries have come to grips with reality. The industries have implemented a number of recovery strategies over the years to ensure that they get back to their feet. The requirements and the expectations of individuals changed following the attacks. The industries have adopted major initiatives to meet the new standards of their customers. The security in and around airports, especially in the airplanes, have been enhanced.

The confidence of the passengers is slowing coming back due to the increased security at the airports advocated by the travel agencies. As an example, most airlines are now having police officers or some sort of security on board to prevent the re-occurrence of such a catastrophe witnessed on September 11. The cockpits of most aircrafts are nowadays made of strong materials and the entrances to the cockpits are not easily accessible to unauthorized persons.

In the August prior to September 11 attacks, the aviation industry was in its peak season. The industry recorded a very high number of passengers when close to sixty-five million passengers took to the air. After the suicide attacks, that number dropped significantly.

It took three years, until July 2004, to have the same number and eventually exceed the August 2001 levels. However, the number of available seats, which indicates the capacity of an industry, reached ninety-eight percent in July 2004 of its pre 9/11 levels. By July 2005, the number of people who had travelled by air was seventy-one million, surpassing the pre 9/11 levels

Conclusion

The long-term effects of these attacks are still difficult to know and may probably remain unknown until this act of violence is over. The buildings that were destroyed in New York can be rebuilt, even though it will take a long time, but the rebuilding of the confidence of the people regarding travelling by air can take even more time and this may not be achieved in some individuals.

In an important sense, September 11 indicates the culmination of an era, since it exposes that the U.S. is susceptible to terrorist attacks within its borders. One of the most relied upon means of transportation was used to wreak havoc in the U.S.

The net effects of these attacks have been overwhelming to both the tourism and the travel industry even with the support that the government has been giving them. However, the industries responded with unbelievable courage to recover from the impacts of catastrophe.

Works Cited

Bonham, Carl, et al.”The impact of 9/11 and other terrible global events on tourism in the United States and Hawaii. The Journal of Travel Research 45.1 (2006): 99110. Print.

Cole, Stroma. Tourism, culture and development: hopes, dreams and realities in East Indonesia. Clevedon: Channel View Publishing, 2007. Print.

Eaton, Leslie. “Attack gave a devastating shove to the city’s teetering economy.” The New York Times. 2002. Web.

Harris, Tom. “How recessions work.” Getstuffworks. 2002. Web.

Homan, Anthony. “The impact of 9/11 on the persistence of financial return volatility of marine firms.” Eastern Economic Journal 35.1 (2009): 71-83. Print.

Loose, Cindy. Insta-CoGo: “Where have all the tourists gone?” The Washington post. 2008. Web.

Reuters, Thomson. “Terrorism and Political violence.” Journal citations report 22.4 (2008): 23-34. Print.

Shackley, Myra. Atlas of travel and tourism development. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2006. Print.

Sharpley, Richard. Travel and tourism. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 2006. Print.

Starkov, Max. “Terrorism: Impact on travel and hospitality.” M–travel. Hospitality eBusiness Strategies. 2001. Web.

Introduction

The geographical structure in global politics has been greatly challenged by various issues such as new technology like the internet, globalization, environmental degradation, and terrorism. This paper will seek to explain how the geo politics of the USA were affected by the terrorism attack of September 11^th 2001. It will also discuss the effect of the “New map” by Barnet and how it has been used to visualize the worldview by The USA.

Effects of the September 11^th attack on the geopolitics of the US

The terrorist September 11 assail on the United States has distorted the geopolitical scenery in major ways. U.S. reaction to the attacks has provoked it to create new premeditated relationships and take on new military schemes that have had an effect on old alliances and associations. This shifting setting of global relations will have considerable consequences for the geopolitics of oil and other major resources in the imminent decades.

Already, the terror assault and also the realization of the ensuing U.S. “War-on-Terror” has unnerved a focus on the innate risks allied with heavy dependence on oil provisions from the Middle East. At the same time, as tactical policies are evaluated, many countries, like the U.S. as well as other European, and Latin-American powers, are re-evaluating their energy safety policies (Department of Defense 2008).

The budge in geopolitical relations that is mounting as the U.S. acts in response to the attacks on its people is already pressurizing oil trades and supplies relationships and also changing ways can be anticipated in the coming years. Almost suddenly, Russia publicized its willingness to lend a hand to the West in order to diversify its oil basis to comprise a growing torrent of Russian crude oil.

The war in Iraq that resulted from the September 11 attacks resulted to a reconfiguration of the geopolitical landscape globally in very many ways. Some of this ways may not be noticeable for quite some years or even some long time to come.

The effect has had an alteration of the relationship between the United States and other countries in the Middle East and Iraq. However, its blow goes well further than this. More than everything else, the warfare discloses that the new-fangled central turn of world antagonism is the south central region of Eurasia (Department of Defense 2008).

The expression “geopolitics” seems to come on or after another epoch, from the tardy nineteenth century. By geo-politics or geo-political antagonism, this paper means the conflict between immense powers and wannabe great-powers for management over territories, resources, and also important physical positions, for instance ports and at times harbors, river systems, canals, and other causes of prosperity and authority.

Looking back, you will discover that this sort of contest has been the motivating force in world and global politics and in particular world disagreement in much of the precedent few centuries. Geopolitics was very popular in the 19^th century and grew in the same trend towards the beginning of the 20^th century.

It is imperative to make a note that this is a course of action that began ahead of 9/11. September 11 speeded up the progression and gave it a fashionable authorization, but this was utterly unanticipated from a point of view of U.S. thinkers. President bill Clinton is well remembered to have built strong links with some countries of the Arabian origin and made the arbitration of the Persian Gulf a reality. The U.S. triumph in Iraq was not a win of Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld; this was Clinton’s labor that prepared this conquest possible.

The war in opposition to Iraq was wished-for to endow the United States with a dominant place in the Persian Gulf/ Caspian Sea area, and to serve up as a launch pad for further take-over and declaration of power in that region. To add on this, the war was also meant to show countries such as Russia, China, and Europe the US mighty power. It is part of a larger process of emphasizing overriding U.S. power in the south central Eurasia, in the exceptionally heartland of this mega continent.

The main question is the reason behind this region. In fraction, this is so for the reason that this is where the majority of the world’s residual oil is located where it has approximately 70% of recognized petroleum reserves. The major reason as to why oil has been the contentious issue is because it is a source of power above being just a source of fuel. As U.S. strategists see it, the one who controls Persian Gulf oil reins the world’s financial system and, consequently, has the definitive lever over all contending powers (Graham 2006).

Dick Cheney, the former US secretary of data forewarned the senate that it was dangerous for Sadam Hussein to capture the Kuwait and other Middle East oil territories as this would enable him to have control over the global economy. This was the most important rationale, he confirmed, why United States was obliged to send armed forces to the area and keep at bay Hussein’s forces.

It is however very clear that the United States has to retain a strong hold on the world’s economy by scheming this area. This is also as imperative, in the administration’s point view, as keeping hold of the America’s benefit in military machinery (Kaplan 2008).

Ten years from this time, China is also expected to be entirely reliant on the Persian Gulf and also dependent on the Caspian Sea locale for the oil that it will require to maintain its economic expansion.

Japan and South Korea and also Europe are bound to have quite some good deal if they were to be in similar conditions. Utter control over oil faucet may be to some extent a very funny image, but it is an illustration that has aggravated U.S. course of action since the closing stages of the Cold War and has vehemently gained even more distinction in the Bush-Cheney government.

This expanse is also the solitary area in the whole world wherever the interests of the supposed great powers smash together. In the Caspian Sea region which is the bones of contention, major powers are tending to have more increasing powers. They include the United States, china and Russia.

There is utterly no other region in the world which is like this. They are under pressure with one another deliberately and enthusiastically The Bush government is determined to control this region and to subsidiary these two prospective challengers and avert them from figuring a common frontage against the United States.

What then are the insinuations of this immense repositioning of U.S. geo-political strategy made potential by the Cold War overwhelm of the then Soviet Union?

It is apparently much too premature to draw any ultimate conclusions on this delicate matter; nevertheless, some things can be retaliated on. First, Iraq is presently the commencements of a U.S. take into this region. It is possible that people will see further additions and appearances of U.S. authority in the area.

This will tend to bring forth ripples between the United States and other regimes who are contending for dominancy. However, the United States will most likely also become entangled in confined conflicts that were there even long before America’s participation in the area (Connolly 2006).

For instance, the disagreement amid Armenia and Azerbaijan, and also the one stuck between Abkhazia and Georgia, both of which are known to have quite a long history will draw closer to brunt on U.S. defense as the United States gets dependent on some newly constructed trans Caucasian pipeline for transporting oil. In all such disagreements there is a possibility of tortuous or straight, stealthy or obvious interventions by the United States and most likely from the other contending supremacies (Campbell 1998).

The new map: the visualizations

The Pentagon’s New Map by Barnett is a cutting edge advance to globalization, which combines security, financial, opinionated, and intellectual factors which above other things predict and gives details on the environment of war and that of peace in the 21^st century. The map makes a straightforward distinction where it divides the globe into two parts: the first part is “the functioning-core” and the other part being the “non-integrated-gap.”

The core comprises of economically sophisticated or emergent countries that are associated to the global-economy and bound to rule sets of worldwide trade. The remaining part of the world is the non integrated-gap exterior to the global economy, and is not bound to those rule sets of the international trade,”

According to Bartlett disconnection is not only a problem which is handled by these societies only: “In this century, it is disconnectedness that defines danger. Disconnectedness allows bad actors to flourish by keeping entire societies detached from the global community and under their control. Eradicating disconnectedness, therefore, becomes the defining security task of our age” (Barnett 2004).

Disconnection from the international community as Roberts et al. (2003) states, the global economy also conveys with it extrication from the ‘‘rule-sets’’ which are concerned with the governing of proper international behavior: “enunciating that rule set is the most immediate task in this global war on terrorism, and promoting the global spread of that security rule set through our use of military force overseas (e.g. pre-emptive war against regimes that openly transgress the rule set) is our most important long-term goal in this struggle” (Barnett 2005).

As noted in the preceding statements, the American’s role in the articulation of a fresh global rule-set has turned out to be the guiding concern of the scheme for the “New American Century” from the time of its inception: a concern which has been made visible contained by a quantity of the National-Security strategies. It is far a bit far from the selfish tasks, however; Barnett asserts that it is America’s moral responsibility to make sure that it shares the rule-set.

America seeks to sell abroad this new defense rule-set called preventative war, we should then be very careful in making certain this tactical concept is in the approved manner understood. In short, preemptive warfare is not a gizmo for re-ordering the Core’s safety structure as some might fear. Rather, it is a gadget through which the centerpiece hereby being referred as the Core should as groups seek out to expand its stable defense rule-set into the fundamentally lawless Gap (Barnett 2004).

With the above arguments in place, it is therefore worthwhile o note with conviction that the assertions made Barnett in his book are correct visualizations of the current worldview by the USA. This is further supported by the variety of ways in which he has invoked the integration concept which is more or less way much similar to the current policies of both domestic administration and also foreign administration (Agnew 2003).

Conclusion

In the after effects of September the 11^th, it has evidently become usual to argue that the world over has essentially changed in various ways. President Bush asserted as much during the time he declared the assaults of that day preordained “the doctrine of containment just doesn’t hold any water” and the premeditated vision of the United States had to shift considerably (Bush 2003).

As a consequence, incorporation into a westernized and American values and a modus operandi has come out to be the new tactical concept. Dissimilar from the shallow binaries of the erstwhile Cold War, incorporation nonetheless engages its own exclusions sets, with structures of violence in anticipation of those who are maybe reluctant or incapable to be incorporated.

References

Agnew, J. (2003) Geopolitics: Re-visioning world politics. London: Routledge.

Barnett, T. P. M. (2004) The Pentagon’s new map: War and peace in the twenty- first century. London: Putnam Publishing Group.

Barnett, T. P. M. (2005) Blueprint for action: A future worth creating. New York: G.P. Putnam’s and Sons.

Bush, G.W. (2003) President Bush meets with Prime Minister Blair, January 31st. Web.

Campbell, D. (1998) National deconstruction: Violence, identity and justice in Bosnia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Connolly, W. (2005) The evangelical-capitalist resonance machine. Political Theory, 33(6), 869-886.

Department of Defense. (2008) Strategy for homeland defense and support. Washington D.C.: Department of Defense. Available at: https://www.defense.gov/

Graham, S. (2006) Cities and the ‘war on terror’. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 30(2), 255-276.

Kaplan, A. (2008) Homeland insecurities: reflections on language and space. Radical History Review, 85, 82-93.

Introduction

One of the key careers to consider in connection to 09-11-01 terrorist attack is that of emergency managers. What are the roles of the managers and were they effective then? Are there changes on these roles today since the attack? The common definition of emergency management has a link to an organization of resources that assist in responding to related tragic occurrences such as natural disasters that may affect the public.

9/11 Attack Analysis

The 2001 9/11 terrorist hit at the world trade center in New York sent a message that, there is a need to create aware and strategies of dealing with possible terrorist activities in United States and its concerns. Since 9/11 attacks the responses over preparations expands to cater for potential Nuclear, Chemical, Incendiary and Biological attacks. The last couple of years also expound the need for management programs to take into account critical analysis of approaches of dealing with explosives, chemicals and the ways of handling volatile sites.

The operational security issues are equally questionable since the 9/11 incident. The attack placed a real experience over possibility of other devastating attacks and a better focus for analysis of when such an attack is likely to occur, besides planning for what ought to be done in cases of such attacks.

Traditional Vs Modernized roles of emergency managers

Historically, the role of managing emergencies was silent since relegation of the officials was in terms of casual collateral personnel. The attacks changed the style of appointment and training, and today they is excellent support of local emergency teams on roles that expounds on emergency management locally and at state levels.

Current management planning requires intensive, strategic, and analytical skills, which involve community views, in the aim of finding threat assessments and strategic plans for possible wave of events in future.

Analysis of Current Changes on Management

What is different in current management styles from September 10 before the 9/11 attack? The current state of affairs heightens intensively on alerts. This is not enough strategy over such devastating events. There is need for programs that support continual governance through better and varied styles of emergency operation procedures.

The emergency managers have major key roles to play alongside resources organization such as participating in most government security-related operations. Initially, the managerial roles were concern with coordination of resources and local governance strategies during disasters or emergencies. Today, roles of emergency managers garner innovative responsibilities such as coordinators in homeland security.

They initiate and control the emergency processing centers and are involved in security-related discussions at the jurisdictions fields. According to National Commission of Terrorist Attacks (2010), major fields of analysis and operations, concerning emergency managers today involves Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), where they work in conjunction with the FBI fieldwork officers of state and local governments.

These are measures meant to enhance communication strategies of gathering, coordinating and organizing public responses in crisis, especially situations that may involve various jurisdictions, agencies and inter-governmental procedures such as the 9/11 attack.

Effects of Modernization

The 9/11 attacks saw implementation of Emergency Operation Centres (ECO) in various localities, states and countries to assist in coordination of various activities, especially regarding the unfolding of events during an emergency.

This was a lesson learned by government emergency teams and the business sectors as well. Today, various legislative measures assist in development or enrichment of stringent plans that cover emergency activities. Some of the key areas include training on evacuation procedures, especially from the high-rise premises. The teams are also enlightened on the best response measures.

Practiced emergency evacuation procedures are oriental activities in most firms today. The high-rise buildings such as the twin towers at the world trade center are currently equipped with upgrades of technological resources such as stairwells, emergency lighting systems and redundant command emergency placements to cater for highest emergency capacities.

Consistent with Roberts (2009), the 9/11 attack invoked needs for building managers to plan enlightenment programs in support of the public, especially in safe evacuation procedures. According to emergency reports, over five hundred lives were lost in response to public service for victims (Roberts, 2009).

The emergency strategy guidelines have over the years changed for the better since the terrorist attack. Today emergency officials have different documentation regarding safer logistics, which they teach as security procedures especially to cater for the public reaction.

Lessons Learnt From the 9/11 Attack

The WTC attack was an evolutionary process for the emergency managers. Various reforms, such as implementation of the emergency management team as departments. They have collateral duties in various firms or organizations and have strategic plan to deal with possible future attacks.

According to Roberts (2009), current emergence of “office of ‘Homeland’ security… in the private sector as respective jurisdictions and facilities” is an emergence of new security operations and better working relationship with safety professionals. The emergency teams found out that lines of communication with the emergency teams must be more superior in all firms, to cater for better understanding and faster responses to urgent situations.

Conclusion

The terrorist attack in U.S. and related horrific events such as hurricane attacks forms a basis for reforming the emergency management teams. Today they have strategic measures to cater for natural disasters, crisis management related to weapons of mass destructions and other potential hazards. More planning meetings in support of organizations’ security are evident in current work-related proceedings. The emergency teams have extra roles such as emergency operations and reporting, unlike the earlier sole roles of caretakers.

References

National Commission of Terrorist Attacks. (2010). the 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. New York, NY: Cosimo Inc. Print.

Roberts, w. (2009). The macroeconomic impacts of the 9/11 attack: evidence from real-time forecasting. New York, NY: Publications of Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency and Office of Immigration Statistics. Print.

Introduction

It is believed that America before the September 11^th attacks is different from the one after the 9/11. This is due to the statutory changes of how the US army was ordered to handle and treat terrorists. Also there were changes in the powers granted to the president.

He was granted more powers and his decision was final and unchallenged. Intelligence should be relied upon in policy making but in the Iraqi and Afghan war decision were solely made by the Bush’s administration directly without consulting with the military intelligence and other intelligence agencies.

This essay review and identifies the major problems in how the US government responded to the 9/11 attacks. This is according to a Frontline video which was recorded during the Afghan war. It also features on the inhumane treatment of the so called terrorists by American military police (M.P.) and Military Intelligence (M.I.) agents.

Post 9/11 America

After the 9/11 attacks every American was asking including the congress, what should we do? President Bush decided, after being convinced by his advisers, that they should retaliate and fight terrorism in which the first attacks were in Afghanistan where American troops were sent to find information about Al-Qaeda and their leader Osama Bin Laden.

Before anything productive results were realized there was one major problem. It was not clear what should be done to the prisoners of war who were captured as terrorists. This was due to the fact that they could not be tried on American local or Federal courts, they could not kill them and they couldn’t they let them go (Frontline, 2005, chapter 2).

Unlimited and Unprecedented Powers

John Yoo and several other lawyers formulated a memo that had rules that and recommendations of what should be done to resolve this problem the Frontline video clip clearly states that,

“Former White House and Justice Department legal advisers who were involved in drafting many of the administration’s boldest proposals…. The legal framework developed by lawyers like Berenson, Alberto Gonzales and John Yoo provided the impetus for unprecedented rules for interrogating detainees, rules authorized by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld – rules officials insist never condoned torture…

There was a powerful set of shared assumptions we had in the wake of 9/11, and one of the most powerful was the assumption that we would never be forgiven if we failed to do something that was within the power of our government lawfully to protect the public from a further attack.”

This was the main source of all the torture and suffering that the terrorist went through. John Yoo under the Department of Justice (DoJ) went ahead and proposed to congress yet another change which congress over whelming accepted.

This was to grant the Commander in chief of the armed forces unlimited and unprecedented powers and to use all necessary means possible to prevent and stop future attacks and to capture those responsible for previous ones (Frontline, 2005, chapter 2). This was the second mistake that they did as a result of anger from the attacks and the loss incurred from it.

The president was legally allowed to overrule any other law if it were an incident of national security and terrorists were involved. This did not consider that the president might be wrong, have a personal issue or have an ill motive and this would affect his judgment of which is final.

Withdrawal of the Geneva Conventions

The secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, asked the president to withdraw the Geneva conventions act which protected prisoners of war because in his personal view it prevented them from acquiring reliable information from the terrorists. It protected them from being tortured by the US army.

The Geneva conventions were withdrawn and a legal detention facility was established in Guantanamo bay in Cuba which held 625 Iraqi and Afghan inmates. After some time the prisoners number grew bigger and the need for a new facility emerged and this is when the US troops took over Abu Ghraib maximum prison which was Saddam’s largest and most feared prison.

In this facilities prisoners were tortured and abused in the most inhumane way for instance in Abu Ghraib an inmate Identified as Detainee-07 was forced by US agents in civilian clothes to wear a woman’s bra and a thong on his head, severally beaten to unconsciousness, jumped on by American soldiers on his back and legs, teased by dogs and lady M.Ps threw things at his genitals while taking photos.

In another instance in Guantanamo bay an inmate referred to as the 20^th hijacker was referred to as a homosexual, smeared on with fake menstrual blood, bent backwards and his genitals grabbed and also teased by a dog. No one is sure for how long and how many others had been tortured like this.

All these inhumane interrogations were done to acquire some information from the prisoners but nothing reliable was obtained from them. It is suspected that most these prisoners had no reliable information due to the fact that some of them were captured at their own homes and also the interrogators were inexperienced and incompetent.

Abuse of Office

In May 7^th 2004 the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld was asked to resign from office after what he had been ordering solders to do to the so called terrorists was revealed to the public. He was ready to resign but the president didn’t allow him to by not accepting his resignation letter.

Twelve investigations were conducted after all this and only seven military police and two military intelligence officers were accused of torturing the prisoners during their night shifts (Frontline, 2005, chapter 6). It is openly clear to everyone that there is no way all this was being conducted by 9 soldiers as Army Reserve discharged Gen. Janis Karpinski who was says “How can continue to blame 9 rogue soldiers on the nightshift when there is a preponderance of information right now, hard information from a variety of sources, that says otherwise” (Frontline, 2005, chapter 6).

Mitigations

As I quoted earlier Intelligence should influence and be relied upon in decision and policy making especially in matters of national security. This is what the post 9/11 US administration failed in practicing and it should be avoided in future.

For Intelligence to be reliable, experienced and competent personnel should be involved in its acquisition. In Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo incompetent and inexperienced army agents were the ones interrogating the prisoners. The US government should have hired some experienced interrogators and by so doing reliable information would have been extracted from the terrorists.

The president should be a powerful person but he should be granted unlimited powers and not answerable to any law. This means that the statute amendment that stated that the president can overrule any other law in incidences of terrorism should be withdrawn.

Conclusion

Very many people suffered in the hands of the US army agents and the one responsible deny that that they had any idea of any of this inhumane actions taking place. The people punished for this were not solely responsible for this but they were merely following orders. The people responsible for this should be justly tried and appropriately punished in accordance with the law.

References

Frontline. (2005). The Torture Question. (Chapter 1-6) Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/torture/

Background

The major concern is whether to have a secure border or to allow free movement of people, goods or services across the border of the United States. This border is the longest undefended border in the world, but after the events of September 11, 2001, security measures along this border changed.

The U.S government had to review its border laws and restrictions, which led to strict rules on its border. Time for security checks across the border increased drastically, thus increasing costs for Canadian exporters. In addition, the US deadline for secure identity cards affected trade and tourism between the two countries.

Objective

The general objective is to determine whether or not the US should allow a secure or free border to exist with the outside world for movement of goods, people and services, based on the events that took place in September 11, 2001 that killed many people.

Hypothesis

Free border may lead to increased economic and social relationship between the United States, Canada and the rest of the hemisphere through unrestricted movement of goods, people and services across its boundaries. This will ultimately improve trade between United States and the rest of the world.

Introduction

The US-Canada northern border controls during the whole of the 20th century experienced low-intensity, low-profile, and a low priority. Border control issues were never matters of importance in bilateral relations and trade. This minimal concern and low-profile approach to border manning was mutually convenient and tolerated and persisted into the 1990s.

Rapid growth in legitimate trade flows across the border in after the NAFTA agreement undermined illegal trade, including the smuggling of drugs, cigarettes, migrants, and arms. The clandestine side of the expanding US-Canada trading relationship was never a topic for the national political agenda and did not turn into a necessary source of cross-border tension.

However, the 9/11 attacks led to change of relationship between the US and Canada in handling the longest border between the two countries. Initially, the two countries had given that border a low priority until it gained recognition as “the longest undefended border in the world” (GAO, 2007). These events resulted into a high anxiety when the US-Canada border was a ready-made political target for those who blamed lax border controls for America’s vulnerability to terrorism (Tancredo, 2006).

Although the focus was the US-Canada border and the issue was terrorism, the new border security discourse echoed the older and more familiar drug and immigration control discourse that has characterized US border relations with Mexico (Warner, 2010). In the immediate consequence of the 9/11 attacks, the US congress ruled to add the security agents deployed along the US-Canada border, and the US sent its National Guard troops to inspect, secure and patrol at the border points of entry.

In addition, the US instructed Coast Guard to stop all vessels crossing the border for inspections in order to provide escort services to the cargo ship, gas, and oil tankers. Alongside the new security enforcement officer, there were also new surveillance and security equipment. The US installed sophisticated cameras with night-vision lenses, satellite tracking system, there were also early signs of establishing a military base along the border. The security items were to detect any unauthorized access and entry through the northern border.

New security measures have also been put in place on Canadian side of the line. Immediately following the terrorist attacks, Canada ordered a higher state of alert at border crossings. Since then, it has increased levels of security at its airports, created new funding for detection items and personnel, introduced laws to fight financing of terrorism, and frozen assets of some known terrorist groups.

Tougher immigration control rules have included the introduction of a fraud-resistant resident card for new immigrants, increased detention capacity and deportation activity, greater security screening for refugee claimants, and a tightening of the visa regime.

In addition to this, there is a requirement that Saudi and Malaysian visitors acquire visas before entry into Canada. The most fundamental changes in Canadian law have been the 2001 antiterrorism act, and the 2002 public safety act, which have given new surveillance and enforcement powers to police and security agencies.

Not unlike their Mexican counterparts, Canadian officials have attempted to impress and appease the US with new security awareness, while at the same time repeatedly emphasizing the importance of national sovereignty and policymaking independence and trying to avoid the impression that their policy changes confirm the US pressures and expectations upon Canada.

All in all, the incentives under conditions of relations are obvious. Canada must either take stronger measures to increase border security or risk a unilateral decision by the US to harden the border access, with potentially devastating economic consequences to Canada.

Economic consequences

The significant economic costs from any security-related disruptions in border flows became immediately noticeable after the 9/11 attacks. US border inspectors became highly alert, defined as a “sustained, intensive, antiterrorism operation”.

Consequently, this almost instantly created enormous chaos at the border, given that Canada and the United States conduct US$1.3 billion in trade per day, most of which come by trucks across the border. Some 40,000 commercial shipments and 300,000 people cross the 4,000 mile-long US-Canada border daily (Andreas, 2005).

According to study findings, in the days after the attacks, delays for trucks transporting cargo across the border increased from one or two minutes to between 10 and 15 hours, stranding parts, shipments, and perishable goods. Trucks parked up to 36 kilometers at the Ambassador Bridge linking Windsor and Detroit. This is the single and world’s busiest border crossing point. About 27 percent of US-Canada trade crosses this bridge.

The border enforcement and activities hit the auto industry hard. Many automobile companies, which manufacture their parts in Canada, and ship them to the US assembly plants on a cost-efficient, and timely manner became vulnerable to security measures at the border. For instance, the 9/11 attacks resulted into shortage of vehicles part in the US. As a result, Ford shut its engine plant in Windsor and Detroit vehicle parts.

Meanwhile, as trade from both countries experienced massive losses from the sudden border security crackdown, Canada experienced higher losses than the US due to such economic disruptions.

The US only has about 25 percent of its export to Canada. On the other side, Canada is responsible for 87 percent of export bound to the US. Most significant is that a greater percentage of Canada’s foreign trade depends on the US economy. In this regard, Canada derives about 40 percent of GDP from its exports to the US whereas the US gets a mere 2.5 percent of its GDP from its exports to Canada.

Although many have pointed to the cross-border interdependence of the automobile industry as evidence of mutual vulnerability to border shut-downs, there is little reason to believe that the industry would not eventually respond to continued border disruptions. However, removing the Canadian-based automobile industry means removing the most significant source of to the US.

The two countries are no longer able to ignore the border as was the case before 9/11 attacks. The US and Canadian policymakers are now ambitiously trying to protect the “longest undefended border in the world”. They are aiming to create a border that performs as a better security barrier, and as a business-friendly economic bridge at the same time.

Creating a low risk border

In order to facilitate “low risk” border crossing, the US and Canada have initiated a program along the border that allows frequent travelers who have undergone background checks quickly cross through designated border ports of entry. Those enrolled in the program receive a computerized photo identification card that can be electronically scanned at border crossings on dedicated lanes.

Both countries are working on a similar program, the free and secure trade program, which will ease truck congestion at border ports of entry. Canada and the United States are also launching a joint program targeting air travelers. This program includes an evaluation of iris recognition biometric technology at Canada’s two busiest airports.

At least, we can identify three potential future US-Canada border control trajectories. At one extreme, there could be a substantial unilateral US hardening of the border, with security essentially trumping all other considerations. This is an equivalent of imposing a security tariff on all cross-border movements. These are security measures not evident in Europe (Boswell, 2007).

The idea of creating a secure and free border for traders has been difficult for both Canadian authority and business class alike. Canada must refocus and harmonize its multilateral policy in order to share security information with the US for a secure border point. This agenda largely depends on Canadian business interests with the US (Jo Cureton 2011).

Most Canadian officials, on the other hand, favor more incremental and piecemeal border security measures rather than embracing an entirely new border security paradigm (Bigo, 2002). Many in Canada consider this solution to handling border security as Americanization, with Canada simply adopting US policy approaches and preferences.

When we take current trends into account, the most likely scenario is a compromised position somewhere in the middle (Huysmans, 1998). This is a continuation of initiatives involving mixtures of the enhanced border security collaborations and a partial policy convergence. This includes further extensions of border controls beyond physical borderline and an intensive utilization of new high-technology cargo tracking systems, inspection technologies, and traffic management strategies.

Even before the 9/11 attacks, the US had plans to build technological advanced and control system. However, after the attacks, the US has increased both pace and ambition of constructing the project.

These initiatives could eventually produce a de facto continental security perimeter, but without the formal trappings and highly institutionalized and bureaucratized systems (GAO, 2000). It is not at all clear that it would withstand the fallout from multiple terrorist incidents, especially if critics can directly link such incidents to a perceived failure of the US-Canada border controls.

Conclusion

Tensions and conflicts over border control issues have long been defining features of US-Mexico relations. The same is now increasingly true of the US-Canada relations. Before the 9/11 attacks, the US-Canada border control-related issues always took a low-profile, low-visibility, and depoliticized manner out of the public and media eye. However, after the 9/11 attacks, border control matters have become much more high-profile, visible, and politicized than previously conceived.

The main worry of the US is that the expansive commercial cross-border networks and routes (both legal and illegal) can now be exploited to smuggle terrorists and weapons of mass destruction into the United States. Therefore, the US has elevated all its traditional border law enforcement issues to security issues.

One consequence is that travelers entering the United States from Canada who once viewed the experience as little more than passing through a normal border now view it differently. The US scrutiny has become more intensive, less predictable, more time-consuming and has become uncomfortable border crossing process especially among Canadian immigrants.

A part from travelers, the trade between the US and Canada had suffered substantial losses. The activities at the border mainly affected the automobile industries which relied on imports from Canada. At the same time, Canada was the main loser in this process. This is because most of its foreign exchange and exports go to the US.

The US has created pressure and expectations due to border relations that Canada will help it achieve its border control objectives and in new Canadian policy measures which simultaneously pacify Washington and signal maintenance of Canadian sovereignty, and policy autonomy.

Some critics argue that if the US relies on Canada in securing its border, then the challenges the US experienced with the Mexico may recur. The US must protect its border with Canada and at the same time, allow for free flows of legal trade, but must always be alert of security threats and illegal trades.

References

Andreas, P. (2005). The Mexicanization of the US-Canada border. International Journal, 12 (4), 449-462.

Bigo, D. (2002). Security and Immigration: Towards a Critique of the Governmentality of Unease. Alternatives, 27, 63-92.

Boswell, C. (2007). Migration Control in Europe After 9/11: Explaining the Absence of Securitization. Journal of Common Market Studies, 45(3), 589-610.

GAO. (2007). Border Security: Security Vulnerabilities at Unmanned and Unmonitored U.S. Border Locations (GAO-07-884T) Washington, D.C.

GAO. (2000). Managing for Results: Barriers to Interagency Coordination (GAO/GGD-00-106) Washington, D.C.

Huysmans, J. (1998). Security! What Do You Mean? From Concept to Thick Signifier. European Journal of International Relations, 4(2), 226-255.

Jo Cureton, E. (2011). A mission on the border ten years after 9/11. Web.

Tancredo, T. (2006). In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America’s Border and Security. Los Angeles: WND Books.

Warner, J. A. (2010). U.S. Border Security: A Reference Handbook (Contemporary World Issues). Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO.