Homeland Defense

Abstract

U.S. policymakers need to improve their understanding of the underlying conditions and proximate drivers which appear to prompt and propel radicalization among American citizens to combat the upsurge in homegrown Islamist terrorist plots in the U.S., since 9/11. Keeping in mind that radicalization is a dynamic, inherently personal process that entails a unique combination of environmental strains, ideology, motivations, and socialization processes. In this paper we are investigating the effectiveness of homeland defense and its security. The paper focuses that, are we preparing from the Federal, state, City, Tribal and individual person for any disaster to come?

Homeland Defense

Introduction

The creation of the Department of Homeland Security was one of the largest organizational changes in the history of the United States government bureaucracy. The Department of Homeland Security (Homeland Defense) officially came into being on November 25, 2002, when the Homeland Security Act of 2002 was passed by the U.S. Congress. The formation of the Department of Homeland Security was a direct response by the George W. Bush administration to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 (Bellavita, 2006).

After the attacks, and the claims of responsibility for them by the al Qaeda terrorist group, preventing domestic terrorist attacks became the top priority of Homeland Defense. Homeland Defense officials sought to give a public impression of innovation and expertise at pursuing new lines of intelligence and preparation for all hazards, terrorism in particular. This was part of a larger public relations campaign conducted by the Bush Administration to demonstrate that the threat of terrorism and future terrorist acts was being taken very seriously, and that a large number of federal resources had been mobilized to wage the war on terror. The war was very often waged in the public eye, with public relations tools such as the color-coded threat level indicating the likelihood of a terrorist attack broadcast on several major media outlets at a time.

Thesis Statement

We prepared from the Federal, state, City, Tribal and individual person for any disaster to come.

History and Background

While it is certainly true that incidents of homegrown terrorism in the United States are not exclusive to Islamist-inspired plots, these plots do comprise a significant subcategory with unique characteristics that must be taken into consideration by researchers, counter-terrorism practitioners, and policy makers. Community development and law enforcement programs should seek to mitigate the potential for all forms of extremism. However, social science research indicates that such efforts must be carefully tailored to individual needs to be effective.

From May 2009 through November 2010, a series of arrests of American citizens or legal permanent residents of the U.S. were made for involvement in twenty-two different homegrown terrorist plots. More homegrown terrorist plots were uncovered in this year and a half time frame than were uncovered in the seven and a half year period from September 2001 through April 2009. Even if the upsurge in homegrown Islamist terrorist plots does not reflect a permanent upwards trend, Islamist-inspired homegrown attacks nonetheless pose a distinct ...