How Can the United States of America Better Defend Itself Against Terrorism?Essay title: How Can the United States of America Better Defend Itself Against Terrorism?How can the United States of America better defend itself against terrorism?In the past Twenty years the threat of terrorism has been a known threat, but it was not until September 11, 2001 has passed that the American people were forced to accept and deal with the threat of terrorism. Stricter border security, as well as airport, and port security have led Americans into an uneasy sense of homeland Security, but more must be done. American borders must be secured so that Americans can feel a real peace.
When people think of our land borders with Canada and Mexico they think illegal immigrants. This is not always so. If immigrants can get in so easily so can terrorist. On our southern border there is currently no fence, and nothing else to stop terrorist getting in other than couple of thousand border patrol agents spread to thinly to do anything, and a never really functioning sensor system put in during the 19070’s (Sensing a Problem). In order to secure the border with Mexico which is the most likely place to cross a minimum of a 700 mile fence and another 6000 more border agents will need to be added (Thompson). Another solution to the problem would be to have motion sensors, satellite surveillance, and cameras mounted on towers, and unmanned aerial vehicles (Sensing a Problem). Federal investigators were able to bring radioactive substances into the United States at two different crossing points were there was supposedly technology able to detect radioactive substances (Kutz). If the immigrants can walk right through the border so can terrorist and this is not acceptable starting now steps need to be taken to correct this.
It seems like airport security is higher now than ever before, but it may not be high enough. Across the country in many airports faulty metal detectors are letting hundreds through security unchecked. There are also many baggage screeners that are ill trained or not interested in their job and thousands of bags are not screened properly or not screened at all. Many of the screeners are outdated anyway, they can a 2D figure and the screeners are unable to tell a bomb from normal items (Huges). More training and newer equipment are needed to outsmart today’s terrorist. The latest in screening devices is the backscatter which takes an x-ray picture of you to see you have any concealed weapons. There are other systems that can scan you for bomb making materials (Halperin). The problem with
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can’t tell you how to do that. It’s just a bad sign.
Security is all over the place right now
This is just a symptom of a larger problem. As noted by one person the FBI is in full support of the current solution on a multi-agency task force that is looking at security issues in airports across the nation. They recommend a mandatory nationwide public-sector training program for the general public and a number of different states as well.
Our report shows the problems with
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The current U.S. airport security was not on the agenda in our report. I don’t think, based on my experience in airport security the current airport security was on the agenda in the report. I don’t think that any national or international airport security plan at this point is a good idea. As I stated, we do not have a plan for an upgrade of the country air traffic control system, air quality control and a training program. And the problem with the TSA system, which is designed for more time with fewer screening requests, is that it is designed to take more time. It should be designed so that the passengers are always checked regularly, in a timely fashion (usually not more than four times a day). It should be designed to detect and deter terrorist attacks during the peak of an event every time. There really is no magic bullet system for airport security and a comprehensive system that focuses on safety is not going to accomplish that goal. And any attempt at improving airport security requires new technology and innovative ideas that we are currently seeing.
The current U.S. airport security is not on the agenda in our report. We have seen a huge increase in the number of TSA training programs in the last five years, we are currently seeing a total increase in these. The only thing preventing this trend of increasing security in and out of airports is not changing the airport security. We will keep tracking this with our government counterparts.
In January the FBI finally announced that they are finally starting to get behind the technology, and has confirmed a number of technologies are on the way. I think everyone will be happy if the government, and the TSA, takes this step towards better airport security.