9/11 Attack: Coordinated by Al-Qaeda for Over a Year - Essay Sample

Introduction

On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda, which is a Muslim terrorist group, carried out an organized attack. The groups hijacked four aircraft, and the attack was targeted to happen in the United States. Almost 3000 people were killed, and many injured (Dunne & Wheeler, 2010). After the attack, many details emerged. It was realized that the terrorists had coordinated the operation for almost one year while still in the country. The attackers had even enough time to take some flying lessons so that they can be able to coordinate the attack successfully. A few of the terrorists are the ones who slipped into the country a few months to the attack (Dunne & Wheeler, 2010). The question that this paper seeks to answer is whether the attack was preventable from a Private Security Perspective. My stand on this topic is that the attack could have been prevented due to the reasons which I will give in this paper.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Surveillance of Suspicious Groups

Private securities are trained to detect, deter, observe, and also report any suspicious activity (Strom, Berzofsky, Shook-Sa, Barrick, Daye, Horstmann & Kinsey, 2010). The people who carried out the 9/11 attack had been living, training, and also travelling in the United States. One would wonder whether all that time, there is no place that they had been asked for identification properly. It is sometimes hard to recognize terrorists since they do not have a label, but the security men of the buildings where the terrorists lived would have had a case to answer. Not only the residential buildings' security but also any facility that the group had been using, including the school, should be interrogated. The security firm may not be able to handle the terrorist cases, but once they suspect or identify suspicious groups or individuals, they should go ahead to report them (Chapman & Harris, 2002).

Monitoring the Points of Entry

Before the attack, there was no proper scrutiny of foreign visitors. All the 19 perpetrators of the attack had entered the United States just like any other visitor. If there were more vigilant security control operations, the attackers could have been stopped at the border. Before the attack, there was no thorough inspection of goods and containers which were entering the country. Also, there were no proper means to find weapons of mass destruction. There was no even the use of modern technology in the ports to verify the goods entering the country and being able to follow the shipment process from the country of origin.

Protection of Critical Infrastructure

On a private security perspective, I see that the attack would have been preventable if the security officers at the airport were thorough with the screening of the passengers. One wonders how the attackers were able to pass all the security checks at the airport to the plane. It is possible that they were carrying their weapons, just like the usual luggage. Airports and aircraft are infrastructures that the security should be cautious about since there is all kind of people in these facilities. Being able to conduct an attack on four aircraft on the same day without any of it neutralized earlier shows there was laxity on the security officials. The transport security measures should have been adopted. The attackers decided to use commercial airlines due to the fact that their fuel tanks are highly explosive (Lebovic, 2007). It showed that modern transport, which the current society depends on could be transformed into powerful weapons in the hands of terrorists. Terrorist focuses on the number of people they have killed. That is why they focused on commercial aircraft since they knew that there would be many victims.

Improve Anti-Terrorism Intelligence

In the prevention of terrorist attacks, intelligence is essential. When people think of intelligence, they think of as sophisticated data that is in the hands of senior security officials. The truth is that information starts at a fundamental level; that is the people that a person is relating with (Lebovic, 2007). One can learn that someone is a terrorist as they interact or even when selling him something. The individual then gives the information to the security officer covering the building. Before the 9/11 attack, there was no proper mechanism whereby every intelligence could be used. In fact, in a certain report which the white house did not reveal, it was reported that President Bush had already received some intelligence information in the month of June. The security officials defended themselves that the attack was not preventable because of the intelligence since the report lacked specifics like when and where (Lebovic, 2007). The information ought to have been processed, and other information collected so that the details could be found.

Intelligence information is even more critical when there is a good use of it. From a private security perspective, I see that if the private securities could have been used in the collection of intelligence, it is possible that the terrorists could not have stayed in the homeland for a whole year without being recognized. There were no analytical capabilities to ensure that there was proper integration of intelligence from various intelligence agencies (Lebovic, 2007).

The Collaboration Between Private Security and the Police

If there was a proper integration of the private security sector to the national security, the security officers could have been able to identify the attackers and report them before they could accomplish their mission. People use most of their time in facilities which are guarded by private firms, that is, workplaces, educational, transport and recreational facilities. Private securities are also available in homes like gated communities and also the residential complexes. 85% of the country's infrastructure is owned privately (Ahmad, 2002). The United States, therefore, depends highly on the private security companies which are hired to ensure that the nation's security, the economy as well as people's well-being is protected.

With all these crucial mandates, private security lacked the necessary equipment which could be able to screen people properly to check if they were in possession of weapons like bombs. Private security is essential in combatting terrorism. The battlefront is on America homeland, but the police are not alone as they are assisted by the private securities (Ahmad, 2002). In most cases, it is the securities that are at the scene of the crime before the police can arrive. It therefore becomes vital for partnership between the government and private security. The number of private securities is more than that of the police. If there was a proper partnership between the police and the private security firms, the 9/11 attack could be preventable. The security guards usually have more information than the police since they are the ones who are interacting with the citizens on a daily basis (Ahmad, 2002).

Information is crucial in the hands of security officials. The private security officers can forward any suspicious person to the security agents. The intelligence does not have to be about a terrorist attack. The security personnel also can collect intelligence since they interact with the locals on a daily basis; they can know a visitor and identify what he or she has come to do in the premises. Most of the time, private securities are the ones who have access to CCTV footage, and therefore, they are able to identify any suspicious activities. The private security lacked the necessary training before the attack, but now their benefits are well known. After the attack, there were recommendations on how the security guards should also be offered proper training.

Carrying out Patrols

Patrol plays a significant role in the security officers' duties. They can help in the prevention of attacks before they occur (Chapman & Harris, 2002). When they are done in the right manner, the security officers are able to know more information which otherwise they could not have got. Police officers usually conduct the patrols, but the ones done by the guards are more effective. The reason for this is because the security officers are the ones who know their areas better. Even if the police conduct their routine patrols, they usually rely a lot on the information which the private security firms give them.

The attack could have been preventable if there were good patrols in all areas that the terrorists had been operating. The patrols should not be at certain time intervals. It should be hard to predict when the next patrol will happen (Chapman & Harris, 2002). The security officers with time know the people who work or reside in the area where they are operating. Once they get to know the people, they should use that advantage positively only. The guards who have worked in an area for quite sometimes are able to recognize when a visitor comes. They are not supposed to keep away the visitors but to do a thorough screening and record their information. Where there is still suspicion, they can share the information with law-enforcing officers.

Security Threat

Sometimes, security is not guaranteed when it is in the hands of the private sector. Private companies can do anything to ensure that their profit increases. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, it was realized that the airline had a private security company that was not thorough with its work (Norris, Kern & Just, 2004). The airline contracted a cheap one to ensure that its proceeds from the business increases. The government then federalized the security of the airlines. Maybe if there was a more thorough security firm or the security was in the hands of the government, the perpetrators would not have made their way to the aircraft. Where the private security firms remain the provider of the security services, the government can subsidize the services.

Security is a sensitive area, and it should be handled with utmost care. The federal government should ensure it provides the required security in facilities that are sensitive to national security (Dunne & Wheeler, 2010). If there were police, who were working with the security firm, the attack could be preventable. Leaving such crucial areas under one security firm is not appropriate. There should be even intelligence officers. The security officials at that time since they had not been empowered and could even be easily bribed. Another factor that could lead to the prevention of such attacks is ensuring that the security officers who are hired are of high integrity, and they do not have any criminal records. They should also be investigated from time to time. In the past, there have been cases where security officials have colluded with terrorists or other criminals (Dunne & Wheeler, 2010). In the 9/11 attack, one cannot rule out any possibility of security officers collaborating with the attackers. Protecting the homeland is a process whereby one should not focus on the terrorists alone. There is a need to focus also on the activities which are happening in the United States and using all the available intelligence information.

Community Policing

The terrorists who carried out the attack had been living in the United States for around one year. It is not that they had their own facilities; they used what was being used by other citizens. They even went ahead for flying classes without anyone guessing the mission they had. There must have been people who had realized something unusual with them, but they could not report to the security forces. If community policing was working the attack could not have happened (Friedmann & Cannon, 2007). The people interacting with them could have given the necessary information to law enforcement officers. Th...