Essay Example on U.S. War on Terrorism: A 9/11 Game-Changer

The war against terrorism is one of the major issues the United States has been focusing on to promote peace and security. The 9/11 attack in 2001 acted as a wakeup call to the American government after much concentration on international security for instance in Vietnam. The 9/11 attack acted as a game-changer in the manner that governments and authorities handle issues of counter-terrorism. As a matter of fact, after the attack, the main framework that defined response to terrorism was majorly security-based. According to Anderson, 2009 many defense strategies and policies were enacted to combat terrorism. The national counter-terrorism strategies included the USA Patriot Act and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security to consolidate counter-terrorism agencies. Trump administration is solely focusing on the Islamist extremism as opposed to the Countering Violent Extremism Program. However, the National Intelligence Estimate has demonstrated that jihadist movements such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS continue to spread despite the numerous counter-terrorism tactics. Several challenges continue to hinder the counter-terrorism efforts of the government. Laws that hinder law enforcement agencies to investigate terrorism and many intelligence organizations make it hard for them to share sensitive information. Moreover, the counter-terrorism policy limits the use of force to capture terrorist suspects. Although many government agencies in the United States have improved their tactics to combat terrorism to several challenges are causing many terrorist groups to spread.

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The human rights factor is one of the challenges affecting the implementation of the counter-terrorism policy. In most cases, measures established to interrogate and tighten security are often criticized for violation of human rights. The intelligence agencies are often accused of abusing their power through prolonged and incommunicado detention. War-crimes committed by various military agents in various war zones such as Afghanistan and Iraq is perfect examples where the war against terror results in human rights violation. For instance, many suspects that are linked with Al Qa'eda or Taliban remain in long-term detention in the US center in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Fourth Amendment was put in place to eliminate unlawful seizures and searches of property without a search warrant. The exclusive rule was allowed by the Supreme Court to change the 4th amendment to state that police can search an arrested person. The police can search for something which they feel could endanger the lives of citizens. This law prohibits law enforcement agencies from questioning or searching for private properties in America. The agents cannot search for information from American citizens if they are not certain that they are keeping dangerous weapons. The first human right that is abused or upheld by anti-terrorism agencies is one's right to privacy. This right is specifically meant to give people immunity from wiretapping, house searches, surveillance and stalking, and body searches. Sometimes they cannot prove to the judge that the lives of other citizens are in danger to receive a warrant. This is a major challenge because many terrorists walk freely because they know that they are protected by the law. The counterterrorism policy is not successful in combating terrorism because of the established standards and procedures of capturing and sentencing a suspect. The policy does not permit the use of lethal force during the process of capturing a suspect . Many intelligence and law enforcement organizations are fighting a common enemy. These include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Security Agency (NSA), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Sharing sensitive terrorism information to these communities has been a major challenge due to the level of its confidentiality required. As a result, these diverse organizations carry out their investigations without involving each other. The method became lengthy and expensive because each of them has to develop approaches to combatting terrorism without the help of the other to avoid leakage.

The government should address these challenges to improve counter-terrorism efforts. Laws such as the protection from search and seizure by the constitution has been a major challenge. The 4th amendment gives people privacy since their vehicles, and houses cannot be searched without a valid reason. The congress can amend this law to allow law enforcement agencies to search a private property or individual if they feel that he or she is carrying a dangerous weapon. The diverse enforcement agencies should work together to achieve one objective. Fines and warnings should be given to the officers who leak terrorism-related information.

To improve the counterterrorism policy, the government should collaborate with human rights activists to define the boundary between liberty and security. Terrorists do not care about human rights when they cause massive killings of innocent citizens. Why should there be rules that protect people who disrespect others? The policy should allow intelligence agencies to use lethal force to some extent to obtain significant intelligence to prevent or prevent terrorist plans. However, lethal force should only be used to stop or prevent terrorists from planning or killing American citizens. Lethal force should not be substituted for prosecuting a suspect in a court of law. The force should be used under the hostile condition and no other reasonable alternative can be implemented to address the situation. However, the use of lethal force must meet several preconditions when used outside areas of immense hostility. The conditions include, first, the existence of a legal basis to use lethal force against a terrorist leader or organization that plans to conduct an attack. Second, terrorists pose a continuing threat to the citizens of the United States. However, lethal force should not be used if the terrorists do not pose an imminent threat. To improve the policy, there should be an emphasis on intelligence agencies to promote cooperation among different organizations. The agencies should obtain information about emerging threats and interrupt the plan through intelligence, not military attacks.

In conclusion in past years, terrorism was state-sponsored and Congress enacted several laws and regulations to prevent it. The United States reduced terrorism attacks by combining military and diplomatic approaches. However, extremism continues to spread despite several counter-terrorism efforts by the U.S. Laws and diverse intelligence organizations are the two major challenges that the government should address these to combat the spread of terrorism. To improve the counterterrorism policy, the government should draw a balance between human rights and security through legislation. The coordination of intelligence agencies can reduce the likelihood of future terrorist attacks through combined efforts and the use of advanced technology to obtain information. In as much individual human rights have to be upheld, it is critical to craft legislation that is flexible enough to enable the anti-terrorism agencies to have a competitive advantage in creating a safe and terror-free world.

Bibliography

Anderson, Kenneth. Targeted killing in U.S. counterterrorism strategy and law (May 11, 2009). Retrieved from http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2009/05/11-counterterrorism-andersonCrelinsten, Ronald. Counterterrorism. John Wiley & Sons, 2013.

Nacos, Brigitte L. Terrorism and counterterrorism. Routledge, 2016.National Commission on Terrorism. Countering the Changing Threat of International Terrorism, 2001. National Commission on Terrorism. Retrieved from https://fas.org/irp/threat/commission.html

Northam, J. Calls Renewed For Better U.S. Counter-Terrorism Strategies, 2006. Retrieved from Https://Www.Npr.Org/Templates/Story/Story.Php?Storyid=6362624?Storyid=6362624

Perl, R. F. National strategy for combating terrorism: Background and Issues for Congress, 2006. Retrieved from http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/crsreports/crsdocuments/RL34230_11012007.pdf

QC, Ben Emmerson. "New counter-terrorism measures: Continuing challenges for human rights." In Using Human Rights to Counter Terrorism. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781784715267/9781784715267.00008.xml