Post-9/11 Legal Basis for Implementing Current Homeland Security Initiatives - Essay Sample

Introduction

The 9/11 attack was perhaps one of the most devastating attacks ever to happen on American soil. Resulting from a series of four coordinated attacks claimed by Al Qaeda, the attacks changed many things in America. The attack resulted in about 3,000 deaths, more than 6,000 people injured and caused more than $10 billion in damage to infrastructure. The post-9/11 era is the time after the attack to present day that has largely been characterized by increased suspicion on non-Americans and increased government strategy to combat terror. As part of broader measures, America adopted a more aggressive foreign policy that, among other things, saw the country invade Iraq in pursuit of the terrorist groups. The Department of Homeland Securities, (DHS), was created after the attack and was tasked with protecting the country from terrorist attacks. Since then, the department has formulated several critical interventions to address the problem. Some of the executive orders and documents characterizing the post-9/11 era include The National Strategy for Homeland Security 2007, The National Security Strategy 2015, NSPM-4, Homeland Security Executive Order 13354, PPD-8 and PPD-21.

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The main significance of NSPM-4 is that it revised the National Security Council Command Structure as formulated under NSPM-2. Under the NSPM-2, the responsibility of 'determining the agenda' of the National Security Council was shared by the National Security Advisor and the Homeland Security Advisor. NSPM-4 specifies this authority to the National Security Advisor only, unless the responsibility is clearly delegated by the National Security Advisor. NSPM-4 played a significant role in restructuring the National Security Council by specifying the given roles. It also alters the list of the regular attendees and invitees to the council meetings by removing the President's Chief Strategist from the list of invitees among other alterations.

The Presidential Policy Directive (PPD-8) was adopted in the bid to guide the establishment of the National Preparedness Goal. The main significance of the goal was to strengthen the security and resilience of the country through enhancement of preparedness for threats. This directive directed the Secretary of Homeland Security to coordinate with other federal and state authorities, departments, and executive agencies to develop the goal. The directive guided the establishment of the National Preparedness System which provided scalable frameworks for prevention, protection, response, and mitigation of attacks.

Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21) sought to address the need for Critical Infrastructure Protection. The directive identified 16 sectors of critical infrastructure and directed enhancement of protection in these sectors. The sectors identified include energy, financial services, food and agriculture, government facilities, healthcare and public health, information technology, nuclear reactors, materials and waste, transportation systems, water, wastewater systems, chemical, commercial facilities, communications, critical manufacturing, dams, defense industrial base, and emergency services. The directive places these sectors under the focus of the Executive Branch. The Executive is further expected to understand the risks and consequences of infrastructure failure and explore public or private mechanisms to enhance the protection, mitigation of risks, response and recovery.

Developed in 2015, The National Security Strategy strives to enhance the overall national security. The strategy encompasses the principles of security, values, prosperity, and international order. The security component of the strategy aims at strengthening and reinforcing the capabilities of the DHS to combat the terror threat. It also strives to build capacities for the prevention of such attacks, and overly confronting all contributing factors. The prosperity element strives to rejuvenate the U.S.'s economy. The focus is on ensuring a prosperous country that is stable and whose prowess is unchallengeable. The values component strives to encourage the protection and advancement of American values. Finally, the international element strives to re-strategize the country's foreign policy by rooting out terror groups from the Middle East is a critical desire.

The establishment of the National Counterterrorism Center was guided by the adoption of the Homeland Security Executive Order 13354. The primary focus was to have a strengthened and well-coordinated efforts to countering terror. The order directs that a director appointed by the Director of Central Intelligence shall serve as the leader of the center. The center was to serve as the analysis and coordination point for counterterrorism activities and initiatives in the country.

Conclusion

Finally, the National Strategy for Homeland Security was formulated and adopted in 2007 with the sole purpose of guiding, organizing and unifying the DHS's security apparatus. The new strategy provides new guidelines for protection of American people, the critical infrastructure mentioned under PPD-21, and other key resources. The strategy guides the continued strengthening of systems and recognizing the ever-changing nature of terrorism since 9/11. It also identifies the new threats and the vulnerabilities that predispose the country to the threat of attack and specifies that counterterrorism initiatives should continually evolve too. Finally, the strategy specifies protocols and guidelines to be followed in the response of and recovery from attack incidents once they happen.

References

Federal Register, (2017). National Security Presidential Memorandum-4 of April 4, 2017. Vol. 82, No. 65. Retrieved 3rd February 2019, from https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/nspm/nspm-4.pdfHomeland Security Council, (2007). National Strategy for Homeland Security. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 3rd February 2019, from https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/nat_strat_homelandsecurity_2007.pdf

Interagency Security Committee, (). Presidential Policy Directive 21 Implementation: An Interagency Security Committee White Paper. Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved 3rd February 2019, from https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ISC-PPD-21-Implementation-White-Paper-2015-508.pdf

The Whitehouse, (2011). Presidential Policy Directive 8 / PPD-8: National Preparedness. Retrieved 3rd February 2019, from https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/presidential-policy-directive-8-national-preparedness.pdf

The Whitehouse, (2015). The National Security Strategy of 2015. Retrieved 3rd February 2019, from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2015_national_security_strategy_2.pdf