American Security Post 9/11 Research Paper

Mission Overlaps within the Department of Homeland Security In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is primarily responsible for ensuring the safety of the general public. Aside from that, this department seeks to protect the U.S. from terrorists, and it ensures that the immigration and customs is properly managed, and that disaster is efficiently prevented, as the case may be. However, some have called for the shutting down of the DHS because mission areas overlap within this department. In line with this assertion, this paper will identify the possible mission areas or responsibilities that overlap within the DHS and at the same time, this paper will also provide recommendations for possible consolidation.

It is safe to assume that after the attacks of 9/11, something needed to be done. The events of 9/11 “drastically altered the way in which society views the threats within a rapidly expanding interconnected world. In the wake of these catastrophic attacks, the U.S. federal government engaged in the single largest bureaucratic overhaul since 1947, when Harry Truman reconfigured the nation’s armed forces, creating the Department of Defense” (Noftsinger, et al., 2007). This overhaul was the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

Department of Homeland Security: Gaps and Fixes The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had a colorful 14-year history. Many will say that the DHS has created a hulking bureaucracy and has placed or lumped together a great deal of departments that do not have any related functions. DHS currently suffers from a great deal of structural issues, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Transportation Safety Administration, and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement are in dire need of Presidential attention. Federal Emergency Management Agency Division of Responsibility

The protection of United States territory, sovereignty, population, and critical infrastructure against external threats and aggression is a main mission for the military. Although military size has decreased over the past years it is apparent that the advances in the technology by way of the military development is necessary. Regardless of the decrease in size the military paired with it’s capabilities for homeland security, which by definition is different then homeland defense. The military plays a huge part in both homeland efforts. “Homeland security is defined as: a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce the vulnerability of the United States to terrorism, and minimize the damage and assist in the recovery from terrorist attacks.

The hardening the critical infrastructure and potential targets since 9/11

Compared to other departments of the federal government, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the youngest among all. After the tragic events of 9/11, DHS was created by the passing of the “Department of Homeland Security Act of 2002, and was an outgrowth of the Office of Homeland Security established by President George W. Bush after Sept. 11, 2001. Strong congressional support for a new federal department that would unify diverse and overlapping security functions of the federal government led to a White House proposal for the DHS in June, 2002, and the legislation was passed late the same year.” (Pearson Education, 2000 - 2015). The creation of the DHS allowed for the reorganizing of existing agencies with functions

The mission statement for the Department of Homeland Security was developed after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. It was immediately evident that our country was vulnerable to attacks from within and from outside of our borders. The White House acted quickly and within 11 days appointed Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Ridge, the first Director of Homeland Security in the White House (Homeland Security, 2015). Their mission statement is as follows: “The vision of homeland security is to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards” (Homeland Security, 2015).

On September 11, 2001 four U.S. planes were hijacked by the terrorist group, al-Qaeda, and were used as weapons of mass destruction in a suicide terrorist attack which targeted four separate U.S. locations. Over 3,000 people died, more than 6,000 people were injured and there was over $10 billion dollars in damage, to property in the United States. These occurrences which took place on September 11, 2001 were among the most devastating hits to the United States in history, to date.  [1].

The money spent on protecting our country has went up greatly of the years since 9-11.(Green, 2014, para. 7) 9-11 made people to question if our country is really secure. This caused the government to make a lot of polices to help make our country safe for the people living there. These polices focused on security, immigration, defense and etc.

The attacks of September 11th, 2001 left nearly 3,000 innocent Americans dead. It was the worst attack ever on American soil, and the worst terrorist attack the world has ever seen. It left America in a difficult situation-it must do something to confront the growing terrorism problem around the world. George Bush, the leader of the nation, had to come up with a response to this attack and gave a speech to Congress outlining his plan to combat terror. He made his purpose very clear throughout the speech, as he consistently laid out plans to combat terror.

The morning of Tuesday September 11, 2011 is one of the biggest tradgies of all time. On this specific day four airlines were hijacked by an Islamic group that goes by the name al-Qaeda. The attacks took the lives of 2,996 innocent people, injured nearly 6,000 people, and caused at least $10 billion in infracture and property damage. These attacks, also known as the 9/11 attacks, will forever be remebered as one of the most horrific days for so many people around this world.

One objective that CBP has in regards to border security, is to increase their situational awareness of the air, land, and maritime borders (CBP.gov 17). This means that the CBP is constantly making sure they stay on top of current threats and are ready to defend against any situation that they may encounter. A Second objective CBP has is to detect, interdict, and disrupt any type of illegal cross-border activities that may occur (CBP.gov). This is important when it comes to the security of the United States, because one of the illegal activities that could be occurring along the border is terrorist trying to get into the country. A good way to ensure that illegal cross-border activities do not take place, is by building and maintaining a superb relationship with all of the state, local, federal, tribal, and international partners

Before the terrible event of 9/11 many United States citizens could agree that they felt generally safe living in the U.S. People could live their lives and not worry about an attack against them or their love ones. Everyone was friendly and opened to each other because there was no fear. But, unfortunately the views of everyday living have changed as a result of the attacks on the United States. The continued threat of terrorism has affected the lives of Americans in negative ways. 9/11 has made a big impact and has effected U.S citizens for many reasons.

After 9/11, historians started to think about changing the study of foreign policy; including things that they once thought as insignificant came into the light and began to be re-analyzed. Ever since 9/11 our world has changed forever. Transportation Security Agency, or TSA, which was once

September 11 left lasting effects on the citizens of the U.S. As George W. Bush told us, “Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of