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The potential effects of continued mirror-imaging on future US strategy and policy in Homeland Security Homeland Security is the national program intended to ensure appropriate defense of the country. In fact, this term started to be in use after Sep. 11, when President Bush decided to make stronger emphasis on USA security creating separate Department called Homeland Security Department or DHS. It encompasses not only simple defense procedures, but also every mean to prevent any harassment attacks from the outside as well as inside. The evaluation of Homeland Security shows that much has been really accomplished over the years. However, in order to achieve the desired effects there is still much needed to be done. Homeland Security is an extremely important issue for the USA, as it directly concerns the national interest and well-being.
It has to do with such strategic objects as ports, the railroads, the airlines, the utility plants, the food supply, and communications. Moreover, it directly concerns both businesspeople who have to abide to any governmental procedures concerning market expansion and the permission to sell certain products on the territory of the USA, as well as common people, who are to undergo severe checking procedures in the airports and railway stations. Thus, it is crucial that all citizens of the USA know what to expect and whether they are properly protected. The Governmental foremost task is to ensure openness and honesty in the policy of Homeland Security. However, this is exactly the field where Bush's Administration has done the biggest mistake, for as Lieberman (2004) testifies, the Department of Homeland Security itself is the most secretive of agencies in the most secretive of administrations. It is interesting though that three-quarters of Americans say they are satisfied that the government is doing a good job of protecting them from terrorists. (Lieberman, 2004) However, as Lieberman (2004) assures, "billions of dollars have been spent, vast quantities of data that were once part of the public record have vanished, reams of new regulations have been written, and the largest reorganization of the federal government in half a century has taken place -- all in the name of defending the homeland. " This sarcastic mood can be easily understood given that over the last couple of years, coverage of the effort to prevent another 9 / 11 has been spotty, episodic, reactive, and shallow.
Lieberman argues that the true information about Homeland Security achievements or rather the absence of these achievements are thoroughly hidden from people's ears. In fact, there is no coverage at all of all 24 agencies that work on Homeland Security. There is no reporters or channels that cover the work of at least some of these agencies full-time. Thus, the reasonable question arises: if so important information for everybody in the USA is kept in such a secret, does it mean that Homeland Security bureaucrats do have a lot to hide? This question does provoke serious worries as to our real conditions of safety. Therefore, it is necessary to assess what has actually been done since the very cruel moment of Sep. 11 2001.
The Department of Homeland Security was founded in 2002 to lead in protecting our national and globally integrated infrastructure, and organize national capabilities for responding to any catastrophic attacks. (Washington Times, 2005) The organizational structure of Department of Homeland Security is quite complex. It has been told already that it consists of 24 agencies, the main among which are: Office of Intelligence and Analysis -- responsible for using information and intelligence from multiple sources to identify and assess current and future threats to the United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) -- - prepares the nation for hazards, manages Federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident, and administers the National Flood Insurance Program. Transportation Security Administration -- protects the nation's transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce. Customs and Border Protection -- responsible for protecting our nation's borders in order to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the United States, while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- responsible for identifying and shutting down vulnerabilities in the nation's border, economic, transportation and infrastructure security.
US Secret Service -- protects the President and other high-level officials and investigates counterfeiting and other financial crimes, including financial institution fraud, identity theft, computer fraud; and computer-based attacks on our nation's financial, banking, and telecommunications infrastructure. (DHS official web) Those are just some of the agencies that constitute the extremely large and bureaucratic apparatus of DHS. The strategic goals of DHS are identified as the following: 1. Awareness -- Identify and understand threats, assess vulnerabilities, determine potential impacts and disseminate timely information to our homeland security partners and the American public. 2. Prevention -- Detect, deter and mitigate threats to our homeland. 3. Protection -- Safeguard our people and their freedoms, critical infrastructure, property and the economy of our Nation from acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. 4. Response -- Lead, manage and coordinate the national response to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. 5.
Recovery -- Lead national, state, local and private sector efforts to restore services and rebuild communities after acts of terrorism, natural disasters, or other emergencies. 6. Service -- Serve the public effectively by facilitating lawful trade, travel and immigration. 7. Organizational Excellence -- Value our most important resource, our people. Create a culture that promotes a common identity, innovation, mutual respect, accountability and teamwork to achieve efficiencies, effectiveness, and operational synergies. (DHS official web) Simply saying the main focus of Homeland Security policy still remains on preventing terrorist attacks, increasing military recognition, and defending borders and increasing internal communications in order for all the citizens to be aware of what is going on within the country. As for the first strategic task, the White House in 2006 reported the following accomplishments: Establishing The National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). The Center identifies, coordinates, and prioritizes the counterterrorism intelligence requirements of America's intelligence agencies and develops strategic operational plans for implementation.
Establishing The Terrorist Screening Center. The Center ensures that government investigators, screeners, and agents are working with the same unified, comprehensive set of information about terrorists. Transforming The FBI To Focus On Preventing Terrorism. The President has led the effort to transform the FBI into an agency focused on preventing terrorist attacks through intelligence collection and other key efforts, while improving its ability to perform its traditional role as a world-class law-enforcement agency.
Improving Border Screening And Security Through The US-VISIT Entry-Exit System. US-VISIT uses cutting-edge biometric technology to help ensure that our borders remain open to legitimate travelers but closed to terrorists. US-VISIT is in place at 115 airports, 14 seaports, and 50 land border crossings across the country. Since January 2004, more than 39 million visitors have been checked through US-VISIT. Increasing Cooperation And Reform Among International Partners At The Front Lines Of The War On Terror. In Pakistan over the next five years, USA will provide more than $ 3 billion in security, economic, and development assistance to enhance counterterrorism capacity and promote continued reform, including of the education system.
In the last three years, the United States provided more than $ 4. 5 billion in reconstruction, economic, and security assistance programs to Afghanistan. (White House official web, 2006) As we can see, DHS tries to provide all necessary procedures in order to ensure the proper protection of terrorism. Its long-going security policy is intended not only to enhance the domestic safety using all protective measures, but also to cooperate with other country to ensure future protection and prevent possible terrorist attacks. Those longings of President's Administration can be qualified as positive and strategically oriented. However, the main problem that arises here is that institutional changes do not necessarily lead to increased output efficiency. The newly build counterterrorism center cannot itself give a guarantee that it won't double the functions of other agencies.
The extension of bureaucratic apparatus seem more likely to be an attempt to create an image of doing something, rather than doing the right thing. Moreover, any additional agencies require additional financing, which means that money is going to be withdrawn from many other also important program...
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Research essay sample on Department Of Homeland Security Acts Of Terrorism
