Political Science Dealing with Terrorism Discussion

Initial Post at least 750 words and two replies of at least 250 words. For each thread, you must support your assertions with at least two scholarly citations in current APA format. Each reply must incorporate at least one scholarly citations in current APA format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include Textbooks, the Bible, and peer reviewed literature.

Topic: Dealing with Terrorism

After having read the text and any additional research you choose, provide at least 1 detailed example for each phase of emergency management as it would apply to dealing with terrorism. Include the 4 original phases (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery), and prevention. You may approach this from a micro or macro level in other words a local, state, regional, or a national level or a combination of them as you deem appropriate for each phase.

https://www.rand.org/topics/domestic-terrorism.htm…

A Sample Answer For the Assignment: Political Science Dealing with Terrorism Discussion

Title: Political Science Dealing with Terrorism Discussion

Peer Response #1

This week we were able to give an example for each phase of emergency management related to dealing with terrorism. Whether it is man-made or a natural disaster, the planning process is interchangeable. You will still need police, fire, and medical for either type of disaster.

Prevention

Prevention of a terrorist attack is complex when you do not know where the attack will come from. Developing programs that will allow the public to help identify possible threats is an excellent way to help with prevention. “September 25 has been designated as national “If You See Something, Say Something” Awareness Day. The campaign works with partners year-round to inspire, empower and educate the public on suspicious activity reporting.” (Department of Homeland Security, n.a., section National Awareness Day, para 1)

Mitigation

Build a team to work began planning for a terrorist attack. This team should include the city manager, police chief, fire department representative, IT representative, EOC director, and a representative from the local hospitals. First, this team would be tasked with identifying potential risks at the city level for natural or man-made occurrences. After they know the chance, they can start to create a plan of action should a natural or man-made event happen.

Preparedness

Identify State programs for educating and training the health workforce. The works force must be educated in how to respond and work with emergency medical systems at all levels of government. (Ziskin & Harris, 2007, section “Education and Training,” para 1) The Bioterrorism Act of 2002 authorized funding for states, municipalities, and territorial governments through cooperative agreements with the Health Resources and Services Administration and the CDC.” (Ziskin & Harris, 2007, section “Funding for the States’ Preparedness Efforts”, para 1) All states need to take advantage of this funding to ensure that their workforce is educated should an event happen.

Response

During the response period, it is essential to keep the public informed. Keeping people informed will help prevent widespread panic, and we as advise them of what area they need to avoid. This is also an excellent way of getting the word out if they need to evacuate. This would hold for natural or man-made occurrences. Partnering with local news channels should be considered in the Mitigation stage; this will ensure that the word can be distributed to the general public during an event.

Recovery

After the response phase is over, a community resiliency center (CRC) should ensure that services and assistance are provided to victims, family members, first responders, and anyone else affected by this disaster. (Office for Victims of Crime, 2015, Recovery: Victim Assistance, para 1) The CRC team should be planned for during mitigation. This would ensure that the team is ready to step in as soon as the response phase is over.

“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith, he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.” (New International Bible, 1978/2011, Hebrews 11:7) Our City, state, and National Governments have plans to deal with disasters brought on via natural and Man-made. I am a firm believer that we should also have plans with our families for disasters. Noah was warned, and he followed God’s direction to prepare to take care of his family. Tornadoes are the disaster that will most likely affect where I live. A tornado shelter was installed in our garage to help protect our family. We also have at least one week of food and water supply within the shelter. Being prepared to help yourself will enable you to help others if the need arises.

Peer Response #2

The phases of emergency management translate well with regard to terrorism. Each of the four phases, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery, have a critical role with terrorism and terrorist attacks. Additionally, a critically important phase of this process is prevention. As our nation continues to address the war on terror, these phases are vital in guiding that process.

Mitigation is focused on reducing or eliminating risk to people and property from hazards and their effects (Sylves, 2020). A useful tool in the mitigative process is a threat assessment focusing on a terrorist attack. A specific example of this entails identifying building and/or structures of concern. Some topics to consider would be the type of building, the location, and possible number of occupants that inhabit them. Also, another factor would be the likelihood of an attack at any of those locations for concern. Meaning, would a specific building be a target for a terrorist attack based on an affiliation or relationship to a particular government, group, etc. We have seen this play out in domestic terrorist issues with Planned Parenthood facilities being targeted due to the nature of their work and the strong beliefs of individuals and/or organizations actively seeking to disrupt their operations.

The next step could be to identify and consider potential consequences of an attack at any of the identified locations. Specifically, through the emergency management lens with a terrorism focus, what could be the potential result with regard to loss of life and property at the identified areas of concern. Another useful term for this would be a consequence assessment. If a attack were to be successful, what would the magnitude of damage be. For example, the Twin Towers housed a large amount of people in those buildings, thus making them a prime target to cause a catastrophically large damage to life and property.

The third and last step in this threat assessment process would be a vulnerability assessment. This evaluates if an attack was successful, what would the probability of damage, loss of life and affects to other entities related to the attacked location. Reducing vulnerabilities could be accomplished by identifying vulnerable areas that lack adequate security to prevent a breach.

The second phases, preparedness, focuses on developing a response plan and training for first responders to save lives and reduce property damage (Sylves, 2020). A perfect example of this would be active shooter training. Law enforcement nationwide have learned through experience of how to best respond to these situations. As such, curricula and training have been developed and implemented to respond to such incidents. Since then, we have seen law enforcement respond to numerous active shooter incidents where the training and plans have been utilized which helped prevent further loss of life. This training was initially optional but has since been made mandatory for most agencies.

The response phase deals with responding to an emergency incident which has already occurred, and is focused on preventing loss of additional life and property damage. Relating back to active shooter incidents, the response phase is critical. Historically, SWAT teams were called out and a much more timely and methodical approach was used. However, this tactic lacked urgency and allowed the unnecessary loss of life. Now when responding to an active shooter, law enforcement form a small team and begin to immediately search for and eliminate the threat(s). Responding in this manner aims to prevent additional loss of life. During 9/11, the response phase was unique in how long it took due to the vast amount of damage and missing people. Expansive searches were conducted for a prolonged period of time in search for survivors trapped by the collapsed buildings.

Recovery encompasses the restoration, rebuilding, and return to normalcy as much as possible. In 9/11, again this phases lasted an extremely long time, arguably still to this day. Due to the tragedy that occurred that day, after the clean up was accomplished the decision to not rebuild was made. Rather, the sites of the two Twin Towers is now a memorial dedicated to the lives lost that day, and those who continue to succumb to injuries or illnesses they sustained from that day.

Prevention, in my opinion, is the most important phase regarding terrorism. While some of its principles are encompassed in the mitigation and preparedness phases, it expands beyond that. Preventing something from happening is rooted in deterrence (Pelfrey, 2005). The United States has taken an aggressive response in deterring another terrorist attack from happening. Post 9/11 we have seen this play out in the form of increased airline security, the development of Joint Terrorism Task Forces, the creation of Fusion Centers, and so on. Information sharing and collaboration amongst various first responder agencies has increased to work collaboratively in preventing terrorist attacks, which was not a high priority before 9/11.

Preventing another terrorist attack is a collaborative effort. I was reminded of the battle when Israel defeated Amalek in the book of Ezekiel. In Chapter 17:11, it said whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but whenever he lowered it Amalek prevailed. In verse 12 Moses became weary, so Aaron and Hur held up an arm on each side until the battle was won. I see a lot of significance with this that fighting terrorism is a team effort to win this battle. We need to help each other and work together to accomplish the mission of saving lives and property to keep the U.S. safe.