Student Post #8

Adam Hutchison

This post will discuss concepts learned throughout the course and how those concepts and current efforts may be utilized to enhance other efforts to prevent terror attacks against the United States. George W. Bush established the Department of Homeland Security (Taylor & Swanson, 2019). This was not just another department in its own right. The new department created a framework for the intelligence community that allowed for a sort of unification of intelligence sharing; one of the main missions of the department is the prevention of terrorist attacks (Dahl, 2021). This new department took the lead in wartime over the intelligence and war-fighting branches. The Department of Homeland Security has many hats or missions, as they have an intelligence wing, as well as other white-collar jobs. This department has probably helped to keep the United States secure through the decades after the attacks in September of 2001. Ways that an enhancement of security can occur is through people. People are needed to continue the defense of the United States. The media can be used to paint a positive picture of serving the country. Movies such as Top Gun in the 1980s were used as a major recruitment tool to add a thrill to join the Navy, with naval recruiters setting up shop in the opening days of that popular movie release, at movie theatres (1986). Many young people today often have a negative view of the United States and serving due to oppositional ideological subversion and oppositional media against the United States. The terror threat today is at its highest level. Other oppositional forces from rising powers, like China, are hurting the interests of the United States. Russia has been a steadfast opponent of United States' interests, even as their power has waned as they fight a losing battle in Ukraine and their mercenary groups have risen up against them. Some problems with fighting the war on terror in the United States is that Americans have grown accustomed to appreciating a sense of privacy. Listening in on private communications is part of intelligence and those that resist this are often patriots but some understand domestic intelligence gathering. Artificial intelligence can help to find patterns that can point to a domestic attack, but widespread eavesdropping on those who are not seen as a risk is opposed and fought fervently opposed by freedom loving Americans. Even still, SIGINT still occurs and may have helped to thwart attacks, even as researchers have suggested that minimal if any, attacks have been thwarted; it is difficult to prove that either has occurred (McLaughlin, 2015). Government use of media and video games can be a useful tool in finding more people to join the fight. Immigration is another mode to attract talent to serve the United States. Immigrants already have a path to join the military to serve and immigrants often speak English well enough to be assets, along with the languages of their home country. Electing leaders that are unifying and not divisive is a necessity that could have assistance from intelligence wings, although this will be controversial it might be a necessity, with an approach that is open and legal.