V

HLS 3303, Terrorism Response Operations 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit V Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

6. Develop a plan for post-terrorism recovery. 6.1 Choose a topic and potential resources for a post-terrorism recovery plan. 6.2 Identify the elements of homeland security dedicated to protecting the United States from

violent extremism. Required Unit Resources Chapter 7: Antiterrorism and Counterterrorism Unit Lesson What is counterterrorism? Is there a difference between counterterrorism and anti-terrorism? If there is a difference between counterterrorism and anti-terrorism, what exactly are the differences? Oliver et al. (2021) examined the killing of Osama bin Laden as it related to counterterrorism efforts and go on to further indicate that the killing of Osama bin Laden clearly shows the capability of the United States’ counterterrorism efforts. However, since the United States has exceptional resources and intelligence capabilities, should it have taken approximately 10 years to capture Osama bin Laden? It is important to think about the coordination that is required for a country to excel at such an operation.

Osama bin Laden Consider the case of Osama bin Laden. First, one must have the right amount of intelligence on the whereabouts of the subject of interest, and this information must be accurate. Additionally, it is important to remember that the target was not within the United States. The intelligence about the location of the subject had to be obtained from a foreign location. This alone can be seen as an enormous challenge to finding such a target from afar. Let us continue to examine this case further. After such intelligence about a target is obtained, the accuracy of the information must be confirmed to any extent possible. It is important for one to examine this to get a better understanding of the amount of resources, time, and energy that may go into such an intense operation. Additionally, the applicable leadership and stakeholders had to examine options to obtain what was the best course of action for potentially “taking out” the subject—Osama bin Laden. This requires an enormous amount of planning, coordination, and communication. After all these steps are taken, there remains the actual implementation of the operation. Keep in mind that as the operation of taking out the target commences; everything must be as close to perfect as possible. Was the intelligence correct, and would Osama bin Laden be at that location at the time of the operations? Would innocent lives be lost during this operation? Would the American team be met by resistance during this operation? These are all questions that should have been examined in great detail. Oliver et al. (2021) indicated that most individuals will agree that that the counterterrorism effort that was initiated to locate and subsequently kill Osama bin Laden was indispensable. As discussed, one can clearly see the amount of analysis, intelligence, resources, and information that is needed to establish a successful operation.

National Counterterrorism Center

UNIT V STUDY GUIDE Mitigating the Impact of a Potential Terrorist Attack

HLS 3303, Terrorism Response Operations 2

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title

Oliver et al. (2021) indicated how the National Counterterrorism Center has an impact on United States’ policy. The National Counterterrorism Center was originally established as the Terrorism Threat Integration Center, which commenced in 2003 under President George W. Bush. In 2004, the Terrorism Threat Integration Center’s name was changed to the National Counterterrorism Center (Oliver et al., 2021). What is the purpose of the National Counterterrorism Center? The National Counterterrorism Center has a variety of functions, but the center primarily examines and analyzes threats. Additionally, after the attacks of 9/11, some lessons learned were that applicable stakeholders and intelligence officials failed to communicate effectively and share information with one another. The lack of sharing information could cause devastation and a lapse within the process. Therefore, other functions of the National Counterterrorism Center are to foster and facilitate the sharing of information (Oliver et al., 2021). Why would agencies within the same government not share information? There could be several reasons for this, to include the lack of transparency and trust. As a leader, it is important to encourage the personnel within your organization to work together. How does the National Counterterrorism Center relate to counterterrorism and anti-terrorism? What exactly is the difference between counterterrorism and anti-terrorism? Counterterrorism is focused on offensive activities aimed at defeating a terrorist both domestically and internationally, whereas anti-terrorism pertains to the defensive actions that are suggested for defeating terrorism (Oliver et al., 2021).

Critical Infrastructure Why are critical infrastructure and key resources important as they relate to anti-terrorism measures? Critical infrastructure protection is a combination of functions meant to prevent, deter, and neutralize a terrorist attack on the country’s infrastructure. Thus, to provide you with an idea of the impact of a terrorist attack on a critical infrastructure, let’s examine the attacks of 9/11. The World Trade Center was completely destroyed because of these destructive attacks by terrorists on September 11, 2001. The attack on this critical infrastructure caused an immense impact to the economy as well. The loss of lives, businesses, jobs, and the destruction of the World Trade Center were felt for many years after those attacks. Consequently, one could only imagine the amount of devastation and chaos that would be caused if an attack were to occur on a multitude of critical infrastructures within the United States. Protecting critical infrastructure is imperative, and the myriad of agencies involved have different areas of responsibilities. Although various agencies are tasked with protecting different aspects of critical infrastructure, this still should require constant communication, planning, and coordination from all applicable agencies involved (Oliver et al., 2021).

Counterterrorism Strategy and Policies Since 9/11 It is prudent to discuss the counter-terrorism policies that have occurred in the United States since 9/11. Four presidents have now held office in the United States since 2001. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had similar elements in their counter-terrorism policies, while those of President Trump differed significantly from his predecessors. President Bush focused his policy on bringing the United States’ belief in the democratic system of government to other nations and having a proactive strategy as it relates to stopping potential terrorists before they became an imminent threat (Oliver et al., 2021). President Obama focused on unilateralism and getting other nations involved in such threats. President Obama focused on a strategic approach to combating terrorism. The Obama administration tended to view the CIA as its primary agency for combating terrorism internationally (Oliver et al., 2021). President Trump’s counterterrorism strategy was refocused on radical Islamist terrorism. While his strategy set specific and important goals for a counterterrorism approach, it was sometimes unclear how it would be carried out (Oliver et al., 2021). President Trump’s approach was often tied to and relied upon policy to restrict immigration as a means to deter terrorists from entering the United States.

HLS 3303, Terrorism Response Operations 3

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title

As of this writing in 2021, the strategy of President Biden is still being developed and promulgated. He may echo the focus and strategies of President Obama in many ways, and he may rescind or revise his immediate predecessor’s strategy and policies regarding counterterrorism. It is important to note that the main objective of any president should be to protect the country and the people of the country. However, counterterrorism efforts do not end with the president. Most federal agencies have some aspect of protecting the homeland within its charter, be it infrastructure protection, economic stability, or emergency management. State and local governments have their own directives, responsibilities, and plans to protect their citizens. Finally, each American citizen has not only a vested interest but a true responsibility under the basic principles of U.S. citizenship to defend the U.S. Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Reference Oliver, W. M., Marion, N. E., & Hill, J. B. (2021). Introduction to homeland security: Policy, organization, and

administration (2nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781284205213

Suggested Unit Resources In order to access the following resources, click the links below. The following PowerPoint presentation provides a summary of the material in this unit’s chapter reading. The PowerPoint and PDF versions are provided for your convenience. Chapter 7 PowerPoint Presentation (Chapter 7 PDF)

HLS 3303, Terrorism Response Operations 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit V Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

6. Develop a plan for post-terrorism recovery. 6.1 Choose a topic and potential resources for a post-terrorism recovery plan. 6.2 Identify the elements of homeland security dedicated to protecting the United States from

violent extremism. Required Unit Resources Chapter 7: Antiterrorism and Counterterrorism Unit Lesson What is counterterrorism? Is there a difference between counterterrorism and anti-terrorism? If there is a difference between counterterrorism and anti-terrorism, what exactly are the differences? Oliver et al. (2021) examined the killing of Osama bin Laden as it related to counterterrorism efforts and go on to further indicate that the killing of Osama bin Laden clearly shows the capability of the United States’ counterterrorism efforts. However, since the United States has exceptional resources and intelligence capabilities, should it have taken approximately 10 years to capture Osama bin Laden? It is important to think about the coordination that is required for a country to excel at such an operation.

Osama bin Laden Consider the case of Osama bin Laden. First, one must have the right amount of intelligence on the whereabouts of the subject of interest, and this information must be accurate. Additionally, it is important to remember that the target was not within the United States. The intelligence about the location of the subject had to be obtained from a foreign location. This alone can be seen as an enormous challenge to finding such a target from afar. Let us continue to examine this case further. After such intelligence about a target is obtained, the accuracy of the information must be confirmed to any extent possible. It is important for one to examine this to get a better understanding of the amount of resources, time, and energy that may go into such an intense operation. Additionally, the applicable leadership and stakeholders had to examine options to obtain what was the best course of action for potentially “taking out” the subject—Osama bin Laden. This requires an enormous amount of planning, coordination, and communication. After all these steps are taken, there remains the actual implementation of the operation. Keep in mind that as the operation of taking out the target commences; everything must be as close to perfect as possible. Was the intelligence correct, and would Osama bin Laden be at that location at the time of the operations? Would innocent lives be lost during this operation? Would the American team be met by resistance during this operation? These are all questions that should have been examined in great detail. Oliver et al. (2021) indicated that most individuals will agree that that the counterterrorism effort that was initiated to locate and subsequently kill Osama bin Laden was indispensable. As discussed, one can clearly see the amount of analysis, intelligence, resources, and information that is needed to establish a successful operation.

National Counterterrorism Center

UNIT V STUDY GUIDE Mitigating the Impact of a Potential Terrorist Attack

HLS 3303, Terrorism Response Operations 2

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title

Oliver et al. (2021) indicated how the National Counterterrorism Center has an impact on United States’ policy. The National Counterterrorism Center was originally established as the Terrorism Threat Integration Center, which commenced in 2003 under President George W. Bush. In 2004, the Terrorism Threat Integration Center’s name was changed to the National Counterterrorism Center (Oliver et al., 2021). What is the purpose of the National Counterterrorism Center? The National Counterterrorism Center has a variety of functions, but the center primarily examines and analyzes threats. Additionally, after the attacks of 9/11, some lessons learned were that applicable stakeholders and intelligence officials failed to communicate effectively and share information with one another. The lack of sharing information could cause devastation and a lapse within the process. Therefore, other functions of the National Counterterrorism Center are to foster and facilitate the sharing of information (Oliver et al., 2021). Why would agencies within the same government not share information? There could be several reasons for this, to include the lack of transparency and trust. As a leader, it is important to encourage the personnel within your organization to work together. How does the National Counterterrorism Center relate to counterterrorism and anti-terrorism? What exactly is the difference between counterterrorism and anti-terrorism? Counterterrorism is focused on offensive activities aimed at defeating a terrorist both domestically and internationally, whereas anti-terrorism pertains to the defensive actions that are suggested for defeating terrorism (Oliver et al., 2021).

Critical Infrastructure Why are critical infrastructure and key resources important as they relate to anti-terrorism measures? Critical infrastructure protection is a combination of functions meant to prevent, deter, and neutralize a terrorist attack on the country’s infrastructure. Thus, to provide you with an idea of the impact of a terrorist attack on a critical infrastructure, let’s examine the attacks of 9/11. The World Trade Center was completely destroyed because of these destructive attacks by terrorists on September 11, 2001. The attack on this critical infrastructure caused an immense impact to the economy as well. The loss of lives, businesses, jobs, and the destruction of the World Trade Center were felt for many years after those attacks. Consequently, one could only imagine the amount of devastation and chaos that would be caused if an attack were to occur on a multitude of critical infrastructures within the United States. Protecting critical infrastructure is imperative, and the myriad of agencies involved have different areas of responsibilities. Although various agencies are tasked with protecting different aspects of critical infrastructure, this still should require constant communication, planning, and coordination from all applicable agencies involved (Oliver et al., 2021).

Counterterrorism Strategy and Policies Since 9/11 It is prudent to discuss the counter-terrorism policies that have occurred in the United States since 9/11. Four presidents have now held office in the United States since 2001. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had similar elements in their counter-terrorism policies, while those of President Trump differed significantly from his predecessors. President Bush focused his policy on bringing the United States’ belief in the democratic system of government to other nations and having a proactive strategy as it relates to stopping potential terrorists before they became an imminent threat (Oliver et al., 2021). President Obama focused on unilateralism and getting other nations involved in such threats. President Obama focused on a strategic approach to combating terrorism. The Obama administration tended to view the CIA as its primary agency for combating terrorism internationally (Oliver et al., 2021). President Trump’s counterterrorism strategy was refocused on radical Islamist terrorism. While his strategy set specific and important goals for a counterterrorism approach, it was sometimes unclear how it would be carried out (Oliver et al., 2021). President Trump’s approach was often tied to and relied upon policy to restrict immigration as a means to deter terrorists from entering the United States.

HLS 3303, Terrorism Response Operations 3

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title

As of this writing in 2021, the strategy of President Biden is still being developed and promulgated. He may echo the focus and strategies of President Obama in many ways, and he may rescind or revise his immediate predecessor’s strategy and policies regarding counterterrorism. It is important to note that the main objective of any president should be to protect the country and the people of the country. However, counterterrorism efforts do not end with the president. Most federal agencies have some aspect of protecting the homeland within its charter, be it infrastructure protection, economic stability, or emergency management. State and local governments have their own directives, responsibilities, and plans to protect their citizens. Finally, each American citizen has not only a vested interest but a true responsibility under the basic principles of U.S. citizenship to defend the U.S. Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Reference Oliver, W. M., Marion, N. E., & Hill, J. B. (2021). Introduction to homeland security: Policy, organization, and

administration (2nd ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781284205213

Suggested Unit Resources In order to access the following resources, click the links below. The following PowerPoint presentation provides a summary of the material in this unit’s chapter reading. The PowerPoint and PDF versions are provided for your convenience. Chapter 7 PowerPoint Presentation (Chapter 7 PDF)