Position Paper Sample on Homeland Security Department and Terrorism Issue

Homeland Security Department (HSD) has over the years strived to promote efforts that are focused on ensuring that the United States is safe and secure from all forms of terror. Today, HSD has also enacted measures that are focused on ensuring that the nation remains resilient in its fight against terrorism. Additionally, the effectiveness of the agency since its incorporation in 2002 can be attributed to the manner in which the department was constituted. That is through the integration of 22 varying government departments as well as law enforcement agencies to form a single unified agency of the cabinet (Oliver, Oliver, Marion, & Hill, 2014). Also, today, there is still a significant number of law enforcement organizations in the United States that have transformed their operations in an effort to promote HSD's vision of promoting national security. Moreover, most federal states have successfully joined the fight against terror through enhancing their respective publics to support HSD's efforts of promoting national security by forming collaborative efforts. Nevertheless, despite the collaboration that the HSD has made with multiple governmental law enforcement agencies, the agency has failed to execute its mandate of securing and safeguarding the security of the people in the nation.

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Summary of the Issue/Conclusion in Part 1

In the last research, (Part 1) it was ascertained that creating an effective HSD is a primary desire for most persons living in the United States. Moreover, it was also established that the locally constituted intelligence agencies like the state police as well as the national guards acquire essential intelligence from the HSD, which then enables them to structure effective counterterrorism activities (Ramsay & Logan, 2012). Ultimately, the findings of the research also attained the information that the prevention of terrorism in the United States require a collaboration and cooperation of state agencies and public members with the HSD. In addition, that is so as to entirely eradicate or minimize the impact of terror attacks when they occur. Nevertheless, despite such claims that were made in the first research, it is evident there is much to be done by the HSD, local federal law enforcement departments, and the public. Additionally, that is in fostering a safe environment for the citizens and attaining the terror-free United States. Moreover, this argument can be illustrated by citing HSD's weaknesses in effectively curbing instances of domestic terrorism that have occurred in the United States since the agency was established.

Position Statement

The HSD's collaboration with multiple agencies and the public has not been effective in ensuring that the United States is safe from terrorist activities. Moreover, this weakness of the agency can be analyzed by citing the multiple terror attacks that have been manifested in the United States. Also, that is during the period of time that the HSD has been in operating in the United States. For instance, in 2009, 13 people were killed while 32 others got injured when Major Nidal Malik Hassan went on a shooting rage in Fort Hood, Texas (CNN, 2018). Additionally, in 2013, there were twin bomb blasts that took place in the United States during the Boston Marathon matches, where three people were killed and approximately 264 others were wounded (CNN, 2018). Also, in 2015, Mohammed Abdulazeez opened fire on a military recruitment center, which is also a Navy research facility situated in Chattanooga, Tennessee (CNN, 2018). In this instance, four marine soldiers and one Navy sailor were murdered (CNN, 2018).

In 2015, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik assassinated 14 people at a party in the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California while in 2016 Omar Mateen killed 49 persons at a gay nightclub in Orlando (CNN, 2018). Furthermore, Mateen was an American born citizen but he had pledged his loyalty to the ISIS and his actions also led to the wounding of countless civilians who were near the scene of the crime (CNN, 2018). In 2017, eight people in the United States died and countless others got injured when a 29-year old man drove down a busy cycling path situated near the World Trade Center in New York (CNN, 2018). Lastly, in 2017, Akayed Ullah who was 27 years at the time detonated a homemade pipe grenade near the port authority bus terminal in New York. In this event, five people were seriously injured (CNN, 2018). The stated terrorism acts occurred in the United States despite DHS has been operating in the nation since 2003 and also while it was still collaborating with multiple law enforcement agencies in the nation. As such, it is plausible that despite having formed a substantial collaboration with multiple law enforcement agencies in the nation, the DHS's operations have been weak in promoting the security of the American citizens from terrorism acts.

Review of Literature

There are a number of research publications authored in the past few years that have theorized that the DHS has failed in its role of safeguarding Americans from terrorism activities. Among such publications is a review of DHS's performance that was authored by the then United States Senator, Tom Coburn (2015). In the review, Coburn attested that the DHS had started struggling in executing its responsibilities specifically in respect to cybersecurity terror attacks (Coburn, 2015). Also, research publication developed by Renda-Tanali, Irmak, McGee, and Sibel (2017) stated that the HDS performance in executing its functions had significantly declined due to lack of an effective emergency management (EM) plan (Renda-Tanali, Irmak, McGee, & Sibel, 2017). Also, a publication authored by Birkland (2009) cited that the DHS failed to perform optimally in executing its functions during the Obama Administration. Additionally, the research stated that the problem could only have been addressed through reorganization of the responsibilities assigned to the federal department (Birkland, 2009). Ultimately, the stated publications are only but a few of the stated research that portrays that there is a need for the DHS to be more proactive in executing its functions. Such a phenomenon can be achieved by through several primary strategies.

Conclusion/Recommendation

In conclusion, it is evident that there is a need for the DHS to promote its operations in order to be effective in safeguarding the American citizens from acts of violence and terrorism. One of the most effective recommendation that has been backed by research, which can improve the performance of the DHS is the removal of bureaucracies in the various departments that function under the DHS (Kahn, 2009). Additionally, in the past, such bureaucracies has been caused by the way in which the stated departments, such as the FBI and DEA share intelligence information for the common good of the DHS (Kahn, 2009). As a result there is a continued inter and intra-agency conflicts that exists in such departments, which subsequently hampers the overall performance of the DHS.

References

Birkland, T. A. (2009). Disasters, Catastrophes, and Policy Failure in the Homeland Security Era*. Review of Policy Research - RPR, 423-438. doi:10.1111/j.1541-1338.2009.00393.x

CNN. (2018). US Terrorist Attacks Fast Facts. Retrieved from CNN: https://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/18/us/u-s-terrorist-attacks-fast-facts/index.html

Coburn, T. (2015). A Review of the Department of Homeland Security's Missions and Performance. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 9-12.

Kahn, L. H. (2009). The problems with the Department of Homeland Security . Retrieved from Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: https://thebulletin.org/2009/06/the-problems-with-the-department-of-homeland-security/

Oliver, W. M., Oliver, G., Marion, N. E., & Hill, J. B. (2014). Introduction to Homeland Security. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Ramsay, J. D., & Logan, K. G. (2012). Introduction to Homeland Security (illustrated ed.). New York: Avalon Publishing.

Renda-Tanali, Irmak, McGee, & Sibel. (2017). Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 2-96.