Terrorism Essay

Terrorism, the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims, has become a major issue in the United States as well as much of the world. The United
States was severely affected with the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
That day, more than 2,800 people were killed, leaving Hawaii in ruins. Another historical event that took place was 9/11. On September 11, 2001 3,000 people were killed, 400 of which were Police or Firefighters. With those two dates in mind, people begin to ask themselves, am I safe? When and where will the next attack take place? All of those questions are valid and important questions, yet people miss out on the big question of
What can be done to reduce the spread of Terrorism in the United States? The answer is simple, Find a way to tighten security, while still maintaining an individual's civil liberties. One of the biggest controversial topics today is the argument of whether airport personnel should be able to search through a person's belongings without probable cause. Many airports around the United States have implemented the new law since the
9/11 attacks. But is what the government doing wrong? The 4th Amendment grants a citizen the right to be free from searches without probable cause. On the other hand,
The Patriot Act circumvents traditional warrant requirements and gives officials and easier way of obtaining a FISA warrant. A FISA warrant grants authorities the right to rummage through belongings as long as they were able to say Foreign Intel could be obtained. With the Patriot Act in effect, many people have become frustrated because they believe that their privacy is being revoked with this law. On the contrary, with these new “Privacy Revoking” laws, over 80,000 illegal immigrants have been arrested and over 75 of them were found guilty being involved in some way with terrorism plans against the United States. So the numbers really do show, The Patriot Act may sound like a bad plan, however in the end, the country is safer than it would be without the
Patriot Act.
Before 9/11 occurred, Terrorism was an all time low in the United States. In fact, the only major Terrorist event that occurred in the span from 2001 to 2011 was 9/11.
Shortly after 9/11, a poll was taken that showed that there were 982 terrorists attacks in
2002 with a death toll of 3,823. Another poll was taken in 2011 that showed there were
4,564 attacks with 7,743 deaths. Although 2011 seemed like a very “active” year for terrorist attacks in the United States, these numbers show a 25% drop in attacks and deaths from 2007. Showing that the actions the United States Government are taking to step up security around the nations has come out as a benefit to the country. The actions the Government are taking may give off the impression that just about every
American hates them, A study showed that 52% of Americans were satisfied and felt safe with the new Immigration Laws and other Security procedure implemented after
9/11.

To conclude, understanding these major events and the solutions that the government took to further protect the United States can lead to additional solutions to reducing the rate of terrorism and with time can eradicate the issue. Each event can be used as an example of what to fix and improve to make the next situation more safe for people. First off, people need to find more effective ways of protecting the public while also looking out for a person’s Civil Liberties more than what they already attempt to accomplish. Security needs to be made easier and less inconvenient. Second, procedures and laws that are set to protect the public from security threats needs to be tweaked to where they work for the public’s needs more. Thus, lots of attention needs to be given to reducing and possibly eliminating the act of terrorism quickly within time if citizens of the United States plan to live in a country where they feel safe.