Terrorism Preparedness

Terrorism Preparedness

Nearly every American resident is touched, appalled, and angered by the tragedies mentioned above. The common thread is terrorism. The constant theme is increased violence, destruction of property, and loss of life. Each attack has taken terrorism to a new level in terms of audacity, mayhem, cost, and human suffering. The problem of terrorism is a difficult one. The terrorist lives among us. He socializes, works, and moves around with the same freedoms as nearly every American citizen. Terrorists have access to as much information and know as much about our vulnerabilities as nearly any one of us— more than most because they have been studying our weaknesses.

They pose as tourists, students, employees, and concerned Americans. The September 11 terrorists were living and moving among us and we, as Americans, were accepting of them and their behaviors. Terrorists also come in domestic forms. Disgruntled employees, estranged spouses, extortionists, and others can terrorize our employees, our enterprise. A determined terrorist can wreak havoc on the most organized and otherwise safe business or government enterprise. Two-thirds as many Americans were lost in one day on September 11 as were killed in the workplace in a whole year. Most of those Americans were at work. The attacks in Oklahoma City, New York, and Washington were similar in that each was aimed at an American institution. Our government and the capitalist system were attacked.