The Effect Of 9/11 Attacks On TSA And The Patriot Act
America is most famous for being known as the land of the free and the home of the brave. To protect the citizens of this country, the government has to constantly work on improving the security around us. The attacks on 9/11 are a perfect example of the government at work, the addition of TSA security, and The Patriot Act shows how the government works to protect us. This improvement to airport security has greatly affected our citizens, and the safety of air travel. One attack led to a heavy increase of security in airports to insure something like this would never happen again.
The government’s main focus was on protecting US citizens and insuring that an attack like this would never happen again. The advancement of national security and safe air travel was needed and the government created a plan to accomplish this mission. For this essay, the discussion will be how 9/11 has affected TSA and The Patriot Act. The advancement of TSA security was a main response from the government after the attacks suffered on September 11, 2001. On that early September morning, 19 men took control of four planes flying out of from places on the east coast of America.
Two of these aircrafts were deliberately flown into the main World Trade Center buildings in New York, while a third palne hit the Pentagon in Virginia. The fourth plane was believed to be heading for the White House, but passengers where able to take over the plane, and crashed in an open field in Pennsylvania. Many other other buildings, in southern Manhattan, at the World Trade Center site suffered a great deal of damage and some were completely destroyed. The amount of people who died on on 9/11 was around 3,000, including the 19 people who took over the planes. This was the most lives ever taken on US soil by a terrorist attack. This attack would have a major effect on the international security and world economics.
The Islamist terrorist group, al-Qaeda was led by Osama Bin Laden and created in 1988, took responsibility for actually celebrated the attack. Although it is hard to conclude, it is believed that al-Qaeda's involvement in terrorism started in 1993. Over the next 8 years, al-Qaeda took credit for a high number of attacks on US forces. In 1996 Bin Laden called for members of his militia to 'launch a guerrilla war against American forces and expel the infidels from the Arabian Peninsula'.
The FBI put Osama Bin Laden on their Ten Most Wanted list, after the 1998 embassy bombings, and offered anyone a $25 million reward for him to be captured and brought in alive. With such a viscous attack and Bin Laden gaining the attention as he did, the government desperately needed to put a plan together in Congress that would prevent terror attacks from hitting US soil. Once the aftermath of 9/11 was over, President George bush quickly signed The US Patriot Act and the safety of the United States greatly enhanced. The US Patriot Act was an act of Congress that was signed by President George Bush in response to the attacks during 9/11.
The Department of Justice's first priority is to do what they need to do to stop any terrorist attacks from hitting US soil. Since being passed following the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the Patriot Act has played a major role in a number of successful missions to protect innocent Americans citizens from terrorist activity that want to destroy America and harm many individuals. While the results have been important, congress has only had minor chargers in law in accordance with the Patriot Act. Congress simply used existing legal principles and made them fit to preserve the lives and liberty of the citizens of the United States people from the constant threat of terrorism in this world. The Patriot Act contains four main parts.
One, The Patriot Act allows investigators to use resources that were already available to investigate organized crime. Two, facilitated information sharing and cooperation among government agencies so that they can better 'connect the dots. ' and use each other as a team. Three, updated the law to reflect new technologies and new threats. Four, increased the penalties for those who commit terrorist crimes. Many major improvements to US Intelligence, communications and privacy laws such as: The Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which modifies Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act; the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978; and the Communications Act of 1934, are directly correlated to The US Patriot Act.
Several sections of the Act emphasize the need to protect the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans and to condemn any acts of violence or discrimination. This increase of security has allowed the citizens to live in a much safer and terror free country. Another way the US government was able to make Americans feel safe is implementing TSA checkpoints, to ensure air travel was safe. Implementing TSA checkpoints after the terrorist attack, has changed airport security forever. The TSA was created in the wake of 9/11 and that federal department now runs airport security. Prior to 9/11, airport security was in the hands of private companies. The TSA is funded by the September 11 Security Fee, which is tacked on by airlines on the cost of a ticket.
TSA instantly implemented a 100 percent baggage check at all U. S. airports to screen for explosives. As a result, such programs as the TSA Pre-Check were implemented as frequent travelers could apply for what amounted to special dispensation. “Watch Lists” and “No Fly Lists” were also introduced as the TSA began to rigorously screen questionable passengers. Many airports have now introduced full-body scanners at security checkpoints. Unticketed passengers may not go through security to the gates without written prior approval from the respective airline. These security additions have increased protection for US citizens. This greatly affects national security. Since the attacks on 9/11, there has not been an attempt to attack people through air travel.
This shows that the checkpoints put in place by TSA are working, and making it very difficult to harm people in an airport. In the last six years, there have been no bombing attempts in airports and only 11 firearms have been confiscated during this span. This shows that people are afraid to bring weapons into a airport because they will be found. The continuous improvement of TSA checkpoints greatly increase national security, and make air travel much safer for American citizens. The terrorist attacks committed on the World Trade Center opened up the US governments eyes, and showed the constant threat Americans face. Right after the attacks, a security manifesto was quickly drawn up to ensure that terrorists would never again be able to commandeer an airliner and turn it into a guided missile, as 19 hijackers succeeded in doing that day. Even before Congress had a chance to act, the law creating the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was passed that November airlines and airports were rushing to make the most urgent fixes: hardening cockpit doors with bulletproof material, updating no-fly lists, and closing other gaps.
The FBI investigated the attacks and blamed the terror grouping Al Qaeda for the plane crashing. Osama Bin Ladin was instantly put on the top 10 most wanted list. The FBI put in millions of dollars to help find Osama Bin Ladin and to increase the security in airports nation wide. Osama Bin Laden’s location was found in May of 2011. President Barack Obama devised a plan and sent the Navy Seals to go find and kill the leader of the terrorist group. On May 1, 2011, Bin Laden was shot and killed during a US Government/Military operation in Pakistan. Since the death of Bin Laden, air travel has been safe in the United States. It took ten years to find the man responsible for destroying both of the World Trade Center’s, but his death was a uniting moment for American citizens and national security.
In conclusion, the attacks on 9/11 have led to great improvements to TSA and The Patriot Act. Although this was the worst attack ever recorded on American soil, we were able to learn from this mistake and put security checkpoints in place. These advancements in security allow passengers to feel safe during air travel. This reveals to us how resilient America truly is. We were able to turn the most deadly attack on US soil, as a learning curve to make improvements to national security. Ever since 9/11, there has not been a major attack on US soil. One reason for this being true is the advancements of TSA and The Patriot Act. These security plans have led to the safety net of many US citizens. To be the land of the free and the home of the brave it takes resilience and the ability to adapt. Our government and citizens have both of those qualities, which is why the United States of America is the best country in the world.
