Andrew's+Page

=** Terrorism's Reach: Again to U.S. Soil? **=

= = = Brief Overview and Summary = On May 1st, 2010 a Nissan Pathfinder full of gasoline, propane, and firecrackers failed to detonate in Times Square. The bomb undoubtedly would have killed numerous people and it is only by luck that this was avoided. This incident has sparked a debate as to whether or not we are doing enough to prevent attacks in our own backyard, and if there is anything that we can do about it anyway. Not only is America the target of foreign terrorism, but there has been a rise in terrorist attacks committed by American citizens. America is a free country and with those freedoms comes privacy, if a person is intelligent and secretive enough about planning an attack it is not unrealistic to think there is not much that can be done to stop it. There is much dissent as to not only whether or not we are doing enough to prevent terrorism from outside of our borders but also on the inside. This topic has been subject to much debate in the media, some are of the view that the government is not doing enough, and others that there is nothing more that can be done as it is impossible to stop all attacks. media type="youtube" key="rBNG1F77eoI" height="385" width="640"

= Mainstream Media Coverage = Example 1 //how, short of creating a police state, can we prevent a lone deranged person from making a crude bomb and parking it somewhere?//

//Lone wolves can be very hard to find. The Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski, lived in a shack in the mountains of Montana during the 17 years he sent 16 package bombs that killed three people and wounded 23 others. Eric Rudolph, who set off bombs at the Olympics in Atlanta, a gay bar and several abortion clinics, was a fugitive in the Appalachians for more than five years before his arrest by a North Carolina policeman in 2003. Timothy McVeigh, with a very small cell of two or three people, was able to build the powerful truck bomb that killed 168 people in Oklahoma City in 1995.//

> = = = = = Citizen Media Coverage = Example 1 //Lautenberg said the Zazi plot and previous attacks worldwide demonstrate that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agency responsible for securing U.S. transportation systems, cannot exclusively focus on aviation security to the detriment of rail security// > = Mainstream Media Coverage = Example 2 and 3 //Blair’s concerns about homegrown terrorism points up the difficulty US intelligence and law enforcement agencies have in spotting terrorists who are American citizens - the so-called “terrorist next door” phenomenon.//
 * The article is an op-ed piece in the New York Times written by Michael A. Sheehan.
 * This was written just after the Times Square attack and comments on the increasing threat of "home grown" and "lone wolf" terrorists.
 * It discusses the threat of "home grown" terrorists, which are defined as "natives or longtime residents who belong to groups that espouse a particular agenda or radical ideology". As well as "lone wolf" terrorists who, "usually operate by themselves and are not formally associated with a movement". Although both live among us.
 * The article gives examples of lone wolves that have been successful and those who have not, but contends that "Even if a lone wolf terrorist is successful, the attack is a calamity for the victims and their families, but without connection to a larger organization, it will not represent a strategic threat to the United States."
 * The author acknowlednges that it is almost impossible to stop attacks completely but focuses on the bigger picture, not allowing these terrorists to gain connections.
 * He commends the job New York has done to uncover these types of terrorist plots before they occur and suggests that other cities follow in their foot steps.
 * This article states that the United States is not doing enough to protect its railroad system from terrorist attacks.
 * This was written just prior to the attack on Times Square and it seems that this author would think it lucky that the terrorist did not target the railway systems instead.
 * Senator Laudenberg of New Jersey is the main source of the article and says that even though the railway attacks up until this point have occured overseas "our rail road systems here are terrorist targets".
 * A problem is that the budget of the TSA is not nearly extensive enough for the risk that is posed.

//there have been several domestic terror plots in the past few years, points out Rick Nelson, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, in an analysis. In the past year, these include:// //* Last September, Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan living legally in the US, was arrested on charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. Authorities claimed he traveled to Pakistan to receive training.// //* Eight people were charged in November for allegedly recruiting more than 20 Somali-Americans to join Al Shabab, a local group in Somalia linked to Al Qaeda.// //* In December, the FBI charged US citizen David Coleman Headley with conspiring with operatives of Pakistani terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, in the attacks in Mumbai in 2008.// //* Also in December, five Northern Virginia men were arrested in Pakistan and were alleged to have traveled there to train with Taliban militants.//

> media type="youtube" key="TWZyd9GIcUM" height="405" width="660" //All this money and technology seems to have reduced the risk of future attack. But, of course, the system is bound to fail sometimes. Reality is unpredictable, and no amount of computer technology is going to change that.//
 * This article speaks about the threat posed to the United States by "homegrown terrorism", but says that Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair says there is no organized network operating in the US yet.
 * This was written in early February and seemed to foreshadow this most recent attack.
 * Blair acknowledges the difficulty that US agencies have in discovering terrorists who are American citizens.
 * The article states a few reasons for this type of terrorism are "feelings of alienation, concerns over American foreign policy, and ties to extremist Islamic groups and “negatively inspirational ideologues.”
 * It also goes over some recent examples of domestic terrorist attacks and says that the violence from homegrown jihadists will persist “but will be sporadic.”

//Many people seem to be in the middle of a religious crisis of faith. All the gods they believe in — technology, technocracy, centralized government control — have failed them in this instance.// > = Citizen Media Coverage = Example 2 > = Comparative Analysis = Citizen Media Coverage vs. Mainstream Media Coverage In the case of whether or not we are doing enough to prevent terrorism in the United States the Mainstream Media and Citizen Media take different approaches. The Mainstream media articles seem to look at the problem as it pertains to the nation as a whole while the citizen media sources tend to look at more specific things. For example the op-ed in the New York Times called "The God that Fails" looks at the evolution of how the American public view their government. In this article he states the the people believe the government should be perfect, but there is no way to completely prevent all of these terrorist attacks. Thus the Mainstream media articles mostly comment on the larger picture, which is whether or not there is anything that we can truly do to stop this threat.
 * This article comments on the unrealistic view that the American public holds about the government. The belief that it should be able to solve all problems, especially those relating to terrorism.
 * This was written at the end of last year, prior to the most recent attack, and Sheehan's opinion that the government is not perfect and there will be attacks that slip through held true.
 * It is extremely critical of the American public, saying that a "mature" nation would understand that the government is doing the best that it can.
 * The author says that unlike in the past when we realized the flaws of our institutions but still believed in them advances in technology has caused the public to expect the government to be perfect.
 * The author holds the view that there is a way to limit the frequency of these attacks but there is no way to stop them completely.
 * //"Philadelphia soon should have over 500 additional pairs of specially trained "eyes" on the front lines of the war on terror in the city."//
 * This [|article] discusses the measures that some cities are taking to prevent terrorism.
 * This was written after the most recent attack, the city of Philadelphia is taking action as a result of the near catastrophe in Times Square.
 * The Philadelphia Parking Authority officers will be trained to look out for signs of terrorist attacks to prevent things like the Time Square bombing attempt from happening in their city.

While the citizen media examples focus on specific acts that are being done, for example the article about the Philadelphia Police training Philadelphia Parking Authority officers and uniformed employees in anti terrorism skills. This article only applies to people in the Philadelphia area and is less of an analysis piece and more strictly presenting the news. The Citizen Media coverage is more focused on specific issues because they do not have the access to sources that the mainstream media does. The mainstream media articles are directed at the entire country, a very diverse audience, because the entire country has access to their articles. While the citizen media articles will most likely only be read by regular visitors of the site or people who are searching for things on that specific topic.

The Mainstream media coverage seems to be much more thorough and thoughtful, while the citizen media seems to just comment briefly on the specific issue. Although they both seem to make the point that they are trying to, these just happen to be different points. The MSM also has a more prominent source than that of the Citizen Media. The New York Times article about homegrown terrorism has comments from the Director of National Intelligence while the Citizen media source interviews a New Jersey Senator. With that said the Mainstream media articles still do a better job of covering the topic by offering a broader perspective on the problem that faces the nation and if we can do anything about it. The Citizen Media seems to be reporting on some of the action that is being taken to prevent terrorism but not on whether or not taking these precautions will make any difference.