Federal Policy Changes Due to September 11 essays

Federal Policy Changes Due to September 11 essays The terrorist attacks on New York and Washington D.C. illustrated how vulnerable our country really is to terrorist attacks. They also showed the lack of security and readiness in most of the nation's airports and places of entry. The Federal Government realized it must take a hard look at security policies, and create new policies to guide the nation through its' time of grieving and even fear. The government created the Homeland Security department, which is in charge of protecting the nation, as well as warning the nation of terrorism threats with their color-coded terrorism warning system. Green means the threat is lowest, and red means the threat is the highest. The Homeland Security department also created much stricter standards for inspecting airline passengers, and created the "USA PATRIOT Act," which in essence gives intelligence bureaus the right to spy and catch transmissions via phone, computer, and other areas if the agency feels they are a threat to national safety and well being. The PATRIOT Act is highly contentious because many people feel their citizens' rights are at stake. They feel the country is turning into "big brother," with far too much power and might over the people. One writer says, "It is widely held that one possessing power is potentially dangerous" (Stone, 2002). This seems to be the case with the Federal Government as the administration exercises its' control over the nation and the world. Another writer states, "We should avoid the temptation - a strong one, given the enduring emotional impact of the attacks in the United States - of telescoping all our resources, priorities, and thinking toward one worry" (Arthur, 2002). As the nation reflects on the terrorist attacks, the first and seemingly enduring reaction is to protect against more attacks while zeroing in on Al- Qaeda and other terrorist organizations around the world. This is ...