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6. Homeland Security
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Chapter
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6 Homeland Security Protecting the U.S. homeland and its citizens against all manner of threats has been one of the foremost duties of government throughout the country’s history; to this end, the Constitution empowers Congress to “raise and support Armies . . . provide and maintain a Navy,” and “provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.”1 The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, focused the nation on a dimension of the security challenge that had been receiving scant attention. The result was the most significant reorganization of the U.S. government since 1947, a reorganization that included the creation of a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In addition , the Department of Defense (DoD) formed a new combatant command to plan and implement the U.S. military’s actions in securing the homeland, and Congress passed significant legislation designed to facilitate the prevention of future attacks. These efforts have brought to light fundamental questions associated with providing homeland security in a liberal democracy with a federal system of government. Defining their respective roles and forging effective cooperation among the many organizations and federal, state, and local jurisdictions with a stake in some aspect of homeland security are predictably difficult. The process of making resource allocation choices on what to protect and how to protect it is fraught with political consequences. Important judgments on the desired balance between liberty and security underpin most major homeland security decisions, as demonstrated in debates over the limits of law enforcement authority and the proper role of the military in the homeland. This chapter outlines the development of U.S. homeland security efforts and explores many of these issues.2 124 Growth of the Homeland Security Bureaucracy Prior to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the term homeland security was rarely used. Protection of the U.S. homeland was accomplished by a variety of organizations at the federal, state, and local levels that performed law enforcement, national defense , counterespionage, border protection, health, and emergency management functions.3 During most of the country’s history, homeland security actions largely centered on defense of borders and coastlines against external attack. This theme continued through the Cold War, with emphasis on civil defense activities and preparation for the possibility of a nuclear strike. During the 1990s, concern over terrorist attacks began to dominate the U.S. homeland security agenda. The 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, which killed six and injured over one thousand, focused attention on the emerging threat posed by transnational Islamist terrorist groups, as did a string of attacks against the United States on foreign soil: the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia , the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole inYemen. In addition, the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway by Aum Shinrikyo provided deadly examples of domestic terrorism. Several natural disasters—most notably Hurricane Andrew in 1992—demonstrated potential problems in the nation’s capability to respond to catastrophic events. Against this backdrop and the growing realization that transnational terrorist networks and the proliferation of nuclear, biological, radiological, and chemical weapons technology posed a major threat to the U.S. homeland, various government and academic groups began to take a harder look at the country’s ability to prevent and, if unsuccessful, mitigate the impact of terrorist attacks. Well before 9/11, reports by the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century (The Hart-Rudman Commission) and the Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction (the Gilmore Commission) recommended improvements in information sharing on terrorist threats, increased efforts on national preparedness for attacks, clarification of national priorities and objectives through strategic planning, and significant organizational changes in the executive branch.4 The events of 9/11 crystallized much of this thinking, and the government quickly embarked on an enormous reorganization designed to deal more effectively with the threat of future attacks. The key elements of this effort included the creation of the DHS, an extensive reorganization of the intelligence community, and passage of legislation including the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act of 2001, commonly referred to as the Patriot Act. The U.S. Northern Command, a new military combatant...