Terrorists Threat To America

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The Terrorist Threat to America Terrorism is a horrible thing to think about. However, it must be addressed. Terrorism is defined by Britannica Encyclopedia as “the systematic use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective” (Jenkins). Some people say that we are safer than we were September the 11th 2001 because of the increased security in airports, events, and on the borders. Robert Jordan writes “America has never been safe, it is not presently safe, and the odds are that it will never be safe” (Jordan). America is not safe from terrorism because of the growing size of ISIS, lone wolf terrorists, and gaping holes in airport security. ISIS, led by Abu Bakrai …show more content…
ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Sudan, also known as ISIL, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Levant is a historical term for the lands along the eastern Mediterranean Sea. ISIS believes America and other western countries are the enemy of Islam. This massive group wants to basically establish Caliphate, an Islamic State led by a Caliph, or successor to the prophet Mohammed. ISIS believes Baghdadi is their Caliph (Brown). Michael Morell writes “The group has grown faster than any terrorist group we can remember and the threat it poses is as wide ranging as any we have seen”. At least 20,000 foreigners from about 90 different countries all over the planet have joined ISIS. There are between 3,500 and 5,000 Jihadist wannabees that have come to Syria from Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and even the U.S. These people are particularly dangerous because they have easy access to the U.S. other extremist groups in Libya, Egypt, and Afghanistan are joining forces with ISIS, making the already monstrous group even larger (Morrell). ISIS is recruiting young men and women through social media to travel to Syria to join its cause. The …show more content…
The inspector general of homeland security conducted an investigation that showed that 73 airport workers, including airline employees, airport vendors, and other people who have access to the airports, were on TSA’s terrorist watch list. There was a test by undercover agents that showed 95 percent of checkpoint screeners failed to detect mock explosives and weapons that the agents were carrying (Rose). Another report by the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security released in may shows that numerous passengers walked through a disability gate without being screened, a dead dog in the checked cargo area that was not examined for explosives in Newark. At New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport a screening machine was left unplugged for several hours. After security eventually noticed, they had to pull two planes off the runway to rescreen the passengers. Later, in August at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport a man, who’s Jet Ski had broken down, swam three miles to shore. Following the runway lights of the airport, climbed a eight foot high barbed wire fence and walked two miles across two runways without triggering a nearly one million dollar intrusion protection system. He was later apprehended inside a terminal gate. He probably meant no harm, but it showed a huge failure to detect a would-be terrorist from