SO FOUL AND FAIR A DAY—PERCEPTION VS. REALITY IN THE WORLD OF US COUNTER TERRORISM
There are some statements, moments, and people which leave an indelible mark on history and change the world as we know it forever. As he so rightfully boasted in his poetry, “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see” William Shakespeare and his poems and plays will live on forever, inspiring and informing generation after generation “to the last syllable of recorded time.” For all of that, however, there are those such as Osama bin Laden who change the world the world for the worse. The attacks on September 11th, 2001 marked the end of a post-Cold War age of innocence and the beginning of a whole new era. Terrorism had been a frequent topic of conversation and had been combated previously, but terrorism and counter terrorism have arguably been the dominating and defining forces shaping the post-9/11 world.
For as important and prevalent as it is, however, there is a marked difference in the way in which the public perceives counter terrorism efforts and the reality of US efforts today.
There is certainly no shortage of depictions of terrorism when it comes to mass media today. Since WWII, enemies resembling or patterned directly after the Nazis have provided Hollywood with convenient “bad guys” that clearly signified who one was supposed to root against and likewise made the goal of the hero all the clearer and more noble. With terrorism today consisting of everything from single suicide bombers to mass bombings to incidents including mailed Ricin to other issues of national security, the face of evil has changed, albeit in a way that is far less recognizable. Terrorists don’t wear uniforms, generally, and don’t conform neatly to a single state that can be defeated on the battlefield. As such, one of the most important counter terrorism efforts in place is a system that allows for the detection of terrorists. These efforts can include everything from surveillance to tracking to research into suspected terrorist groups in question to see if any practices or communications made by the suspected parties match that of the established groups.
There’s certainly no shortage of films today which depict Arabs as the chief enemies in the fight against terrorism. While there are many terrorist groups based in Arab countries, some of which—such as Hezbollah, which was originally part of Iran’s armed forces—are sponsored, tacitly, overtly or otherwise by Arab nations, it’s worth noting that US counter terrorism is not (and should not be) interested in targeting merely Arab nations, or else paining all Arab nations and Arabs in general as being in the wrong. Terrorists are the minority in any nation or area, making it the more difficult to ferret them out using surveillance or, if teams have a lead, sending in special forces to take on those terrorist cells, as was the case when Seal Team 9 took out Osama bin Laden and some of his associates in May of 2011.
It’s also worth noting that not all terrorism comes from abroad; while they were originally from the Chechen region of Russia, the Boston Bombers who planted bombs at the Boston Marathon last year had resided in the US for years and had likewise been seen by many as having somewhat assimilated into American culture. Once again, everything from surveillance to tracking to face-recognition software to forensics to old-fashioned police and detective work helped track down the two and lead to the death of the older brother and capture of the younger brother associated with the attacks.
With counter terrorism, there’s always the danger that “blood will have blood,” and that counter terrorism efforts will turn into a vendetta, or a pretext to begin a war or Big Brother state, as is shown in countless Hollywood films. That’s why safeguards are in place to ensure that groups don’t overstep their boundaries. Even so, this leads to an incredibly difficult balancing act, as the NSA found out last year. When one of the main weapons against terrorism is vigilance and surveillance, it can be all-too-easy to compromise the liberty of honest, innocent Americans.