250 word response one cited reference #1

The biggest challenge of terrorism is predictability and determining probability.  Executives like to see hard data, but there just simply is no data that can predict a terrorist attack (Garcia, 2012, p. 16).  We can however plan our defense through a more subjective analysis when we assume a probability factor of 1.  When we assume that an attack will happen we can now focus on what measures that are in-place or available to deter, detect, and detain a potential threat.  The USCG operates with very quantitative numbers when identifying vulnerabilities at the facilities that lie within a particular jurisdiction.  The PSRA program then relies on more qualitative, hands-on assessment which provides a physical assessment of what security elements are already implemented or can be implemented to tie in CPTED concepts.  Port facilities along rivers often have levees which provide a great protection from waterway borne attacks, leaving only the dock and any moored vessel vulnerable.   The tops of the levees further provide excellent surveillance of both the waterway and the inland facility.  Some facilities even place permanent security posts at the top of these levees to increase surveillance of the entire facility.  Since we are assuming a probability factor of 1 in this scenario, utilizing security personnel to provide constant surveillance and training them to be constantly vigilant can help prevent or mitigate the consequences of a terrorist attack. 

The risk scale is a totality of consequence, threat, and vulnerability ratings, multiplied together (BIPS-06, 2011, p. 34).  This scale identifies risk as low, medium, or high based on the multiplied score.  The threat portion of the risk assessment is the hardest to calculate because it is the one that deals with the uncertainty of probability.  While subjective analysis may be less effective than statistical analysis, this may be the only option for the threat rating determination due to lack of statistical data (BIPS-06, 2011, p. 18).  While the threat assessment although judged on a 10-point numerical scale within the risk assessment, is still a subjective assessment of intelligence regarding credibility and likelihood of a potential threat. 

Consequence ratings although somewhat uncertain are easier to plan for because the uncertainty lies within predictable factors such as weather and timing.  Timing is very important because it can tell us how many people to expect at a facility, how many first responders are available, or what critical operations are or aren’t underway.  We can develop consequences for specific time periods to identify when a site has its highest or lowest consequence rating.  The attack modes used in USCG assessments throw in the qualifier “…at the worst possible time,” so we know that whatever attack mode we are looking at, we are to identify the time in which the consequences are the highest; a worst case scenario mentality.  This is important because terrorists will look to maximize consequences during their planning stages (BIPS-06, 2011, p. 21).  Consequences are often observed in the loss of life, property damage, environmental impact, and economic impact.  Other areas may also be considered based on the target.  An additional challenge to quantifying consequences is grading loss of life and property damages on the same scale.  This is a challenging task that can spark much disagreement.  The consequence rating of a risk assessment is further graded on a 10-point numerical scale. 

Vulnerabilities are weaknesses that make an asset susceptible to damage by exploitation of an aggressor (BIPS-06, 2011, p. 28).  A vulnerability assessment should identify assets or targets, as well as the weaknesses present within a security system that could make assets vulnerable.  The vulnerability assessment is also quantified on a 10-point scale.

The risk assessment is the product of all of these individual assessments combined.  Utilizing this data security specialists can develop plans to deter and detect potential attacks. 

Identifying critical assets is accomplished through two steps.  This includes identifying functions such as inputs and outputs, or services provided.  Identifying critical infrastructure systems that are vital to operation is the next step (BIPS-06, 2011, p. 20).  Critical assets may be needed resources for operation, but they may also simply be volatile substances (in industrial facilities), or proprietary/classified information (in data centers).  At a mass gathering event, the most critical asset is the human asset.  Water for nuclear or coal fired steam reactors, and electrical power for refrigerated chemicals are critical to an operation to prevent catastrophic events such as explosions or chemical release. 

References

Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2011). Threat, Consequences, Vulnerability, and Risk. In F. E. Agency, Buildings and Infrastructure Protection Series: Reference Manual to Mitigate Potential Terrorist Attacks Against Buildings (pp. 1-58). Washington, D.C.: FEMA.

Garcia, M. L. (2012). Introduction to a Vulnerability Assessment. In L. J. Fennelly, Effective Physical Security (pp. 11-39). Waltham: Butterworth-Heinemann.

250 word response one cited reference #2

According to Nikbay and Hancerli, terrorism is defined as “the unlawful use of — or threatened use of — force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives” (2007, p. 300).  Critical infrastructures are defined as systems such as telecommunications, electrical power systems, gas and oil, banking and finance, transportation, water supply, and emergency and government services, whose incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating and devastating impact on the defense or economic security of the nation.  Despite the media’s attempt at marketing terrorism as what should be the greatest fear of society, terrorism is an infrequent act compared to a crime but is more destructive than crime in the public’s perception.  Articulately put by Atlas, “The societal damage from guns and drugs far exceeds the damage from any bomb. But the perceived threat is much greater from terrorism than say getting robbed” (Nikbay & Hancerli, 2007, p. 301).  Although there have been multiple terrorist attacks on U.S. assets, both foreign and domestic, including embassies, military bases, and the twin towers in 1993, the attacks on 9/11 still came as a shock but should not have come as a surprise (Nikbay & Hancerli, 2007).  The result of the terrorist attacks on 9/11 severely devastated critical infrastructure in New York City as well as the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. from canceling all flights to the stock market crash and the destruction of the subway system in Lower Manhattan.  Everyone old enough to remember where they were when the towers fell will forever have the images from the TV, newspapers, magazines, and internet forever engrained in their memories, creating a lasting impression of what acts of terrorism can do.  Yet, the public often feels inconvenienced by enhanced security measures at airports, museums, concert venues, government buildings, and any other areas where large crowds may gather or maybe a potential target for terrorists.

The greatest challenges of terrorism and infrastructure protection are media influence and disruption to public facilities that are considered critical infrastructures.  CPTED addresses the latter by making facilities accessible, convenient, viable, and sustainable for public usage.  The goal of CPTED is to increase a sense of security and to reduce crime frequency by using the 3D concept, including designation, definition, and design through natural access control, natural surveillance, and territorial reinforcement.  CPTED is seen as a solution to mitigating the threat of terrorism, primarily because traditional law enforcement methods against terrorism have not proved successful, prompting the need for governments to develop innovative and successful solutions to prevent attacks since former safety and security measures were set up to “manipulate criminal activities and generally ignored the physical environment where people found opportunities to commit crimes” (Nikbay & Hancerli, 2007, p. 309).

According to FEMA 426/BIPS-06 (2011), a risk matrix aids the building owner or manager select appropriate protective measures by tying the protective measures to the risk scores in the matrix.  The consequences rating considers criteria such as loss of life, injuries, losses incurred due to asset damages, loss of primary services, and the impact on the economy.  Each criterion is assigned a score from 1 to 5, with 5 being the lowest or minimal impact on an asset.  For consequences ratings, it is imperative to identify the asset before assigning a score to its loss or damage.  For example, the loss of a physical asset alone would have a lower rating than the loss of a human asset.  Threat ratings assess the likelihood of specific threats occurring by assigning scores of 1 through 5, with 1 being no threat or the lowest threat and 5 being the greatest threat.  Vulnerability ratings consider weaknesses of building functions, systems, and site characteristics by assigning a score of 1 through 5 with 1 lacking security measures and 5 having excellent security measures (Liu et al., 2012). 

References

Department of Homeland Security (DHS). (2011). Reference Manual to Mitigate Potential Terrorist Attacks Against Buildings, Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA).

Liu, C., Tan, C., Fang, Y., & Lok, T. (2012). The Security Risk Assessment Methodology. Procedia Engineering, 43, 600–609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2012.08.106.

Nikbay, O., & Hancerli, S. (Eds.). (2007). Understanding and responding to the terrorism phenomenon : A multi-dimensional perspective. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com.

250 word response one cited reference #3

One of the key things that go hand in hand with terrorism is religion. One of the main reasons for this is the main reason for most of the current terrorist attacks in the name of their religion. Three key terms which can go hand in hand with religion are fundamentalist, an extremist, and a terrorist. Now I must admit out of all of these terms there is only one that I did not understand which is fundamentalist. One citation that allowed me to understand this term states the following. “a fundamentalist religion is a religion, any religion, that when confronted with a conflict between love, compassion and caring, and conformity to doctrine, will almost invariably choose the latter regardless of the effect it has on its followers or on the society of which it is a part. Fundamentalist religions make this choice because they uniformly place a high priority on doctrinal conformity, with such force that it takes higher priority than love, compassion and service” (Bidstrup, 2001). What this means to me is that funmetalist mind set place religion first. This in turn causes everything that the religion deals with has the choice. For example, the religion states that they can not use birth control they won’t use birth control.

Now it hard to admit but there are some common things between fundamentalist, an extremist and a terrorist but also some grave differences. One key difference when it comes to a fundamentalist is how they follow the religion that they believe in. They follow specific understanding and strictly follows to its beliefs. They also generally tolerate people’s views that are against what they believe in. Extremist are just like how it sounds they are extreme. The take following their religion to an extreme level which causes them to act in an abnormal way which people can not understand. They use force and cause fear in order to have religious change. They act against fundamentalist beliefs and oppose those who do not follow their beliefs. Terrorist are very similar to extremist. One key difference is that terrorist at to cause harm and death whereas extremist don’t use the choice all the time. Terrorist are never tolerated but extremist can be until they turn violent. My viewpoint is that extremist become terrorist when they turn violent.  

Salafi-Jihadis has a major role within international terrorism. The following citation allows you to understand what Salafi-Jihadis is. “The Salafi-jihadi movement—not simply distinct groups or individuals—threatens the United States, the West, and Muslim communities. The movement draws strength from its ideology, which helps to unify and band together a network of individuals, groups, and organizations seeking a shared global outcome: destruction of current Muslim societies through the use of force and creation of what they regard as a true Islamic society” (Zimmerman, 2017). This group’s ideology dates to the 1960s. One key modern catalyst to mention is the 2011 Arab Spring. “The term “Arab Spring” was popularized by the Western media in early 2011 when the successful uprising in Tunisia against former leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali emboldened similar anti-government protests in most Arab countries” (Manfreda, 2019). This spread was due to the access of social media. The second modern catalyst to mention is the rise of ISIS. There terrorist group took over the entire country of Iraq in order to spread its own beliefs which in turn spread Salafi-Jihadis. 

Works Cited

Bidstrup, S. (2001, October 14). Why The “Fundamentalist” Approach To Religion Must Be Wrong. Retrieved February 17, 2020, from http://www.bidstrup.com/religion.htm

Manfreda, P. (2019, August 28). Why Were the 2011 Middle East Uprisings Called the Arab Spring? Retrieved February 17, 2020, from https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-the-arab-s…

Zimmerman, K. (2017, July 18). America’s Real Enemy: The Salafi-Jihadi Movement. Retrieved February 16, 2020, from https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/americas-…

250 word response one cited reference #4

Hello class, wishing you a successful week three. 

This week we will be discussing religious extremist terrorist, and fundamentalist and their impacts on the practice of international terror. 

1. In your own words describe the differences between a fundamentalist, an extremist, and a terrorist.

Fundamentalist maintain strict adherence to their original doctrine with little or no room for evolution, in fact they believe the changing of the times and progressive beliefs to have tarnished their faiths principles. They can be views as the purist when it comes to religion. The believe what their holy text say, nothing more, nothing less. Their impact on international terror is that they may view more progressive sect of religion as a form of blasphemy or insult to their deity. This give way to extremism and serves as a call to arms in a sense that directly leads to terrorizing population centers. Look at the rise of Isis/Isil. This is a group that when dissected are fundamentalist in their beliefs in Islam. That fundamentalism gave way to extremist laws and terrorist acts in lands that they were able to control as well as recruitment in lands they do not control in order to have their followers carry out acts of terror abroad.  

Activist participate in political discourse, seek change utilizing means such as peaceful protect and civil disobedience in the name of their beliefs. Once these activists go kinetic in their quest to further their political agenda and commit criminal acts, they become terrorist. 

Terrorist utilize, threats, violence, kidnapping, and other criminal acts to induce fear or a state of terror in order to drive their political agenda. Terrorist are extremist in that have chosen to wage war on population centers in the name of their religion or political beliefs. They believe there is honor in their waging of warfare therefore, these acts are justifiable if not necessary in their views.

1. Describe at least two modern catalysts that have enabled Salafi-Jihadis to become a worldwide international terrorist movement.

The discovery and export of Saudi oil has made the Kingdom a very wealthy nation. The Saudis, being no strangers to shady dealings have used their wealth to propagate the Salafist belief across the Muslim world. Their position has garnered them a heavy influence amongst the Arab world while enabling them to reach Arabic Muslims in the west. Saudi Arabia’s support for the Salafist movement coupled with the progressive maneuver by the Muslim democracy in Tunisia and the failure of the Arab Spring to politically cement the Salafist have created an environment where the Salafist perceive that they can only get their fundamentalist beliefs to marry up with political influence through jihad. Tunisia is the primary source of jihadist fighters for the Islamic state. With governments in the middle east and northern Africa taking more progressive stances than the Salafist demand or desire they are going with what has been successful in the past. The Islamic freedom fighters were successful in waging war on the Soviets when they were a superpower so they believe they can replicate this success through what they perceive as Salafist-jihadists their modern jihad.