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 ...