Harvard University Combating Terrorism Paper

How should the United States government deal with the heightened concern about homegrown violent extremism and the growing concern for the preservation of civil liberties? What are the political and constitutional consequences of counter-terrorism? Lastly, how do we assess the tradeoffs between freedom and security?

Instructions: Fully utilize the materials that have been provided to you in order to support yourresponse. Please respond to at least two other students and provide substantive commentsthat contribute something new and important to the discussion. You may challenge, support orsupplement another student’s answer using the terms, concepts and theories from therequired readings. Also, do not be afraid to respectfully disagree where you feel appropriate; asthis should be part of your analysis process at this academic level

200-250 words for discussion; 100-150 per student response

Required Readings:

Civil Liberties and Law in the Era of Surveillance: https://law.stanford.edu/stanford-lawyer/articles/…

Balancing Security and Liberty: The Challenge of Sharing Foreign Signals Intelligence: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi…

Executive Order 13636 Privacy and Civil Liberties Assessment Report: https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publicatio…

Student Responses:

Student #1 Joshua

Good Afternoon Class & Prof.,

For this weeks discussion we are talking about how the United States Government (U.S.G.) should respond to the heightened concern about homegrown violent extremism and the need to preserve and protect our civil liberties.

This topic is very complex, thus it requires a comprehensive breakdown of its different influencers. One avenue worth taking to combat homegrown violent extremism is through legitimate and actionable national intelligence. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) of 2004 revised and broadened the definition of of national intelligence to include “threats to the United States, its people, property, or interests; the development, proliferation, or use of weapons of mass destruction; or any other matter bearing on United States national or homeland security” (U.S.G., 2004). Homegrown Violent Extremists (HVEs) have access to the same technology as we do such as the internet, where these individuals exploit its uses to recruit, train, and plan their operations. Therefore, intercepting and analyzing these information streams might provide important clues regarding the nature of the terrorist threat…eventually moving through a version of the Intelligence Cycle (IC) and transforming into intelligence that can be used to mitigate their threat(s) to the homeland.

As discussed in our lesson this week, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (F.B.I.) had basically zero oversight and accountability when it came to surveillance and intelligence collection efforts until Edward Snowden came along. This exposure of the F.B.I. sparked a national public outcry for civil liberties to be considered and respected by federal agents. In this case, I believe that an increase in transparency in regards to the policies being drafted and implemented by these agencies is required. Also, direct communication with individuals and their communities whose civil rights and civil liberties may be affected by department activities is necessary (DHS, 2016).

Counter-Terrorism consequences can include adverse consequences for the economic and social development of states, it may jeopardize friendly relations among states, and also threaten the territorial integrity and security of states. The tradeoffs between freedom and security include relieving some of your freedoms in exchange for security. For example, not everyone in America favors a federal requirement that makes it necessary for every American to carry a national ID card. However, this security measure has proven effective to mitigate the effects of illegal persons in the U.S.

V/R,

JM

DHS. (2016, July). Executive Order 13636 Privacy and Civil Liberties Assessment Report. Retrieved September 21, 2020, from https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/2016%20EO%2013636%20Assessment%20Report-FINAL_0.pdf

U.S.G. (2004). The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act (IRTPA) of 2004. Retrieved September 21, 2020, from https://www.dni.gov/files/ISE/documents/DocumentLibrary/IRTPA_amended.pdf

Student #2 Jude

Homegrown violence is a very real and lethal also known as domestic terrorism is the unlawful use or threatened use of violence by a group or individual based and operating entirely within the United States without foreign direction committed against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the population or anything thereof. (The FBI, 2002) Homegrown terrorism is as much a threat as international terrorism if not more, not being able to properly assess the threat and counter it would be most dire for any nation. With millions of avenues of broadcasting and platforms to emit information or recruit, it is next to impossible to keep track without powerful avenues of tracking and surveillance. Due to the threat of terrorists and attacks there has been many issues dealing with the overstepping of the government such as the political spying, abuse of material witness statute, REAL ID, No Fly and Selectee Lists and Government Secrecy to name a few. (ACLU, 2006)With these homegrown terrorists being able to move with relative ease and assume different forms and identities the barrage of tracking and surveilling all are subject to data being gathered and contained painting facts that even the state couldn’t previously collect. (Civil Liberties, 2014) Finding a balance between national security and civil rights is an incredibly hard concept to maintain when one overshadows the other and national security must be maintained and achieved. Civil liberty issues arise when you engage in the mass tracking of hundreds of millions of Americans, most of whom are completely innocent of wrongdoing. (Civil Liberties, 2014) Civil liberties is a blessing within the boundaries of the United States, in many instances without citizens realizing that. Many nations do not allow their citizens the same privacy and protection as we here in the United States get to experience. Civil liberties means or is the state of being subject only to laws established for the good of the community, especially with regard to freedom of action and speech, individual rights protected by law from unjust governmental or other interference. With the growth of technologies, the relationship between citizen and state are changing drastically. (Civil Liberties, 2014) The political consequences are managing means to surveillance credible threats and maintain civil liberties, recreating a new and modernized Patriot Act, NSA and all other intelligence agencies. Constitutional consequences are infringing of privacy towards the citizens of the United States, infringing on the information protections of major companies and their clients and customers. The trade-off between freedom and security is a relative sense of peace and protection from those from abroad. Security is done by the surveillance and constant tracking of people and those who are deemed security threats. There hasn’t been a massive difference because the threat is still as real as it was then.

This nation has come a long way and continues to progress and grow, with the revamping of current acts and laws we are one step closer to bridging this gap

References:

Dale L. Watson, ( 2002) Counterterrorism/Counterintelligence Division FBI, https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/testimony/the-terrorist-threat-confronting-the-united-states

Anthony D. Romero, ACLU, (2020), https://www.aclu.org/other/top-ten-abuses-power-911