Background Following the events of September 11, 2001, the United States waged an unprecedented effort called the Global War on Terror (GWOT), with a special emphasis on preventing such attacks on American soil. This paper will analyze these efforts and identify ongoing challenges. Defining Counterterrorism Success We need to define what we mean by "success" or "failure" of U.S. counterterrorism efforts after 9/11: - If by "success" we no longer mean terrorist acts on the scale of 9/11 on American soil , then the reforms were certainly a complete success. If by “success” we mean stopping every terrorist attack, even by individuals, then the reforms have surely been a complete failure. Recent failures show that even more needs to be done to prevent terrorism on American soil. Analysis of Success versus Analysis of FailureMuch can be learned by analyzing successful counterterrorism efforts. Unfortunately, details are scarce, perhaps deliberately so. But much can also be learned by analyzing the CT's failures, the details of which have become public knowledge. Some examples used in this paper are the “underwear bomber,” the Fort Hood shooting, and the Boston Marathon bombing. Recent failures in the domestic war on terrorism Terrorism is carried out in two phases: - Planning phase, where information is communicated during the planning of the attack - Operational phase, when the actual attack takes place. Effective counterterrorism must detect the threat during the planning phase to be successful. Recent attacks that have reached the operational stage before being detected show failures in three areas:- Intelligence collection- Intelligence sharing- Intelligence analysisFinally, a short note will be provided regarding the c...... half of document.... ...or the suspect's visa. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/08/terror.suspect.visa/Mulrine, A. (2012, May 8). An 'undetectable' bomb reveals how Al Qaeda's threat to the United States is evolving. CSMonitor [Washington, DC]. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2012/0508/Undetectable-bomb-reveals-how-Al-Qaeda-threat-to-US-is-evolving-video National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on States United States (2004). Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States. Retrieved from http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdfViser, M., & Bender, B. (2014, April 9). Missed signal on Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Boston Globe [Boston]. Retrieved from http://http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2014/04/09/boston-marathon-bombing-suspect-sought-legally-change-his-name-famed-russian-militant/ ydLBan5aqJADeAE6cwJmCJ /storia.html
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