Abstract
September 11, 2001 was a very historic day. Not only did it affect the United States of America it affected everyone around the world. I want to discuss some of the things that helped the terrorist complete their attacks. In my opinion, no one specifically is to blame for the attacks, but there were certain elements that contributed to the event.
9-11 Errors
It has been well known that the U.S. Government likes to keep secrets. One of the most important factors is the government agencies lack of communication with each other. That could have, and should have been utilized and maybe 9/11 would have been prevented. A week before the attacks there was a teletype sent out to multiple agencies. The teletype summarized “the known facts regarding Moussaoui. It did not report the case agent’s personal assessment that Moussaoui planned to hijack an airplane” (National Commission on Terrorist Attacks, 2004, p. 274). The teletype was published to the FBI, CIA, the FAA, the Customs Service, the State Department, the INS, and the Secret Service. If the information was disclosed that Moussaoui planned to hijack an airplane, then maybe it would have put one of the many agencies on high alert. Another reason terrorist were successful is because the FAA did not include the tipoff list to screen passengers. The tipoff list contains the names of individuals who are known and suspected international terrorists. At the time of the attacks there were people on that list who were allowed to fly on September 11th. “…two of the hijackers were on the U.S. TIPOFF terrorist watchlist, the FAA did not use the TIPOFF data” (Pearson, 2012, p. 37). Since, 9/11 there has been numerous improvements to America’s security policy. The Homeland Security Act was signed by President Bush in 2002. The purpose of this act was to prevent terrorist attacks, analyze threats, and to organize how the nation will respond to future attacks. Even with this Act in place, we as US citizens have a responsibility to ensure that our country remains safe.
References
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (2004). The 9/11 Commission report: Final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States. New York: Norton. Pearson (2012). Pearson Criminal Justice. Boston, MA: Pearson.
