The US terrorism problem deteriorated in the 1970s when international terrorists began launching major assaults on US interests. A bulk of these attacks had their origins from Arab groups which were opposed to the US leaning in the Israeli-Arab conflict. Others were carried out by a variety of revolutionary, Marxist, and radical groups, which were opposed to American power and influence (Alexander, 2002). Prior to this moment, the US did not view terrorism as a major issue. This view was changed after the series of attacks and the US started taking a more effective and forceful position in the conflict. Today, terrorism is ranked very highly in the US both domestically and internationally (Alexander, 2002). One of the methods the FBI uses to combat terrorism is by sharing the images and information of terrorism suspects with the public to make it easier for the public to contribute towards successful arrest and conviction of these persons. However, the FBI can do better in this method of combating terrorism. While the information is made available for the entire public to get access to it, more can be done.
The FBI list of most wanted persons needs to be better publicized. While the FBI has made efforts to ensure that the list of most wanted is available on their internet, they could do a lot to make available this information to the public. The FBO makes the information available on every street corner immediately after an attack (Cavender and Bond-Maupin, 1993). However, as soon as the chances of making an arrest start waning, the availability of this information becomes limited to the internet. Moreover, any person seeking the information about the most wanted persons may only get access to this information from the FBI website. This is a problem that limits the chances of successful convictions. If the US wants to succeed in combating the terrorism problem, it must also be willing to improve this area in the FBI.
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One way the US can take advantage of this idea is to make the information about the most wanted persons more available to the people. This can be done by buying advertisements on the media more often. This will provide the public with important information that may save their lives or other people’s lives. With the use of this tactic, the information will also gain demand on the public domain (Cavender and Bond-Maupin, 1993). With the demand for such information, it is going to be more common for other people to seek their own information and even provide it to the public. These activities may also be used to ignite the public to safeguard the security of the US and to take responsibility of each other’s security.
Required resources
One resource that this will require is funds. Advertisements are fueled by funds on any media. For the US to be successful in this regard, it must be willing to provide funds to this end. The amount of funds required for this role will depend on various factors. First, the frequency of these adverts on the media will determine the cost of the adverts. Secondly, the timing of these adverts will determine the cost the government will divert to the venture. If the government requires to obtain the most watched hours (which it should), then it should be willing to provide more funds for this work (Freedman and Thussu, 2012). Finally, the adverts will depend on the length and quality of adverts on the media. The success of these adverts will depend on how vividly the government wants to deliver its message to the public. The more the information provided to the public, the more likely is the success of this venture.
Another requirement is more qualified staff. The staff available has not been able to play this role. There is a need to obtain more qualified human resources with a clear record of having successfully worked in advertisement for some time. These are the most suitable persons to work in this department. Trainers should also be made available in the FBI to provide these personnel (and others) on their roles in combating terrorism as well as introducing new methods of advertising.
Resources that will be provided
This method of fighting terrorism will provide human resources to the criminal justice system. By providing the pubic with information concerning terrorists, the public will become more willing and able to participate in combating terrorism. The public will, therefore, help in combating terrorism along with the FBI and other criminal justice agencies (Freedman and Thussu, 2012). There are two motivations that may motivate the public to make their contribution to this end. First, the public could just be motivated to make an impact in their society. Secondly, the public could also be intent to win the rewards that are given to those who provide such information. Most of these individuals are allocated a price that the US government is willing to pay for their capture.
In conclusion, the FBI has never been consistent with providing information about terrorists. After the first few days after an attack, this information becomes limited to the FBI website. The information therefore becomes harder with time and hence combating crime in the US becomes more difficult. The FBI needs to resolve this problem by providing information consistently through various international media. By so doing, more people will continue to get this information even much longer after the criminal acts have occurred. This will serve the government in reducing the number of successful criminal acts.
- Alexander, Y. (2002). Combating terrorism. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
- Cavender, G., & Bond‐Maupin, L. (1993). Fear and Loathing on Reality Television: An Analysis of “America’s Most Wanted” and “Unsolved Mysteries”. Sociological Inquiry, 63(3), 305-317.
- Freedman, D. and Thussu, D. (2012). Media and terrorism. Los Angeles: SAGE.
