Adjusting_to_Terrorism

When comparing Terrorism and Organized Crime, the consistencies between these two issues are abundant. Terrorism and terroristic groups can be viewed as larger scales of organized crime and organized crime groups, as well as be inter-twined groups that can work together, as a means to support one another’s interests and/or causes. Of course this union is created for the sole purpose of whatever benefits each group will gain from their interactions with the other and nothing more. This type of relationship that can be formed by two of the most powerful and sadistic groups such as this can be very dangerous and consequential. Many times, terrorist groups obtain funding through organized crime venues and/or tactics. In some of the bigger cities, such as New York and Chicago, it is much harder to prevent terrorism from occurring. This is due to the fact that many times larger cities are targets for terrorism, as they are areas highly populated and centers of the economy, so as to create a greater impact. Further, terrorism can also influence unscrupulous individuals who hold positions of power, if the right price is offered. Unfortunately, if the transactional amount is appealing enough, greed will win out over conscious. This makes it hard for the FBI and other such organizations to combat and eliminate these terroristic groups, due to these groups making threats and the influence they can hold within various arenas. There are some obvious problems that law enforcement faces, when it comes to combating terrorism. One is that law enforcement tries to reduce terrorism through the capture and detainment of the terrorism group leaders. The bad thing about this is that the terrorism group already has a back-up plan in place of the next in line leader that will be promoted to be in charge of the group. This approach does not destroy the group and eliminate the issues it creates; rather, it only halts operation for just a few days. In the intelligence field, the agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Central Intelligence Agency have ample new technology to effectively use against these terroristic organizations. The only problem that these enforcement organizations face is that the terrorism organizations have these same capabilities. Therefore, what would give an advantage to law enforcement only places the terrorists on a level playing field. Because of the similarities that these two organizations share, those same approaches utilized to effectively counter organized crime can also be effective tools that can be implemented to counter terrorism as well. An approach that the FBI has utilized to combat organized crime is by sending some of their own over-seas agents to work with other countries and the sharing of critical information on different organized crime groups. By doing this, it gives the FBI, CIA and other agencies a different approach in combating organized crime. By taking these steps, enforcement agencies are allowed the tools to make it easier to track the money that funds some of these organizations. Additionally, it allows the over-seas agents to obtain more Intel on whom or what a certain group ideology is, as well as providing policy makers with global crime intelligence. Not only does this help the investigating organizations, but it also helps in the application of techniques to finding and tracking bank accounts, partners and storage areas around the world that these organizations use. This same approach could prove effective for the elimination of terroristic groups. As it stands today, although great strides have been made since that grim day termed “9-11”, the resources available to control and combat the terrorism issue is still limited and insufficient. These terrorism groups are well aware of this fact, therefore, allowing them the ability to function and flourish fairly easily. Another problem that has been addressed, however, remains in need of improvement is that the various enforcement organizations, such as Homeland Security, FBI and CIA have very strict jurisdiction guidelines, which prevents the possibility of working in conjunction to control and eliminate the problem of terrorism. Additionally, the sharing of vital information that could further assist in these investigations remains limited. A solution to the control of terrorism that has been created is the special task force comprised of FBI, CIA and other agencies, which solely focuses on the combating of terrorism. An additional solution that has since been implemented to further the control of terrorism is the implementation and enforcement of stiffer penalties and punishments for these types of crimes. This approach would slowly break up these groups and deter others from taking part in these types of crimes. Further, by continuing to make improvements to the operation of this special task force, it will make it harder for these organizations to function, knowing that this specific task force is gaining in knowledge and tactics and watching their every move.