Discussion 1: after all the preparations made after 9/11, why did Boston Bombing still occur?
The Department of Homeland Security was created after the devastating terrorist attack of September 2001 ( MCENTIRE, 2018) . Other departments, such as the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), would also be formed in the wake of that attack. The nine-eleven attack had the United States thinking twice on its national security measures, and a lot had to be put in place in order to avoid such instances in the future. The occurrence of the Boston Marathon Bombing of 2013, among other similar scenarios, have therefore perplexed many, given the resources and investments that the federal government has made to counter terrorism and ensure national security. Homeland Security (DHS), which comprises of many crime and terrorism fighting agencies, has the duty of coordinating and sharing information on the various departments. The National Counterterrorism Center monitors and conducts investigations of suspected terrorists in order to neutralize terrorist threats before they actually occur. The FBI and the CIA have been around for ages, and are the most feared and known law enforcement agencies in the US and beyond ( Oig.justice.gov, 2020) . While their independence is vital for their operations, these two departments also have the duty to alert other law enforcement agencies on any threats to national security.
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The Boston Marathon Bombing occurred due to two main issues. These include the lack of proper coordination and information sharing among law enforcement agencies and negligence. One of the Bombers had been under the radar of both the FBI and the CIA, two years before the incident occurred in April of 2013. Information about one of the brothers, the bombers, first reached the FBI who conducted investigations and failed to find anything tangible to connect the individual to an allegation. According to Oig.justice.gov (2020), the FBI then closed the case and rendered the individual innocent and as ‘not’ a threat to national security. The FBI, in Boston, did not make any effort to inform the local police departments or any other law enforcement agencies, for that matter, regarding the allegations and investigation conducted on the individual. The same information later reached the CIA, which forwarded it to other departments such as the NCTC, for investigations. Nothing was found to show that the individual posed any threats to national security. Once again, the information was not shared with the local police departments in Boston.
The FBI and the other law enforcement agencies that conducted investigations on the terrorist may have neglected to dig deeper given the findings of a task force which reviewed the actions of the agencies (Fas.org, 2020) . After the review, it was found that there was enough reason to contain the individual and prevent the bombing in Boston in 2013. Also, according to the information provided to the FBI on the individual, he was supposed to fly to Russia, at some point in time, to meet a particular criminal gang. The individual indeed traveled to Russia as predicted, but no more action was taken by either the FBI or the CIA. According to the FBI, his travel to Russia still posed no threat to national security. The information provided on the individual was, therefore, largely neglected, and by undermining the information and the threat of the individual, the country faced yet, another devastating event.
Discussion 2: Missed Opportunities/Why was it so difficult to recognize the Bombers?
The local police officers work on the ground, throughout their police districts to contain crime and criminal threats. It is much easier to contain, recognize, or find a criminal or a suspect when the local police are involved ( Oig.justice.gov, 2020) . The Boston police commissioner, after the crime, reported not having been informed of anything concerning the individuals, three days after the attack. The FBI only disclosed that they had previously conducted an investigation involving one of the suspects, three days after the incident. This means that for three days, the local police officers went on a hunt without any clues on who they were hunting. They also had no idea of the terrorist’s motives. With all the street cameras being checked by the law enforcement agencies involved, those who had previously investigated one of the bombers must have already known who the suspects were (Fas.org, 2020) . But the information on the suspects only reached the local police after three days. After that, it did not take much longer before the police cornered the suspects. If only the local police departments had received information on the suspect, earlier, it would have been much easier recognizing and capturing the suspects.
The question, therefore, still goes down to the lack of proper coordination and sharing of information among law enforcement agencies. With the information on the individual in the local police database, it would have been easier narrowing down on the suspects. The FBI, for instance, already had information on the suspect’s family and home address, among other details. The local police officers, however, were kept in the dark. It was thus quite difficult to identify the suspects, given that the police officers surveilling the city had no idea what or who they were actually looking for. At that point, they merely relied on their hunches and clues. Prior knowledge of the information on the terrorist would have helped to locate and identify the bombers.
References
MCENTIRE, D. A. V. I. D. A. (2018). INTRODUCTION TO HOMELAND SECURITY: Understanding terrorism prevention and emergency management. Place of publication not identified: JOHN WILEY.
Oig.justice.gov (2020). Retrieved 1 March 2020, from https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2014/s1404.pdf
Fas.org (2020). Retrieved 1 March 2020, from https://fas.org/irp/congress/2014_rpt/boston.pdf
