Assignment: Threat on Public Health
A war veteran discharged from active duty is unable to receive the medical benefits that he believes he is entitled to. He also faces problems in finding decent employment, but secures a low-level, part-time position at a local water treatment plant in a Centervale cleaning facility.
After several months on the job, with no benefits, he gets depressed. He also starts questioning the reasons behind the United States' military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq. He feels that the United States is not justified in going to war with Afghanistan and Iraq. All these reasons increase his resentment toward the United States and its foreign policies.
In an effort to "get back" at the United States, he decides to attack the water company he works for, including the canals and major water sources, such as the Colorado River. He plans to contaminate the water so that it causes major health problems or even death, thereby resulting in the destruction of US citizens.
In his mission to carry out the attack on the water treatment facility, he decides to recruit another low-level coworker who, he believes, will help him. He tells this coworker the details of his plan, and the coworker initially agrees to help him. A few days before the plan is to be carried out the coworker gets nervous and notifies the local Centervale Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office.
The director of the FBI assigns you to monitor the situation and track the war veteran's behavior to prevent a domestic terror attack. The Director expects a report on the disgruntled war veteran along with the potential methods by which the attacks on the water system might occur. Overall, your report should help the city of Centervale prepare for this type of attack.
Instructions:
Your final APA-formatted report should be approximately 6-8 pages long. It should include a minimum of five reference articles about water contamination or water accessibility at local water treatment plants.
As you construct your report for the Director, take the following items into consideration.
• Examine the history and events that led to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Discuss how history helps us improve our responses for future events of a similar nature and creates a sturdy foundation to handle new cases similar to the attack this veteran was planning.
• Compare and contrast your war veteran to the likes of Timothy McVeigh, who was also a veteran responsible for blowing up the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995.
• Consider the threat that Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) cells implanted on American soil have on national security. Evaluate where and how the disgruntled war veteran might acquire the resources necessary to launch an attack on the local water treatment facility in Centervale keeping in mind that Centervale is a town of seventy five thousand residents situated outside a major metropolitan area of two million residents.
• Consider the overarching mission, role, and function of the Department of Homeland Security to protect the United States. Using the available resources, create effective strategies to verify the legitimacy of each potential terrorist resource without violating the rights of Centervale's citizens.
• Review the preparedness measures offered by the Department of Homeland Security towards preparing the United Sates for disasters by going to the website for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at http://www.fema.gov/. You can find more specific information at http://www.fema.gov/plan-prepare-mitigate and/or http://www.fema.gov/ response-recovery. Select a preparedness measure and recommend how it might be useful in helping Centervale prepare for an attack on public health.