Bioterrorism: Redefining US National Security in Wake of Recent Cases - Research Paper

Introduction

A recent case is that of terror incidence that has been of a threat to the national security of the US. The specter of bioterrorism has forced the government of the US to redefine national security. There have been cases of anthrax scare and other infectious diseases which have threatened stability and endangered the U.S citizens at home and abroad. The Incident Command System has defined that the departments which require the most resources with regards to protection from bioterrorism include; the chemical department, Emergency services, Nuclear Reactors, materials and waste, and defense industrial base, the communications department, public health, and food and Agriculture sector.

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The Department of Homeland Security, the chemical sector which deals with regulating the use of chemical products, how to manufacture, store, transport and the delivery of chemicals which them having contact or adverse effect on the citizens living in the United States. It also involves petrochemical plants to pharmaceutical creators (Radvanovsky, 2016). The chemical sector infrastructure has been divided into four main practice areas; Manufacturing plants, transport or logistics systems, warehousing and storage mechanisms and most importantly the end users of chemical products and how they are supposed to handle the products (Radvanovsky, 2016). Once this sector is well resourced and equipped, it will be able to act appropriately, whenever there is an instance of bioterrorism (Radvanovsky, 2016). It will mitigate or regulate the use of chemical products and strongly oppose the illegal use of chemical products for attacking another nation since it will have a ripple effect on the citizens in the warring nations.

The Defense sector, under the Department of Defense; has numerous domestic and foreign organizations and "subcontractors" that are tasked to do duties in the Department of Defense and other Federal departments and agencies (Giannopoulos, 2012). These organizations are mandated to conduct research, development, design, produce, deliver and preserve the military arms structures, sub-structures, and mechanisms. The products related to the defense department will be developed, informed and sustained whenever there are military operations around the world. The defense sector will be able to conduct research, develop and design measures of combating any instance of a bioterrorism attack in the United States.

The Emergency services sector, under the Department of Homeland Services; It consists of properties, structures, networks that are very important to preserve, protect and maintain the health and safety of American citizens, especially in the instance of natural or human-made disaster incident (Hildick-Smith, 2015). In this case when this sector is well resourced and equipped it will help them fulfill their primary goal which is to preserve the safety and health of US citizens in case of a bioterrorism attack. Through securing these features, the sector is better able to support all critical infrastructure, essential services and also ensure the public health is maintained (Hildick-Smith, 2015). The primary roles of this sector are also to ensure; saving lives from any disaster and most especially bioterrorism attack, safeguarding the property and the environment, helping those communities and even recovery from emergencies or conditions.

The Food and Agriculture sector, under the Departments of both Agriculture, Health and Human Services; this is a large department comprising of agricultural production and food systems (Cupp, 2014). Once this department is financed appropriately, it will help them to address the biological, chemical or radiological agents which could have an overwhelming effect on the public health sector on the citizens and the industry will regulate the impact of biological attack on another nation and also devastating impact on the citizens of United States (Cupp, 2014). The sector will also highlight the effects of a bioterrorism attack on the plants and the future impact of the citizens on the food they consume.

The sector of Nuclear Devices, materials and waste, under the Department of Homeland Security; the industry deals with managing and operating viable nuclear power reactors which offer power to millions of homes and businesses across the nation. The sector also involves; conducting further research for the "nonpower" nuclear reactors, training and creation of radioisotope. The atomic materials utilized in the field of medicine. The facilities for nuclear fuel-cycle, the logistics, storage, and removal of nuclear materials and waste. The important nuclear partners or entities continue to provide growth and high state of preparedness against all hazards like bioterrorism and all other acts of terrorism.

The sector of Healthcare and public health should also be enhanced since it will help them to act decisively when bioterrorism attack occurs to prevent more deaths, disability and even outbreak of diseases. They also focus on public health and also react to emergencies which affect the public health of citizens of the United States (Khan, 2011). The sector is also focused on developing effective healthcare and public health system which can be able to withstand any instance of bioterrorism attack which is focused on safeguarding the regional security and safety.

According to (Fischhoff, 2014), the communication sector is a significant segment in the economy of the United States; it defines all the operations of all industries, public safety entities, and the state. In the past two decades, the communications sector has grown from a prime voice-centered solid facility where suspected threats like bioterrorism were not highlighted to the authorities due to fear of being killed and victimization from members of these extremist groups as the security of the citizens who report such vital matters were not heightened, but now they have a more rigorous, diverse, competitive and all-inclusive industry which has sophisticated devices like terrestrial satellite and wireless transmission systems (Fischhoff, 2014).

References

Giannopoulos, G., Filippini, R., & Schimmer, M. (2012). Risk assessment methodologies for Critical Infrastructure Protection. Part I: A state of the art. JRC Technical Notes.

Hildick-Smith, A. (2015). Security for critical infrastructure SCADA systems. SANS Reading Room, GSEC Practical Assignment, Version, 1, 498-506.

Copeland, C., & Cody, B. (2010). Terrorism and security issues facing the water infrastructure sector.

Khan, A. S. (2011). Public health preparedness and response in the USA since 9/11: a national health security imperative. The Lancet, 378(9794), 953-956.

Cupp, O. S., Walker, D. E., & Hillison, J. (2014). Agroterrorism in the US: key security challenge for the 21st century. Biosecurity and bioterrorism: biodefense strategy, practice, and science, 2(2), 97-105.

Radvanovsky, R. (2016). Critical infrastructure: homeland security and emergency preparedness. CRC Press.

Fischhoff, B. (2014). Risk perception and communication unplugged: twenty years of process 1. Risk analysis, 15(2), 137-145.