The three areas that required greater openness and accountability include; government information, immigration process and the justice system. American people need to know what goes on in the government and how the government makes decisions. The government has been secretive in sharing information to the public and even in some cases manipulated the information to suit its needs. The government website contains little information on matters concerning war on terror and on government businesses.
In sharing information the governments needs to improve its website and avoid manipulating information for it to be accountable and open. Through the website, council sessions, meetings in the White House, among others will be accessible to the American people. By accessing the government website, American people will know when the decisions are being made, how they are made and also whether their interests are being considered in the decisions made. The immigration process is crucial in the fight against terrorism.
The process has not been fair to all individuals due to the increased bribery and nepotism cases. The process needs to be transparent in order to reduce the number of terrorists getting into the country. This is because most terrorists get in into the country illegally while others come as visitors or immigrants. With an open and transparent immigration process, cases of bribery and nepotism will be reduced and this will in turn reduce the number of terrorists getting into the country. All offenders including terrorists go through the justice system.
Therefore, with a justice system that is not transparent, some terrorists will be set free and hence be a national security risk. Furthermore, the justice system is responsible for deportation of individuals who have overstayed their visa and those who are a security risk to the country. With a transparent justice system such individuals should be deported immediately; otherwise their court hearings will be done in secret and are then allowed to stay in the country. Consequently, there have been cases of individuals from one community being in excessive number in detention.
In making the current justice system more transparent, internal changes are essential so that court hearings are conducted in a fair and open manner and also members of certain communities are not discriminated. 3) Legal experts have urged the government to amend its tactics on the war on terror so that there is more transparency. What are the three areas in which greater openness and accountability are recommended? Why are these important? Future terrorist attacks require much effort from the public and private safety agencies. The current practice for emergency response has potential gaps and lapses which make it ineffective.
In order to improve the response to future terrorist attacks a more focused, integrated approach is required involving both the public and private sector entities thereby ensuring provision of a broader array of personnel and resources. In addition to that the approach should put more emphasis on preparedness and prevention of future terrorist attacks (Henry & King, 2004). Consequently, a more effective, strategic and operational process is also needed in curbing future terrorist attacks and the process should be based on the Compstat crime control management model.
Since this model is considered to be highly effective, the process will provide accurate and timely analysis of terrorist intelligence and an effective tactical and strategic response to a wide variety of events concerning weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Additionally, the process will ensure rapid deployment of the necessary resources and personnel and provide a relentless follow-up thereby assuring a more effective and integrated response to future terrorist attacks (Henry & King, 2004). 4) What suggestions do Henry and King make to improve the response of public safety agencies to future terrorist attacks?
