Good example of identification of two pre-9/11 homeland security events case study

The United States has through its history faced threats to its peaceful existence, even before the declaration of independence was signed. Acts of terrorism within the United States present a threat to the peaceful existence of the citizens of the United States even in the present day. The worst terrorist attack on United States soil occurred in September 2001 when coordinated attacks destroyed the twin world trade centre in New York, an attempted attack on the Pentagon and another failed attack, all carried out by the Al Qaeda terrorist group by hijacking commercial airplanes. Previously, terrorist attacks were recorded during the American civil war, the Second World War attack on the Pearl Harbour and the 1998 terrorist bomb attacks to American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Recently, there have been the Boston bomb attacks which were carried out during the Boston marathon event earlier this year. Terrorist attacks still continue being targeted to American servicemen in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The attack on pearl harbour was carried out by the Japanese through a coordinated military strike that involved aircraft, warships and submarines. This attack led to the entry of the United States into the Second World War. Most of the American military pacific fleet was based on the Pearl Harbour in Hawaii, in anticipation that sooner the Americans would be forced to engage militarily in the war which they had successfully kept out of at that point. The empire of Japan conducted the attack with the intention of paralysing the United States military at the pacific region. It was intended to destroy the Pacific fleet and thus prevent the Americans from interfering with the war acts f Japan in the region, which included the conquest of Dutch East Indies and Malaya. The attack was also intended to paralyse the morale of the Americans and thus prevent them from joining the war against Japan and also enable the Japanese to conquer the Southeast Asia region without interference. This attack led to death of 2402 Americans and was one of the deadliest attacks on American soil. The attack was similar to most of the current attacks on Americans which are usually meant to weaken the morale of the American people in fighting for Justice. Also, the current national security events that occur are also meant to destroy the capacity of the Americans to enforce its policies in the world. The attack, just like the current terrorist attacks in the United States was well coordinated to deliver the highest impact and destruction.
On 7th August 1998, coordinated bomb attacks were carried out by Al Qaeda terrorists on the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Just like present day attacks, these were coordinated and occurred on the same day within minutes of each other. The attacks resulted in a high number of casualties, many of them Kenyans who were caught unawares. This attack was believed to have been in retaliation to the American involvement in the extradition and alleged torture of members of an Egyptian jihadist group. This attack was much more like the current attacks which are usually based on the ideological belief that the United States is a bad influence on the world. Those who attack the United States believe that they are waging a sort of religiously sanctioned activities which involve causing harm to the American nation. This attack was based on radical Islamic ideological beliefs which have been the motivation behind many of the current national security events.

References

Haynok, J. (2009). ” How the Japanese Did It”. Naval History Magazine (United States Naval Institute) 23 (6).
Scherer, S. (2010). National Security. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2010.