By Anna Schroder and Felix Oelmann, eldorado-catalog.ru
When the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed within a few minutes in the morning hours of September 11, they not only buried almost 3,000 people, but also the American belief in their own invulnerability. The shock is deep. The self-image of the Americans has been shaken so permanently that the massive security measures adopted to "protect against terrorism" have met with broad approval, both from the two major parties and from most of the population.
Shortly after the attacks in New York and Washington, US President George W. Bush declared internal security to be the government’s top priority. Nine days later, he made then-Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge head of the newly created Department of Homeland Security. On October 26, 2001, Bush signed the Patriot Act, a law to "unite and strengthen America by enacting appropriate measures to combat terrorism." The bill was passed with just a few votes against by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Extensive powers for the judiciary
Numerous provisions of the Security Act aim to seal off the borders and to control foreigners more closely. Immigration proceedings have been declared a secret, telephone tapping has been made easier, the rights of the defense restricted and the indefinite detention of so-called "important witnesses" ordered. In the course of this new legislation, the camps at the US naval base Guantánamo were also set up, in which numerous alleged Taliban fighters are still held – without charge, without a lawyer, for an unlimited period of time.
The invocation of American patriotism had led to a widespread suppression of opposing opinions in the months after the attacks. Critics were not only unwanted, but were accused of sympathy for the terrorists. But those times are over now. Under pressure from civil rights organizations, prominent lawyers and part of the media, some already enacted laws have now been weakened and others prevented from being drawn up.
Internal security as the first priority
Nevertheless: The mood in the population had changed on September 11th. President Bush’s proposal in June 2002 to turn the Office of Homeland Security into a huge super-ministry met with broad support.
After the terrorist attacks, Bush initially resisted a comprehensive reform of the bureaucratic apparatus. His U-turn has been seen in response to revelations that the CIA and FBI either shared intelligence about the 9/11 terrorists late or not at all. The CIA and FBI are not subordinate to the new ministry, but only work to it.
The Department of Homeland Security, led by Minister Tom Ridge, has now started work. It performs tasks for which 22 separate authorities were previously responsible. For the Bush administration, the establishment of this department is the most important and profound change in American government policy since the establishment of the Department of Defense in 1947.
Duct tape and threat indicators
The super agency has four main tasks: securing borders, preparing for disasters in cooperation with local authorities, developing scientific methods with which NBC weapons can be detected in good time, and managing communication between secret services and law enforcement agencies.
Minister Ridge’s most effective public measure so far has been the introduction of a five-level color scale to represent the current threat of terrorism. This threat indicator, which starts with green ("Low") and extends through blue, yellow and orange to red ("Severe"), is intended to prepare the population as well as authorities and institutions for any attacks that may be expected and to initiate preventive measures up to and including closure public institutions. Since the introduction of this system in March 2002, the warning color has already been changed several times. Before the anniversary of the New York attacks in September last year, "Code Orange" was declared, the second highest level of alert. Since then, this warning level has been declared several times, for example before the start of the fighting in Iraq on March 17 of this year.
Do not be afraid, but be prepared
For some, however, the bureaucracy colossus on the outskirts of Washington DC with its more than 170,000 employees across the country is a thorn in the side. In the eyes of critics, the main purpose of the department up to now is to promote paranoia among the American people. In January 2003, Ridge caused a stir when, in the course of raising the terror warning level, he recommended the purchase of adhesive tape and plastic sheeting to seal windows and joints. This led to shelves in hardware stores being sold out and scorn and ridicule in the press. Not only since then has the minister regularly found himself as the main character in political cartoons. In view of the numerous critical voices, numerous reforms have now been initiated in the authority.
The emergency plans drawn up by the authorities after September 11th were put into practice for the first time a few weeks ago: After the massive power outage in the northwestern United States, which reminded many New Yorkers of the days of the attacks, they would have The ministry said that emergency plans have proven their worth.