This is a 3 PART assignment. Each phase is directly related to the next. Please review the instructions carefully. I am also uploading the instructions and very specific “examples” for what each phase should look like. How you use these examples is not my concern as long as the paper passes all plagiarism tests.
Select a terrorist organization likely to
conduct a major and imminent attack within the United States and complete an
in-depth profile on the group you selected. This
is the first portion of a three part series of research papers that are
employed over the course of this class with papers due in weeks 3, 6 and
8. This same terrorist group and the hypothetical attack you describe
in this Midterm paper will also be used for your following Progress and Final
papers. In the next paper (progress assignment due in week 6) you
will describe how to collect and analyze on this terrorist group. In the
final paper due in week 8 you will describe how to stop the attack by making
recommendations on how the Homeland Security Enterprise can be better
supported with domestic intelligence.
2. Terrorist Group
Profile (Organizational Assessment):
For this midterm, write a 5-7 page
research paper that provides a description of the organization’s ideology,
goals & objectives, leadership, funding, and terrorist
capabilities. Describe the groups’ known or suspected
weapons/lethal agents and delivery methods, and the tactics, techniques and
procedures that they may use here in the homeland.
Make sure you pick either an
international terrorist group from the Department of
State list of foreign terrorist organizations, or if you pick a
domestic group make sure it is really a terrorist organization (not just
radicals). The Counter Extremist Project also has good details on Extremists Groups (but make sure to pick a terrorist
organization). For example, the KKK is not a terrorist group (or even illegal
in fact), they are a domestic hate group which has had members conduct
violent acts and murder. For more on that, see the FBI’s definition for international terrorism and domestic terrorism (while
either a domestic or international group can work for these papers, overseas
terrorist groups are the best ones to facilitate your following research
papers). This first Red Cell paper is only to set you up to be able to
research and write on how to conduct intelligence operations to protect the
Homeland (the following papers). So, a domestic terrorist group may make your
progress and final papers harder to write if the group is not sending
terrorists from overseas.
3. Hypothetical
Terrorist Attack:
In your paper describe in detail at least
one major hypothetical terrorist attack on the U.S. Homeland by this group —
an event that could happen in the immediate future (an imminent attack). You
do not need advance permission from the instructor on which group you choose,
but if you are considering a group unlikely to attack the U.S, Homeland, then
pick a different group that could potentially do so.
You can describe the full spectrum of
capabilities the group has to conduct attacks on our Homeland in your paper
from a specific single site attack (an iconic building), to complex
synchronized or multi-city attacks, or even the use of WMDs. Describe only
the terrorist capabilities and weapons that are relevant to an attack on our
homeland (for example it does not matter that ISIS had battle tanks and other
major weapons for this paper, only what they have that could be brought here
to attack the US, or acquired here). You need to explain what the impending
terrorist attack on the U.S. homeland would look like and how they would do
it — such as attacking a specific sporting event or a certain target you
select for the organization. When it comes to picking a target(s) in one or
multiple cities for your hypothetical attack(s), you can use your imagination
and try to think like a terrorist (big impact, well covered by media, and
fear spreading), or you can also considered the list of 31 DHS designated “High-Risk Jurisdictions” to
select from (page B-2).
Also, it needs to be a planned attack by
a group or at least a cell from the group, it can NOT be a lone wolf, nor can
the attack be by a radicalized individual or citizens. While these homegrown
attacks are much more likely, these lone wolf or radicalized individuals
attacking within the U.S do not allow you to develop your future research
papers on how to collect, analyze and then disrupt these attacks (the topics
of your progress and final papers).
In sum, you must describe a specific
physical attack (not just a cyber attack) on a target or targets that you
assess the organization capable of conducting, and it must be an attack
within the U.S. Homeland and be conducted by a trained group or a cell of
terrorists (not homegrown or cyber only attack). In other words, if you pick
al Qaeda or ISIS/ISIL then the attack cell needs to come from
overseas like happened on 9/11 or with the 2009 underwear bomber on
coming into Detroit or the NY City subway bombing plot, also in 2009 (a
traditional terrorist cell that was trained overseas). Tell us how it was
planned, surveyed, how they got in the U.S., how many there are in the attack
cell, etc. If you are stumped on what they could target specifically, then I
suggest this article Soft Targets
are Easy Terror Targets.
Conducting a successful major terrorist
attack is complicated operation involving a lot of planning, resourcing,
reconnaissance, and rehearsals. Most groups use the terrorist attack cycle
and include separate teams or cells for each of the following functions:
support and logistics, weapons and bomb-making, reconnaissance and scout
teams, as well as the attack cell itself. In your paper consider how your
selected organization will use the terrorist attack cycle (see the below
STRATFOR video for more) and make sure to specify exactly how many terrorists
are in this attack cell. Also specify how they will do the scouting and
reconnaissance, how will logistical and other support be secured, in what
manner will practice runs and rehearsals take place, and exactly how will the
attack unfold – so you need to specify how exactly they will attack and what
exact location or target will they attack in one specific city (or multiple
simultaneous attacks within one or more cities).
So, for your Red Cell papers, have your
selected terrorist group use a cell of at least 3 personnel in the attack
cell and use an attack model. Some example terrorist attack models include
Tokyo sarin gas attack 1995, or the London subway/bus bombings of 2005. You
could also describe a complex attack using multiple teams like happened in
Mumbai India in 2008, the West Gate Mall Kenya in 2013, the Paris attack in
2015 (to name a few). But an attack by a single individual is NOT what we are
looking for since a lone actor (an inspired/radicalized individual) is not an
attack by a terrorist cell (so no homegrown only attacks). Make sure to
explain exactly how many terrorists are in the attack cells; who did the
scouting/reconnaissance; who is providing logistical and other support, how
they infiltrated into the US, etc.
You may find this 3 minute STRATFOR Video on the terrorist attack cycle useful.
For more details see this 6 page appendix
A on the Terrorist Planning Cycle in the Military Guide to
Terrorism in the Twenty First Century (page 121).
Technical
Requirements:
Make
sure you read the instructions carefully and that you focus your paper on
answering the assigned questions.
This assignment is a research paper, not an opinion paper, so you need to use
scholarly sources to support your thesis (see this library article How do I write a good thesis statement). Use
formal academic writing and do not use the first person such as ‘I’ or ‘my’;
see this site on academic
writing style (scholarly voice). Make sure you use APA
style 7th edition in-text parenthetical citations at the end of every
sentence where you are quoting another’s ideas (or any information) that is
not your own thoughts and words, like this (Bergen, 2015, para.
14). Citations are required for paraphrases as well, but not the page or
paragraph number in that case. I highly recommend you use the APUS writing
guide which can be found in the university library or at this
link: APUS Research Writing and Style Guide. You are welcome to
use supplementary sources to compliment the assigned readings based upon your
research, but make sure you use only scholarly and credible sources
(do not use open websites and you never want to use wikipedia for a college
level paper). Also, dictionaries and encyclopedias as well as general news
sites (like CNN) are NOT appropriate for college level research papers.
A good example of what NOT to use is NSA.Gov1.info — not only is it not
the NSA webpage, the site loaded with bogus information and if you
scroll down to the bottom it says “This is a parody of nsa.gov and has not
been approved, endorsed, or authorized by the National Security Agency or by
any other U.S. Government agency.” Also, do not cite the weekly
lessons as those are only basic information to start off the topic with. You
need to use mainly scholarly and reputable academic books and journal
articles. Refer to the guide provided to you at this link titled Dr Gardners
Toolbox of Top Research and Writing Tips that includes a
section on “How to find scholarly research sources for HLSS Courses.” Also,
see the APUS Library Homeland Security Program Guide for good
sources, as well as the APUS Research
Primer and the APUS Library Research FAQs. For formatting, the best option
is to use the attached example paper as a template (for formatting
purposes only). I also recommend you use the this Dr Gardner
Toolbox with writing tips already mentioned when crafting
your paper, especially the section on How to write an effective
college level research paper for HLSS Courses.
Academic
Requirements:
– Make
sure your paper content meets the minimum acceptable length listed above with
5-7 full pages of text, not including the Title or Reference pages.
–
Written according to the APA 7th edition style and format (parenthetical
in-text citation formats only; not end notes or footnotes);
–
Use Times New Roman 12 point font;
–
1 inch margins on all sides with no paragraph indentation other than the
first line by .5 inches
–
Double space all text (no extra lines or spaces after a paragraph or section
headings and no added font sizes or lines either)
–
A respectable number of credible resources used, cited in the paper as
in-text citations, and included on the reference page. A good rule of thumb
is at least 2 scholarly sources per page of content (so a minimum of 2 new
scholarly sources per page in a research paper is acceptable for this
assignment). Use those academic and credible sources provided to
you throughout the course, as well as other scholarly material obtained from
conducting your own research. Freely utilize appropriate and reputable
academic sources, summarize in your own words and cite accordingly. You are
free to use material from your own forum posts from this course in your
paper, and you do not have to cite yourself if you do so. However, do not
cite the lessons in your paper as this is only basic information and not
meant to be cited in a research paper.
–
The paper must be free of typographical, spelling and grammatical errors
(make sure to proof read before submission)
– Turn
your paper in as a Word Document and title your assignment “LastnameHLSSXXXMidterm”
or ‘Progress’ or ‘Final’ on the end as appropriate.
–
The HLSS Assignment Rubric embedded within the assignment will be used to
evaluate this paper.
Finally,
be mindful of excessive direct quotes as the paper should not contain
just a string of quotations from sources. Make sure you comply with
all academic integrity standards expected by APUS and as slide 14 of the
APUS Academic
Integrity presentation posted in course syllabus (and the
week 1 introduction forum) states “Quotes cannot make up more than 10% of
the text of your assignment.” So paraphrase where you can and
provide your own analysis and synthesis of your research (direct quotes only
when necessary to support your thesis). The bottom line for academic
integrity is to write an original work for this assignment (not copied from
anywhere on the internet or a recycled content of your own previous
papers) to properly cite your references. See the syllabus tab
within this course for more important information on academic integrity and
the repercussions of plagiarism. Turnitin plagiarism checking software will
be used on all papers (automatically).
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