Respond to my Classmate’s Post. Your responses should be substantive in nature, meaning you should present discourse by asking questions of your peers (how did they arrive at their conclusion or what was the premise of their argument). You can challenge one another and present an alternative analysis. All of this should be supported by the research of scholarly, peer-reviewed articles, and authoritative reporting (government).

CLASSMATE’S POST

On September 11. 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people were killed during the 9/11 attacks, which triggered major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defined the presidency of George W. Bush.

The 9/11 terror attacks could have been stopped if airlines, airports and the Federal Aviation Administration had heeded intelligence warnings and fixed airport security holes, according to former federal security agents. And 15 years after the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, both the government and the aviation system continue to neglect trouble in security and avoid accountability for failing to prevent the catastrophe, the agents suggest (Stoller & American Media Institute, 2016).  “Aviation security was given short shrift in the 9/11 Commission Report and, whether intentional or not, the net effect was to protect the airports and airlines from liability,” said Brian Sullivan, a former special agent with the FAA, which had responsibility for aviation security until it was replaced after 9/11 by the Transportation Security Administration. “Since the report was published, new information shows 9/11 could have been prevented (Stoller & American Media Institute, 2016).

Three other former FAA special agents Bogdan Dzakovic, Steve Elson and Sherry Moran —repeatedly told their supervisors about security deficiencies that endangered the traveling public, but also say the flaws weren’t addressed or corrected. A host of documents and interviews obtained by American Media Institute show that these and many other problems with airport security have not been fixed in the decade and a half since 9/11. Interviews were conducted with FAA security officials, 9/11 Commission staff, lawyers in 9/11-related lawsuits and individuals who say they observed the actions of the 19 hijackers’ leader, Mohamed Atta, prior to the hijackings.