How the U.S. Is Countering Terrorism

How the U.S. Is Countering Terrorism Terrorism is not new, nor is the practice of trying to prevent it through  counterterrorism  measures. But as the number of terrorist attacks has skyrocketed in the 21st century, the United States and other nations have had to become much more proactive in defending their citizens from such violence.   Counterterrorism in the U.S. The U.S. government has made fighting terrorism a priority since the early 1970s, following the terrorist attacks on the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, and several airline hijackings. But it was the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that made counterterrorism a pillar of domestic and foreign policy in the U.S. and beyond. The RAND Corporation, a defense policy think tank, defines the ongoing war on terror this way: Counterterrorism, since 2001, threatens terrorist safe havens, infiltrates terrorists financial and communications networks, hardens critical infrastructure, and connects the dots among the intelligence and law enforcement communities... Several federal agencies play critical roles in contemporary counterterrorism, both domestically and internationally, and often their efforts overlap. Among the most important are: Department of Homeland Security: The lead agency in charge of all domestic anti-terrorism and security activities.Department of State: Manages  the development and implementation of all U.S. government policies and programs aimed at countering terrorism overseasOffice of the Director of National Intelligence: Coordinates the gathering, analysis, and sharing of data among federal intelligence agencies such as the FBI and CIA.Federal Bureau of Investigation: Executes counterterrorism actions such as surveillance and investigation in conjunction with other law-enforcement agents at the local, state, and federal level.Central Intelligence Agency: Collects, analyzes, and shares international intelligence and data to inform and carry out U.S. foreign policy.National Counterterrorism Center: Plans  and coordinates counterterrorism policies and programs among federal agencies Fighting terrorism isnt limited to these agencies. The Department of Justice, for example, is responsible for prosecuting terror-related criminal cases, while the Department of Transportation frequently works on security issues with Homeland Security. State and local law enforcement agencies are often involved in some capacity as well.   On an international level, the U.S. government frequently cooperates with other countries on matters of security. The United Nations, NATO, and other nongovernmental organizations also have established counterterrorism policies of their own. Types of Counterterrorism Generally speaking, counterterrorism efforts have two goals: to protect the nation and its citizens from attack and to neutralize threats and actors who would attack the U.S. Defensive measures can be simple, like placing concrete bollards in front of buildings to stop an explosive-laden vehicle from getting too close. Video surveillance of public areas coupled with facial-recognition technology is another, considerably more advanced defensive counterterrorism measure. The security lines at U.S. airports, operated by the Transportation Security Agency, are yet another example. Offensive counterterrorism measures can range from surveillance and sting operations to arrests and criminal prosecutions to seizing financial assets and military action. In February 2018, for example, the Treasury Department froze the assets of six people known to conduct business with Hezbollah, an Islamic organization the U.S. has labeled a terrorist organization. The 2011 raid by Navy Special Forces on Osama bin Ladens Pakistan compound, which resulted in the death of the Al Qaeda leader, is one of the best-known examples of successful military counterterrorism activity. Sources Jenkins, Brian. Bush, Obama, And Trump: The Evolution Of U.S. Counterterrorist Policy Since 9/11. ICT.org.il. 24 September 2017.Lederman, Joshua. Taking Aim at Iran, US Hits Hezbollah With New Sanctions. StarTribune.com.  2 February 2018.Roser, Max; Nagdy, Moses; and Ritchie, Hannah. Terrorism. OurWorldInData.org. January 2018.United Nations staff. UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. UN.org.  United States Department of State. Country Reports on Terrorism 2016. State.gov. July 2017.

Hunahpu and Xbalanque - The Maya Hero Twins

Hunahpu and Xbalanque - The Maya Hero Twins The Hero Twins are famous Mayan semi-gods called Hunahpu and Xbalanque, whose story is narrated in the Popol Vuh (â€Å"The Book of Council†). The Popol Vuh is the sacred text of the Quichà © Maya of the Guatemalan highlands, and it was written during the Early Colonial period, probably between 1554–1556, although the stories within it are clearly much older. The First Hero Twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque are the second Hero Twins in Maya mythology. Like all Mesoamerican cultures, the Maya believed in cyclical time, including periodic cosmic destruction and renovation, called the ages of the world. The first pair of divine hero twins were the Maize Twins, 1 Hunter Hun Hunahpu and 7 Hunter Vuqub Hunahpu, and they lived during the second world. Hun Hunahpu and his twin brother Vucub Hunahpu were invited down into the Maya underworld (Xibalba) to play the Mesoamerican ballgame by the Xibalban lords One and Seven Death. There they fell prey to several trickeries. On the eve of the scheduled game, they were given cigars and torches and told to keep them lit all night without consuming them. They failed in this test, and the penalty for failure was death. The twins were sacrificed and buried, but the head of Hun Hunapu was cut off, and only his body was buried with his younger brother. The Lords of Xibalba placed Hun Hunapus head in the fork of a tree, where it helped the tree bear fruit. Eventually, the head came to look like a calabash- the American domesticated squash. A daughter of one of the lords of Xibalba named Xquic (Blood Moon) came to see the tree and Hun Hunapus head talked to her and spit saliva into the maidens hand, impregnating her. Nine months later, the second Hero Twins were born. The Second Hero Twins In the third world, the second pair of hero twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, avenged the first set by defeating the Lords of the Underworld. The names of the second set of Hero Twins have been translated as X-Balan-Que â€Å"Jaguar-Sun† or â€Å"Jaguar-Deer,† and Hunah-Pu, as â€Å"One Blowgunner.† When Hunahpu (One Blowgunner) and Xbalanque (Jaguar Sun) are born, they are treated cruelly by their half-brothers  but make themselves happy by going out every day to hunt birds with their blowguns. After many adventures, the twins are summoned to the underworld. Following in the footsteps of their fathers, Hunahpu and Xbalanque descend the road to Xibalba, but avoid the tricks that captured their fathers. When they are given a torch and cigars to keep alight, they trick the lords by passing off a macaws tail as the glow of a torch, and by putting fireflies at the tips of their cigars. The next day, Hunahpuh and Xbalanque play ball with the Xibalbans, who first try to play with a ball made of a skull covered with crushed bone. An extended game follows, full of trickery on both sides, but the wily twins survive. Dating the Hero Twins Myth In prehistoric sculptures and paintings, the Hero Twins arent identical twins. The older twin (Hunahpuh) is depicted as larger than his younger twin, right-handed and masculine, with black spots on his right cheek, shoulder and arms. The sun and pronghorn antlers are Hunahpuhs main symbols, although often both twins wear deer symbols. The younger twin (Xbalanque) is smaller, left-handed and often with a feminine guise, with the moon and rabbits his symbols. Xbalanque has patches of jaguar skin on his face and body. Although the Popol Vuh dates to the Colonial period, the Hero Twins have been identified on painted vessels, monuments, and cave walls dating to the Classic and Preclassic period, as early as 1000 BCE. The names of the Hero Twins are also present in the Maya calendar as day signs. This further indicates the importance and antiquity of the myth of the Hero Twins, whose origins date back to the earliest period of Maya history. Hero Twins in the Americas In the Popol Vuh myth, before avenging the fates of the first twins, the two brothers have to kill a bird-demon called Vucub-Caquix. This episode is apparently portrayed in a stela at the early site of Izapa, in Chiapas. Here a couple of young men are portrayed shooting a bird-monster descending from a tree with their blowgun. This image is very similar to the one narrated in the Popol Vuh. The myth of divine hero-twins is known in most Native American traditions. They are present in myths and tales both as legendary ancestors, and heroes that need to overcome various trials. Death and rebirth are suggested by many of the hero-twins appearing in the form of men-fish. Many Mesoamerican Indians believed that gods catch fish, human embryos floating in a mythical lake. The Hero Twin myth was part of a suite of ideas and artifacts that arrived in the American southwest from the gulf coast beginning about 800 CE. Scholars have noted that the Maya Hero Twin myth appears in southwestern United States Mimbres pottery about that time. Updated by K. Kris Hirst Sources Boskovic, Aleksandar. The Meaning of Maya Myths. Anthropos 84.1/3 (1989): 203–12. Print.Gilman, Patricia, Marc Thompson, and Kristina Wyckoff. Ritual Change and the Distant: Mesoamerican Iconography, Scarlet Macaws, and Great Kivas in the Mimbres Region of Southwestern New Mexico. American Antiquity 79.1 (2014): 90–107. Print.Knapp, Bettina L. The Popol Vuh: Primordial Mother Participates in the Creation. Confluencia 12.2 (1997): 31–48. Print.Miller, Mary E., and Karl Taube. An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. London: Thames and Hudson, 1997. Print.Sharer, Robert J. The Ancient Maya. 6th ed. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2006. Print.Tedlock, Dennis. How to Drink Chocolate from a Skull at a Wedding Banquet. RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics 42 (2002): 166–79. Print.-. The Popol Vuh: Definitive Edition of the Maya Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings. 2nd ed. New York: Touc hstone, 1996. Print.