Dear Future President,

With the sudden rise of the terrorist groups “ISIS” and “ISIL” and the amount of terrorist attacks recently in America, they’re leaving Americans frightened. Isis was created by Al Qaeda along with ISIL, they both are trying to spread terror across the world. ISIL is more aimed towards Syria and Iraq. One issue worth considering during your next term is what America can start to do to defend against terrorist attacks, and make America feel safe.

An article called “Terrorist Activity: are you ready?” written by Randy D. Danielson, explains how Americans don’t know what to do when a terrorist attack is around them. A quote from the article is “Don’t let anyone leave a stranger.’ The purpose of this sign is, of course, to make everyone feel welcome, but these days I think it also means to be aware of your surroundings. I have seen too many American flags at half-staff this year to overlook a potential tragedy.” I found this to be very true. This relates to my topic because it talks about how being aware of your surroundings can make you be more prepared for a potential attack. Another thing Mr. Danielson talks about is two major attacks that happened in the United States this year. The Pulse Nightclub shooting leaving 49 dead and another shooting in a San Bernardino, California conference room killing 14 and injuring 21, and this is sending a message saying that you are not safe anywhere. This connects to my topic because how can the American population feel safe when they can be attacked anywhere. But upgrading the defense and teaching Americans what to do can help American citizens feel safer and help prevent any catastrophic attacks.

Another thing you can think about during your next term is, how allies can help us fight against terrorism. States News Service released news about 8 countries getting together discussing terrorism. “We the Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the High Representatives of the European Union jointly condemn the brutal violence, hatred, and intolerance of the terrorist organization operating under the name ISIL.” This is connected to my topic because we are helping Iraq fight the terrorist group “ISIL” and since we’re helping them fight terrorists, they can return the favor and help us fight “ISIS.” But the other countries I listed above admire what we’re doing to help Iraq, so if we’re having trouble fighting terrorists, they will see how we helped a country in need and they will do the same. State News Services also released that the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince arrived in Washington D.C. “...international alliance to fight ISIS terrorist organization…” was a quote released, this relates to my topic because this gives us another ally who is fighting the same enemy as us.

Smith Hempstone wrote an article called “Embassies at Risk” and it talks about how there are terrorist attacks outside of the United States that are affecting the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by terrorists. In the article Mr. Hempstone talks about what we can do to protect against these attacks. We can have surveillance by local police, we can harden the window glass with plastic coating to protect against sharding, and deploy more U.S Marines into that area. This relates to my topic because while upgrading the defenses we are protecting U.S lives and if we do that here at our homeland also, U.S citizens will feel safer, and we will be able to defend against more attacks.

In conclusion, if we make allies, upgrade defenses and teach people how to be prepared for an attack, U.S citizens can walk around feeling safe, and knowing that if there is a terrorist attack near them, they’re ready and can protect themselves and others.

Sincerely,

Jake Giolitti