A suicide bomber has detonated
his incendiary device on the Pink Line of the "El" in Chicago,
IL. The emergency response teams have quickly extinguished the fire and
have begun to treat the wounded. The explosion took place at 5 p.m. on
a busy Thursday afternoon. The initial estimates are that 14
people have been killed and 67 wounded. There is also significant
infrastructure damage to the Ashland station, impeding traffic on the Green and
Pink lines as well as to and from the Illinois Medical
District. Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group from Somalia, has claimed
responsibility in response to the U.S. Navy's killing of Somali
pirates. Al-Shabaab warns that 2 more explosions will occur somewhere in
other major U.S. cities. Their rationale is that three pirates were
killed, and therefore three explosions will occur.
As
can be expected, the public across the U.S. is in a panic. You are the
public relations director for the Deputy Director of Homeland Security. He
has asked you to develop a comprehensive white paper explaining the
intervention options that the state and federal government can exercise to
alleviate public fear and anxiety. He wants to make sure that you
anticipate economic impacts at the local, state, and federal levels; use
historical incidents if necessary. Your paper will be the basis for an
upcoming DHS press conference in which the Deputy Director will attempt to
assuage the public’s fear.
Assignment Guidelines
· Address the following in 1,250–1,500 words:
o Provide a brief summary of the event.
o What psychological impacts will most likely be
present
§ at the local level? Explain
§ at the national level? Explain.
o What could be the social impacts? Explain.
§ Consider that the attack has significantly
affected a major form of public transit for a major city.
o What could be the economic impacts? Explain.
§ Consider consumer confidence and impacts to
businesses.
o How would the government respond to the
attack? Explain.
§ How would the government address the
psychological, social, and economic impacts? Explain.
§ Consider immediate, short-term, and long-term
impacts.
· Remember to fully support your arguments with
scholarly resources.
· Be sure to reference all sources using APA
style.
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