One of the most important responsibilities of our nation is to protect and serve its citizens. As the new millennium begins, our nation must overcome many challenges that affect this responsibility. Three of the most important are terrorism, illiteracy, and the lack of moral values.Americans have considered terrorism as a horror that occurs in other countries and not as a real threat to America itself. As the recent terrorist attacks on our nation shows, this opinion was gravely incorrect. There are several policies in both the private sector and our government, which contributed to our vulnerability to terrorism.Most people assume that all luggage and passengers are closely screened before they are allowed on an aircraft; however, this not the case. Unlike carry-on bags, luggage placed in the cargo bay of a plane is not x-rayed. This creates the possibility for a terrorist to check in a suitcase that contains a bomb with no problem. Not only would the bomb go undetected, but also the terrorist would not have to be a passenger on plane due to no checkpoints, which match baggage to passengers.Another factor, which contributed to the successfulness of the recent terrorist acts, is the gross negligence of the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) in their duties of monitoring foreigners who enter this country legally as students. By focusing their efforts and resources mainly on the Mexican immigration problem, they have left the door wide open for legal aliens to stay in this country for as long as they wish. The school in which a foreign student is allowed to attend is specified when he is granted a visa; however, there is no office in the INS whose responsibility is to ensure that a student is present at the school at the required time classes begin. The administration of the school is the only responsible party for reporting a foreign students failure of attendance. Often foreign students never show up for school an...
