ABSTRACT
Despite various clues and threats, the perpetrators were able to enter America, obtain pilot's licenses, and board those fateful flights that would effectively change the course of domestic and foreign policy, as well as our involvement in the Middle East over the next 20 years. Since its creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in November of 2002, there has been a constant tension between the DHS professionals and some of the various organizations within it. From the very beginning and up to the current day, there were and are tensions regarding a seeming return to civil defense. Much of this contempt came from FEMA personnel who saw its role reduced post-9/11 under DHS. In 2003, FEMA was absorbed wholly into the DHS as a part of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security. For better or for worse, terrorism is the number one priority for professionals in the Department of Homeland Security.
