According to reports from the Department of Homeland Security, Al Qaeda leaders have issued orders to their members and radical associates to bring the war to the West by infiltrating cities and communities. Their goal is to blend in with regular society and when the time is right strike with severe blows killing as many people as possible, with the stress of seasonal threats attacks such as this could cripple the most functional cities . Local leaders have been directed to revisit there National Preparedness System plans and complete a Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA). According to the DHS National Protection Framework Guide "it is the local governments that are responsible for the public safety, security,