3.3: terrorism in the United States

defining terrorism

• terrorism: the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims
• distinctive characteristics of terrorism include
  • trying to spread fear/anxiety across a target population
  • eg. bombing, kidnapping, hijacking, taking of hostages, assassination
  • using/viewing violence as a means to accomplish political goals
  • no hesitation even under probability of death to cause destruction under devotion to a cause via attacks, usually on innocent civilians

major terrorist attacks in recent American history

these are terrorist attacks against the US, but not all took place on American soil

• 12/21/88: bombing of flight in Scotland
  • 270 dead
• 2/26/93: car bomb in garage under World Trade Center
  • 6 dead, 1,000 injured
• 4/19/95: car bomb in Oklahoma City
  • 168 dead
• 6/25/96: truck bomb in Saudi Arabian hotel
  • 19 US soldiers dead, 100+ people injured
• 8/7/98: US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania bombed
  • 190 dead, almost 5,000 injured
• 10/12/00: USS Cole bombed in Yemen
  • 17 US service personnel killed
• 4/15/13: Boston Marathon Bombing
  • 3 killed, 180 injured
• 4/2/14: attack on Ford Hood, Texas military base
  • 4 dead, 14 injured
• 7/16/15: Chattanooga, Tennessee installation attack
  • 5 military personnel killed
• 12/2/15: mass shooting in San Bernardino, California
  • 14 dead, 21 injured

recent domestic terrorists (1990’s)

• Theodore J. Kaczynski/Ted Kaczynski/Unabomber -- bombed eco-unfriendly people who disagreed with his views on environmental protection
  • eg. academics, business executives
• Timothy J. McVeigh -- Oklahoma City bombing, grievances with US government over Branch Davidan Siege
  • attack on 4/19/95 (listed above) claimed 80 lives
• Dzhokhar Tsarnaev -- Boston Marathon bombing, grievances with US government over military actions in Iraq, Afghanistan

attacks of September 11, 2001

• destroyed the Twin Towers in NYC, damaged Pentagon, had another target (likely in the Washington, D.C. area; thought to be the Capitol Building or White House)
• resulted in 2,977 civilian fatalities
  • 88 (77 passengers, 11 crew members) on American Airlines flight 11 which crashed into the first World Trade Center tower (North Tower)
  • 60 (51 passengers, 9 crew members) on United Airlines flight 175 crashed into the second World Trade Center tower (South Tower)
  • 2,605 civilians lost their lives on the ground at the World Trade Center
  • 59 (53 passengers, 6 crew members) on United Airlines flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon
  • 125 civilians lost their lives on the ground at the Pentagon
  • 40 (33 passengers, 7 crew members) on United Airlines flight 93 stopped the hijacker by storming the cockpit and purposefully crashing the plane into a field in rural Pennsylvania
  • this was the plane thought to be headed for the Capitol or White House
  • 19 terrorists dead on airplanes, Al-Qaeda responsible

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