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