Terrorism – A Brief History

Found as early as Biblical times Jewish and Palestinian groups opposed Roman

rule in 66-73 A.D. Word terrorism has roots in French “Reign

of Terror” 1773-1794, Jacobins under leadership of

Maximilien Robespierre Huge explosion in incidents of terrorism in

latter part of 20th century

History

1996: Osama bin Laden issues declaration of war: “Declaration of War Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places”, Mecca and either Medina or the Dome of the Rock

1998: Osama bin Laden issues another Fatwa—duty to kill Americans anytime, anywhere

1998: Coordinated bombings of U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar el Salaam, Tanzania

2000: USS Cole attacked by suicide bombers while refueling in Yemen 2001: World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks 2002: Diplomat Laurence Foley murdered in Jordan 2005: Bombings at 3 American owned hotels in Amman, Jordan

al-Qaeda (The Base)vs. U.S.

Terrorism – A Definition

The calculated use of violence or threat of violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious or idelogical.

Joint Publication 3-07.2, Joint Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Antiterrorism

Domestic Terrorism Terrorism perpetrated by the citizens

of a country against their fellow citizensBombing of the Murrah Federal

Building in Oklahoma City by White Supremacists Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols and Michael & Laurie Fortier

Terrorism

Domestic Terrorism

•Centennial Olympic Park bombing on 26 July 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia killed 2 and injured 111. Perpetrated by Eric Rudolph, radical anti-abortion activist. •Rudolph serving life without parole at FDX Florence, the Super Max prison in Florence, Colorado.

•Bali Nightclub Bombings on 12 October 2002 by the Jemaah Islamiah Islamist organization that killed 202 people and injured 209. •Terrorists executed by firing squad in Indonesia

•Tokyo subway sarin gas attack on 20 March 1995 by the Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth) cult killed 12 and injured approximately 6,000.•Cult leader sentenced to death in Japan.

Domestic Terrorism

•POSSIBLY – Boston Marathon bombing on 20 April 2013. Early indications, including type of explosive and setting of secondary devices indicate possible domestic terrorists. •Terrorists remain unknown.

International terrorism Terrorism in which planning and

execution of the terrorist act transcends national boundaries

Terrorism

•Bombing of Le Belle Disco in West Berlin on 5 April 1986, sponsored by Libya, killing 3 and injuring more than 100.•President Reagan orders attacks on Libya in response after Mummar Quaddafi established as organizer of bombing.

International Terrorism

•Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland on 21 December 1988 by Libyan agents killed 270.•Terrorists sentenced to prison, one released to Libya on illness claims later seen as questionable.

•First World Trade Center Attack on 26 February 1993: Islamic terrorists detonated a truck bomb under the towers killing six and damaging the building.•Several terrorists imprisoned for life at FDX Florence Super Max, Colorado

International Terrorism

•American Airlines Flight 63 attempted shoe bombing by Islamic fundamentalist Richard Reid on 22 December 2002.•Reid also sentenced to life at FDX Florence Super Max.

September 11 Attacks – Worst Single Terror Attack in History

- Perpetrated by al-Qaeda

- Two jets crashed into the World Trade Center towers, killing 2,752- One jet crashed into the Pentagon killing 189

-- One jet crashed in Pennsylvania, killing 44

-Total killed almost 3,000 (2,985 including terrorists)

International Terrorism

Terror Threat The impact on the actual victim of the

terrorist attack is often secondary to the emotional or psychological impact on an audience far larger than the victims

The true target of the terrorist is society as a whole.

Terrorism

Terrorism Objectives

Attract attention for groups cause Demonstrate groups power Show the existing government’s lack of

power Extract revenge Obtain logistical support Cause a government to overreact

• Assassination: The killing of prominent persons and symbolic enemies or traitors who defect from the group.

- On 6 October 1981, Egyptian President Sadat was assassinated during an military parade by army members who were part of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and saw Sadat as a traitor for making peace with Israel.

- On 4 November 1995, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin was assassinated after attending a rally by a right-wing activist upset that Rabin had signed the Oslo Peace Accords.

Common Terrorist Tactics

• Arson

- Less dramatic than most tactics

- Low risk

- Low level of technical knowledge

- Often associated with environmental terrorists

- 1 August 2003: Biggest act of eco- terrorism in U.S. history was a fire set by the Earth Liberation Front that destroyed a $50 million apartment complex just outside San Diego

Common Terrorist Tactics

The improvised explosive device (IED) or

Bomb is the terrorist’s weapon of choice. Inexpensive to produce Various detonation techniques available, may be a low risk

to the perpetrator. Boston Marathon Bombing employed IEDs.

• Other advantages include their attention-getting capacity-ability to control casualties through time of detonation and placement of the device. – Easily deniable should the action produce undesirable results.

– From 1983 through 1996, approximately half of all recorded terrorist incidents involved explosives.

• Bombing: the improvised explosive device (IED) is the terrorist’s weapon of choice.

- 7 July 2005, London bombings were a series of coordinated three suicide bombings that struck public transport

system killing 56 and injuring 700

- 25 June 1996, Hezbollah exploded a fuel truck packed with 3,000-5,000 lbs of explosives at the Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; 20 killed and 372 wounded

Common Terrorist Tactics

• Bombing: the improvised explosive device (IED) is the terrorist’s weapon of choice.

- 23 October 1983, terrorists using a truck bomb destroyed the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. 245 killed and 146 wounded

- 12 October 2000, suicide attack on the Navy destroyer USS Cole in the port of Aden in Yemen. 17 sailors, 39 injured

Common Terrorist Tactics

• Bombing: the improvised explosive device (IED) is the terrorist’s weapon of choice.

- 7 August 1998, bombs exploded almost simultaneously at the U.S. Embassy buildings in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

- Killed 153 and left over 4,500 injured

- Severely damaged both installations

Common Terrorist Tactics

• Hostage Taking: an overt seizure of individuals with the intent of gaining publicity or other concessions in return for release of the hostage.

- On 1 Sep 2004, Chechen terrorists took hundreds of school children and adults hostage in Beslan, Russia; 331 civilians were killed, 186 of them children

- On 4 Nov 1979, student militants stormed the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, Iran and held 66 American diplomats and Marines hostage for 444 days.

Common Terrorist Tactics

• Kidnapping: a covert seizure of one or more specific person in order to extract specific demands.

- On 23 October 2002, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia took Íngrid Betancourt, a Colombian senator while campaigning for president; still missing

- On 17 December 1981, U.S. Army General James Dozier was kidnapped in Milan by Red Brigade terrorists; Italian counter terrorist squads subsequently rescued him on January 28, 1982

Common Terrorist Tactics

• Seizure: usually involves a building or object that has value in the eyes of the audience

- 20 November 1979, 250 Sunni Muslim militants occupied Mecca's Masjid al Haram mosque; 250 killed and 600 wounded

- 1786-1787, Shays' Rebellion shut down the unpopular debtors' courts in Massachusetts

- 4 rebels killed

- Key event leading to Constitutional Convention

Common Terrorist Tactics

Comes from protests in the 1700’s in Holland against automation. In order to slow down production, workers would throw their wooden shoes, or “sabos”, into the machinery causing stoppages. Hence the name “sabotage”.

The objective in most sabotage incidents is to demonstrate how vulnerable society is to terrorist actions.

Industrialized societies are more vulnerable to sabotage than less highly developed societies.

Sabotage

• Hoaxes: Group that has established credibility can employ a hoax with considerable success.

- Threat that causes diversion of resources

- False alarms dulls efficiency and readiness

- 11 October 2001: 800 at Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection were kept out for 2 days after an anthrax hoax. $40,000 to decontaminate 12 employees with $1.5 million lost work.

- 17 October 2001: 17 year-old brought an envelope containing white, powdery material to school. 3,000 were held in lock-down for 90 minutes while 50 emergency response personnel assessed the situation.

Deceptive Terrorist Tactics

Infrastructure technologies provide attractive targets for terrorists who can apply a range of attack techniques to disrupt or undermine confidence in a range of systems.

Computer hacking the most well known type of technological terrorism. National infrastructure, transportation,

telecommunications, energy, banking, public health, and water supply are all dependent on computerized systems and linkages that can be exploited by national and independent terrorists.

Use of Technology

Terrorists to date have used chemical weapons and there is potential for the use of both chemical and biological weapons in the future. Relatively cheap and easy to make, could be used in

place of conventional explosives in many situations.

Sarin gas attack in March 1995 in the Tokyo subway

2001 Anthrax attacks

Use of Special Weapons

• Cabinet Department…Janet Napolitano

- Coordinates the response capabilities of 22 governmental agencies

- Second only to the Department of Defense in size, consisting of 180,000 employees

Department of Homeland Security

History Definitions Impact of Terrorism Objective of Terrorism Tactics of Terrorism

Summary

Questions