Terrorism on U.S. soil — a brief history lesson

Talking Terrorism can reduce our fears

If you asked American citizens to associate the word terrorism with an event, most would likely say September 11, 2001 or simply “9/11.” Nearly thirteen years later it is still fresh in the minds of many. As a subject for terrorism studies and policy debates, the difficulty with 9/11 is that it has become synonymous with terrorism. We know 9/11 as an iconic event whose viciousness and magnitude is fortunately not reflective of the vast majority of terrorism acts. However, this magnitude has also caused many Americans to erase from their memory any recollection of terrorism incidents on U.S. soil prior to September 11, 2001(Would-Be Warriors-RAND Report).

The 9/11 terrorist attacks were not only incredibly purposeful in their intent, from an analytical perspective they were exceedingly successful in their collective objective to convey a sense of inflated power.[1] This created the fear that terrorism of this magnitude could impose its will upon the U.S. — the fear of a ‘new normal’ for terrorism — which we today know has not come to fruition. However, the enormous degree of impact of the 9/11 attacks, caused a high degree of fear, anxiety and sense of lack of control over terrorism at that moment.[2]

Because there are so many uncertainties surrounding terrorism, government’s attempt to explain terrorism to the American public can actually provoke the ongoing cycle of uncertainty, fear and anxiety.[3] This is compounded by the fact that government cannot itself wholly redefine terrorism without losing some of its own credibility and support.[4] An additional element which contributes to this incongruent perception of 9/11 as a baseline for terrorism is the continual and ubiquitous reference to 9/11 and al-Qaeda by the U.S. government in nearly every security related strategic document produced since the attacks. Politically, the U.S. operates in an environment where failure to reference 9/11 in our security strategies could appear insensitive and disrespectful.

Although the 9/11 attacks have proven to be an anomalous event in the U.S., for these reasons this act of terrorism will likely continue to be associated with the standard perception of terrorism by many Americans. However, it is important to remind ourselves that terrorism has long existed in the U.S. and Americans need not look too far back in the annals of history to see the pervasiveness of terrorism on our soil. The decade during the 1970’s saw 60 to 70 terrorists incidents, primarily bombings, occur on U.S. soil every year resulting in the deaths of 72 persons between 1970 and 1978 (Would-Be Warriors-RAND Report). The frequency of terrorism was at a level 15-20 times greater than we have experienced in the post 9/11 era (Would-Be Warriors-RAND Report). Notwithstanding 9/11 itself, the actions too, were on a scale not recognized today. For example, between 1970 and 1977 The Weather Underground was responsible for 45 bombings, including the U.S. Capital, the Pentagon and the U.S Department of State, The New World Liberation Front is believed to be responsible for nearly 100 bombings in California between 1974 and 1978 and Cuban exile groups claimed responsibility for nearly 100 bombings (Would-Be Warriors-RAND Report). Additional organizations such as the Armed Front for National Liberation, the Jewish Defense League, the Ku Klux Klan and émigrés from Croatia and Serbia all engaged in acts of terrorism — typically bombings — during the decade (Would-Be Warriors-RAND Report).

Some may attribute the ideologies of the 1970’s to the period’s newly formed socially progressive values and social awareness of U.S. politics and global policy. While the decade ended, terrorism and the use of violence to further newly formed ideologies continued well into the 1990’s. In addition to the historical presence of terrorist organizations, the presence of self radicalized individuals who committed acts of terrorism also existed prior to 9/11. Three of the more notable self radicalized individuals were Ted Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh and Eric Rudolph.

Between 1978 and 1995 the “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski, detonated sixteen bombs — including one on an American Airlines flight — and over the course of seventeen-years, three people were killed and 23 were injured. (Nathan Springer “Patterns of Radicalization”). Kaczynski even used the term ‘terrorism’ when offering to stop the bombing campaign if a national syndicated newspaper would print his manifesto (Nathan Springer “Patterns of Radicalization”). In 1995 Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma, killing 168 and wounding over 500 (Nathan Springer “Patterns of Radicalization”). Between 1996 and 1998 Eric Rudolph was responsible for four bombings which killed three people and wounded over 120 others (Nathan Springer “Patterns of Radicalization”).

Terrorism in the U.S., although not as ubiquitous as in other countries, was more prevalent during this earlier period than it is today. Although these events were reported, they were often not associated with the concept of terrorism — as things are in today’s terrorism conscious environment.

Behaviorally speaking, one’s sense of control — or lack thereof — is directly correlated to familiarity and knowledge.[5] Terrorism has long been part of our American history and framing our understanding of terrorism in this context may alleviate some of the fear and anxiety still associated with the 9/11 attacks and actually deliver a feeling of greater control.

Government must continue to be vigilant both at home and abroad in its counterterrorism efforts. However, understanding terrorism in a more familiar framework can reduce fear and anxiety and even speed resiliency and recovery. It is therefore in Americans best interest to study these other acts of terrorism on U.S. soil — in addition to the 9/11 attacks — to better understand the context of terrorism in our everyday lives.