The Truth About Terrorism

http://www.sightings.com/politics6/truthab.htm

By Ali Abunimah

12-26-99

Are the recent warnings about the threat of terrorism a reasonable precaution by the government to a real and present danger, or are the media and government once again promoting anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hysteria under the guise of vigilance against terrorism? Whatver the case, the arrest of an Algerian man last week, allegedly for trying to enter the United States from Canada with bomb-making materials, has set off yet another free for all of media speculation about vicious Muslim plots to blow up the United States on the eve of the millenium.

To many people this hysteria appears to be nothing more than a reasonable response to a frightening possibility. But if we examine the US government's own data about terrorism, it is a completely unjustified overreaction which puts at risk all of our civil liberties and freedoms, but especially those of Arab and Muslim Americans who are despite all the lessons of Oklahoma City, TWA 800 and other incidents, still the first to fall under suspicion and to be victimized by repressive measures such as the use of secret evidence and passenger profiling.

So, is all the focus on the threat of "Islamic" terrorism justified and based in fact?

To put the issue in perspective, I examined the State Department's own annual report, "Patterns of Global Terrorism, 1998."

(http://www.state.gov/www/global/terrorism/1998Report/1998index.html)

Below I have summarized some facts from the report about events which the State Department defines as international terrorist incidents (in other words excluding domestic terrorism by purely US-based groups, such as anti-abortion groups). The report uses the following definitions: "The term "terrorism" means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience. The term "international terrorism" means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more than one country. The term "terrorist group" means any group practicing, or that has significant subgroups that practice, international terrorism."

1) TERRORISM WORLDWIDE IS DECREASING SIGNIFICANTLY AND CONSISTENTLY

There has been a significant and consistent downward trend in international terrorist incidents in the period 1979-1998.

In 1998, number of international terrorist incidents, at 273, was the lowest ever in the period, and the annual number has shown a consistent downward trend since it reached a peak of 666 in 1987.

2) THE VAST MAJORITY OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST INCIDENTS ARE NOT RELATED TO THE MIDDLE EAST, MUSLIM "EXTREMISTS" OR ARABS

Since 1995, Latin America has consistently had the highest annual number of international terrorist incidents of any region, followed by Western Europe. In 1998 there were 110 attacks in Latin America, 48 in Western Europe and 31 in the Middle East. There were 21 in Africa and zero in North America.

The incidents in Latin America are primarily connected to conflicts in Colombia and Peru, while the vast majority of incidents in Europe are, according to the State Department, attributable to Basque separatists in Spain, the conflict in Northern Ireland, the Kurdish movement in Turkey and various anarchist groups in Greece. Middle East or "Islamic" terrorism was not a significant factor in either region.

In terms of casualties (deaths+injuries), the highest number have consistently been in Asia since 1993. In 1998 there were over 5,000 in Africa 635 in Asia, 405 in Western Europe, 68 in the Middle East and zero in North America.

3) EIGHTY PERCENT OF ATTACKS AGAINST UNITED STATES TARGETS ARE IN LATIN AMERICA

Consistently, the vast majority of events defined by the State Department as "anti-US attacks" occur in Latin America. In 1998, there was a total of 111 anti-US attacks. Eighty seven were in Latin America, 13 in Western Europe, 5 in the Middle East and 3 each in Africa and Eurasia.

By far the most common target of terrorists are businesses. Attacks on diplomats, military or government installations are relatively rare.

The total number of US fatalities from these attacks in 1998 was 12, all related to the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

4) VERY FEW AMERICANS ARE KILLED BY TERRORISTS

Here are the numbers for the total U.S. Citizen Casualties Caused by International Attacks, 1993-98. Note that the figures show no upward trend.

1993 7

1994 6

1995 10

1996 25

1997 6

1998 12

(The 1998 attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania caused a large number of non-US casualties in addition to the US victims).

These numbers suggest that terrorism is a relatively insignificant cause of death and injury to Americans compared with other forms of violence. For example, according to the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, 14 children are killed EVERY DAY in the United States by handguns. In the State of Illinois alone, 320 are killed each year (National Center for Health Statistics, 1997).

5) MIDDLE EAST VIOLENCE IS RELATED TO LOCAL POLITICAL CONFLICTS, NOT "HATRED OF THE WEST"

Although the level of international terrorist events in the Middle East has been lower than in other parts of the world, such violence as occurs is principally related to local political conflicts, not to generalized "hatred of the West" as often portrayed in the media. The numbers and descriptions of patterns of violence in the Middle East suggest that as in other regions like Northern Ireland, violence diminishes when broad-based political processes or solutions are set in motion. The State Department report, acknowledges that the downward trend in terrorism "reflects the improved political climate that has diminished terrorist activity in recent years in various parts of the world."

CONCLUSION

There is a complete disparity between the facts about international terrorism as presented by the government on the one hand, and the media, official and popular response to the issue on the other. There is no objective connection between the frequency of terrorist attacks originating from and occurring in the Middle East, and the amount of attention that such attacks receive. President Clinton and other government officials have repeatedly defined terrorism as one of the greatest threats facing the world.

There is little or no media attention to the facts about terrorism, as reported by the government, and a generalized willingness to continue to blame and speculate about the Middle East as a principal purveyor of violence. This situations continues to hurt and marginalize Arab and Muslim citizens of the United States, and to distort public perceptions about the Middle East, a region in which US taxpayers are being asked to invest a lot of money, often in the name of "security."

Each and every life lost due to terrorism is one too many and of course there must be vigilance against terrorism, and support for genuine efforts to prevent it. But clearly other policy agendas, totally unrelated to public security, are being served by the obsessive focus on Middle East terrorism, when the facts suggest a more balanced approach would be appropriate.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), December 27, 1999

Answers

It's a problem of inertia. It took me a long while to actually believe that parts of the middle east could really think the US is "the great Satan." Then there was the man in a wheelchair being terrorized on a cruise ship. Then too a deliberate bombing of a school bus. Those were Arab terrorists. And it takes a long time to forget that. Your statistics are interesting. It will just take awhile for them to be absorbed. Pam

-- Pamela (jpjgood@penn.com), December 27, 1999.

Aldo Morro? - TV movie about it. Yep - sticks in the memory.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), December 27, 1999.

Andy: Point well taken!

-- Neil G.Lewis (pnglewis1@yahoo.com), December 27, 1999.

Andy,

This report is very short when it comes to informing the world about the amost daily terrorism that is committed my the the State of Isreal against its neighbors and own inhabitants. We see nothing of the terror committing against the people of Palestine or Southern Lebenon. It is amazing how our government chooses what and who is deemed a terrorist. I tend to read this article at a distance.

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), December 27, 1999.

At least some counter-terrorism experts are saying that the possibility of domestic terrorism, being perpetrated by apocalyptic religious groups or those who fear an attempted take-over of the United States by "New World Order" (NWO) forces, is not being given enough attention in the wake of recent arrests of alleged Algerian terrorists and several reported international threats. Those that raise the concern say that the FBI several weeks ago distributed a major report called "Project Megiddo," that the bureau dubbed a "strategic assessment of the potential for domestic terrorism in the United States" at the dawn of year 2000. In that report, the FBI notes that "the millennium holds special significance for many, and as this pivotal point in time approaches, the impetus for the initiation of violence becomes more acute." Counter-terrorist experts say that the internal/domestic threat is more insidious than that posed by international terror groups, who frequently issue public threats or publish fatwas (religious edicts) that may provide a clue to future terrorist attacks. ERRI analysts point to the likelihood of so-called "leaderless resistance" -- which may involve single individuals or small groups of anti-government extremists -- who are difficult to identify or track prior to a potential criminal or terrorist act...

-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), December 27, 1999.

The man in the wheelchair was named Leonard Klinghoffer, he was killed by Palestinian terrorists on a cruise ship. Aldo Morro was the former Prime Minister of Italy who was kidnapped and then murdered by the Red Brigades communists in Italy. Perhaps your confusion stems from the fact that Klinghoffer's cruise ship sailed out of Italy as well.

Also, the gun and bomb attack on the Rome airport (1985....?) was the work of Japanese Red Army cells (communists). Arab terrorism related to Middle East issues is actually a minority, the vast bulk of such incidents around the world have been perpetrated by communist governments and by groups claiming allegience to communist ideology.

Not to detract from Nazi evils in any way, (they were a short lived regime) the great evil and horror of our century has been, and still is, communism. The greatest mass murderer in human history is Mao, and Stalin takes the number two spot, then Hitler, then Pol Pot. No one has any reliable figures as yet on the depradations of the North Korean regime, but I imagine we will find them jockying with Hitler for third place.

The current troubles in Colombia from the FARC, a communist rebel movement, and the Shining Path in Peru, show that the communist menace still has a lot of life left in it. So we should give Arabs a break, and remember the real enemy, Communism.

-- Forrest Covington (theforrest@mindspring.com), December 27, 1999.

It is all a setup to take away the last of YOUR personal freedoms

"we need these special sweeping powers to be able to fight all this TERRORISM!...sorry but you won't be able to have guns anymore,and we'll be able to throw you in jail without trial but we have too....think of all the TERRORISTS!"

-- (nwo@real.soon), December 27, 1999.

Excellent post Andy.

For those whose primary knowlege of Islam is from the western media here are a few facts to ponder over:

1) There are approxmiately 1B muslims world wide (estimates of 100m in Russia, 250-300m in China alone). The Mid East have about 10% of the total.

2) Muslims consider Christians and Jews "ahlel kitaab". "People of the Book". That is people who believe in one god, his unity, and his revelations (i.e. they are monotheistic religions). Muslims have no quarell with Jews and Christians as Muslims completely and fully believe in Moses and Jesus (and Noah and the angel Gabriel, etc. etc.) as messengers or angels from God like the Prophet Mohammed. They fully believe in Jesus' miraculous brith and Virgin Mary. (So as Christians we should actually be greatful that the Muslims doubled the number of people in the world that believe in the Virgin Mary and Jesus). Prior to the founding of Israel and events of this century, Jews have lived inside Muslim areas for centuries with no conflict.

3) Islam is Arabic for Peace. For all intents and purposes Muslims are normal peaceful people with families, just like you and me. There are a few who cause trouble and the media focus on them. As Andy posted do not confuse these political conflicts with Muslim's and Islam. Would we consider the IRA or arpathied South Africa representative of Christianity? Of course not we understand that these are political issues. But the media insists on addressing political issues in the Mid East as "Muslim" issues or "Islamic" issues instead of policital issues and leaving the references to Muslims and Islam out. Would be angry if that was what was portrayed had the roles been reversed (i.e. Muslims are 1st world and Christians 3rd world)?

4) How would you feel if the UN just decided to give, say California to the Native populations of America and told all Californian's to just "leave"? That is the issue why Israel is at the center of the conflicts.

Until we in the West insist that 1B Muslims and the religion of Islam not be slandered by the press by associating policital issues with Islam and Muslims we will continue to be the brunt of their anger. And it serves us right as we aren't following the golden rule "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".

-- Interested Spectator (is@the_ring.side), December 27, 1999.

Besides all this terrorism talk being a cover for Y2K glitches, could there be another reason? Do we need to pump up the boogieman before knocking him down? We certainly did that with Saddham. He was our friend. Then he was evil. Then the bombing started. Seems I have read that Osama bin Laden was once a CIA asset. Could this be about oil? Setting the stage to justify hostilities in the case of an oil crisis? Just a thought. Actually.. just being a "cover" for Y2K as a cause for "glitches" is reason enough.. and seems verified by the Gallup poll and all the media reports lately.

Something odd.. when there is an event that COULD be a terrorist incident - say TWA 800 or JFK Jr.'s crash, or Ron Brown's crash... we get quick denials that it is terrorism. But boy, is "TERRORISM" - in all caps - sure getting the neon headline treatment now - even without any specific threats and while nothing has gone *boom*.

Maybe that's how you can tell the difference between "TERRORISM" - the ad campaign, and "terrorism" - the real thing. That, and the TV soundbites showing people HAPPY to put up with searches and delays in order to FEEL more secure. We're from the government and we're here to help you. Now strip and spread 'em.. its for your protection.

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), December 27, 1999.