War On Terrorisms
No religion is responsible for terrorism. People are responsible for violence and terrorism.
-Barrack Obama
Terrorism isn’t easily defined; some describe it as the use of force and violence in coercing a people or a target population into submitting to the will of some individuals or groups. Another school of thought sees it as any action intended to evoke unwarranted fear from a targeted group of people.
On a general note, terrorism is the use or threatened use of force, usually in the form of violence, to further a political, religious, or ideological goal.
Terrorism in the United States
History of Terrorism in the US and Examples of Terrorists and Attacks
With Guns You Can Kill Terrorists, With Education You Can Kill Terrorism.
Terrorism in the United States has several origins. There’re ‘domestic’ incidents where anti-government extremists made up of US citizens resorted to extreme violence to promote their radical cause. Examples of that include the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics bombing. Then, acts of terrorism come from ‘outsiders,’ often linked to Islamic extremism. An example is the September 11 terrorist attacks on US soil by suicide crashers linked to Al-Qaeda.
Terrorism in the US Pre-20th Century
The history of terrorism can be traced as far back as the 18th-century, with several violent atrocities and massacres carried out at one point or the other during this time. Notable examples of terrorist killing characterized this period, including March 8, 1782, Ohio mass execution by scalping, the January 2, 1791 massacre near Stockpot, Ohio, etc.
The 19th-century also saw a series of violent attacks. Some of them include the Pigeon Roost massacre of 1812, the Hillabee massacre in 1813, the Chehaw Affair of 1818, the Mendocino War of 1859, the Wiyot massacre of 1860, and a host of others.
Terrorism in the US in the 20th-Century
The United States suffered a series of terrorist violence in the 20th-century, from Puerto Rican nationalists and antiabortion groups to several foreign-based radical organizations. Some of the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil came in the 1990s. Notable incidents of that period include the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing and the Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995 that took 168 lives.
In addition to these ‘internal’ attacks, several terrorist activities took place on US government targets and assets overseas. Some of them include the bombing of military bases in Saudi Arabia in 1998, the use of suicide bombers in triggering an explosion aboard the USS Cole, a US naval ship in the Yemeni port of Aden, killing 17 sailors, etc.
Some of the deadliest terrorist strikes that will forever linger in Americans’ hearts were the September 11 attacks, during which suicide terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial planes, crashing four of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center complex. The third plane was crashed into the Pentagon, while the fourth crashed somewhere near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. These attacks left so much ruin and took more than 3,000 lives.
Since the September 11 attacks, there’s been a series of terrorist violence in many parts of the United States. President George W. Bush made the war against terrorism the centerpiece of his administration at the beginning of the 21st-century.