Many Different Factors to Terrorism

Webster defines terrorism as “the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion.” Terrorism typically affects everyday citizens and governmental workers. It is often used to communicate extreme political views. Terrorism is a global issue, prevalent in regions such as Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Despite being most prominent in the Middle East, the impact of terrorism is felt worldwide, including in the United States of America. To curb terrorism in America, we need to revise our firearm laws, reform the vetting system, alter our approach towards other nations, and more.

A significant issue in America is the relative simplicity with which terrorists can access weapons, specifically guns. Although guns have their uses, particularly in hunting and self-defense, they are also widely used in violent situations, including terrorist attacks. In America, nearly anyone can acquire a gun, contingent upon a simple and not very thorough background check. This ease of access is unproblematic when law-abiding citizens buy guns for reasons such as hunting or self-defense. The concern arises when individuals with malicious intent can readily gain possession of multiple semi-automatic machine guns (Poland, J. M.).

The likelihood of guns being used in terrorist attacks is higher in America than in any other high-income country, primarily due to the ease of procuring a gun. Research indicates that approximately twenty percent of terrorist attacks in America involve a firearm, followed by the Netherlands, where only fourteen percent of attacks involve firearms. Dr. Robert Tessler of the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center and the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, the lead author of this study, stated, “The overall burden of firearm violence is considerably greater in the United States compared to other high-income countries. Our findings suggest that terrorist attacks involving firearms tend to be deadlier compared to attacks with other weapons, irrespective of the country.” During the period of Tessler’s study on firearms from 2002 to 2016, terrorist attacks resulted in a staggering 1,031 deaths. A terrifying statistic is that over fifty percent of these fatalities were the result of firearm usage. These statistics could be significantly reduced if it were not so easy for terrorists to obtain firearms (Poland, J. M.).

A good example of people being able to obtain too many powerful weapons too easily is the Las Vegas shooting that took place in October. On the night of October 1, 2017, a gunman opened fire on a crowd of concert-goers at the Route 91 Harvest music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, leaving 58 people dead and 851 injured. Between 10:05 and 10:15 p.m., 64-year-old Stephen Paddock of Mesquite, Nevada, fired more than 1,100 rounds from his suite on the 32nd floor of the nearby Mandalay Bay hotel. About an hour after he fired his last shot into the crowd of 22,000, he was found dead in his room from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This shooting reignited the debate about gun laws in the U.S., with attention focused on bump fire stocks, which Paddock used to increase his semi-automatic rifles’ firing rate to resemble that of a fully automatic weapon. He placed a “Do not disturb” sign on the door, organized the rooms and stockpiled an arsenal of weapons there between September 25 and October 1, the day of the shooting. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Paddock carried more than ten suitcases into his hotel suite during his preparation for the shooting. He interacted with Mandalay Bay employees more than ten times during his stay, including twice on the day of the shooting, though an MGM Resorts International spokesperson said they were all “normal in nature”. Twenty-four firearms, a large quantity of ammunition, and numerous high-capacity magazines capable of holding up to 100 rounds apiece were found in the suite (Poland, J. M.).

One common argument against making guns harder to obtain is that it violates Americans’ Second Amendment rights. The Second Amendment grants U.S. citizens the right to bear arms. However, this amendment was passed in 1791 to ensure people were armed and ready if needed in a militia. Nowadays, the American National Guard provides weapons for those in service. This amendment is outdated, and its original purpose is often taken out of context. In addition, many laws written during that era are now outdated. For instance, in 1791, women were still unable to vote, African Americans were disenfranchised, and slavery was legal. This proves not everything passed then should be taken as seriously now (Poland, J. M.). The solution to the firearm problem is straightforward. The background checks people receive before being able to buy a gun need to be much more thorough. The only people who would see this as a bad thing are those who, fearing they might not be able to get a gun, have something to hide. Another measure we could take is to limit available firearms types. As mentioned before, hunting and self-defense rifles are justified, but there is no reason the average citizen should have access to semi-automatic firearms unless they intend to harm others (Ruiz-Grossman).

Another thing to keep in mind would be how many firearms a person needs. A person may need one gun for self-defense and two, possibly three, guns for different types of hunting. There is almost no reason a single person needs to own more than four guns for themselves. However, those who live in nicer neighborhoods, and who do not find themselves interested in hunting, do not need access to guns, let alone multiple ones (Ruiz-Grossman). Another way to avoid terrorism in America is to reform the vetting system when allowing people into the country. Although many people would say America should have a stricter vetting system, this is not necessarily true. A significant reason terrorists target America is because they feel the American government treats them unfairly. This refers to people from the Middle East, who perpetrate terrorist attacks on America. There are several statistics to support this. On average, it takes two years for a person to become a refugee in the United States; however, in some instances, it can take significantly longer (Ruiz-Grossman).

Another instance of the American government treating people from the Middle East poorly is President Trump’s recent travel ban. Donald Trump issued an executive order banning people from many Middle Eastern countries, such as Libya, Sudan, and Somalia, from traveling to America. Trump stated this is as a measure to prevent terrorist attacks. However, the countries Trump banned travel from have never executed a terrorist attack on America. There is widespread belief that Trump banned these countries solely because of their large Muslim populations. When someone from the Middle East commits an act of terror against America, it is usually because they feel personally victimized by the way America, and its government, treats them and their nations. There is an obvious solution to this problem. Americans, and the American government, need to alter the way they treat people who are different from them. Although America is a country of immigrants, the American population is largely of Caucasian descent, hailing from Britain, Germany, and other predominantly white countries. As a result, a significant number of American citizens unfortunately discriminate against those of color, or those who practice different religions, or have different beliefs in general. The American people need to work on being more open-minded, embracing those who might be slightly different, because, at the end of the day, we are all human beings (Ruiz-Grossman).

In addition to this, America needs to focus on, and be more concerned about, domestic terrorism. From 2001 to 2009, there were 91 homegrown domestic terrorist incidents. The peak year was 2001, with 33 domestic terrorist attacks against the United States. The number of domestic incidents then steadily decreased to zero recorded incidents in 2007. In 2008 and 2009, there were three and four recorded incidents, respectively. There are many reasons why citizens resort to terrorism against their own country. The two most common reasons are because far-left extremists are upset about the way the American government treats those who are different, or because far-right extremists resent the presence of people who are different in the country, alleging that “immigrants are stealing their jobs,” among other assertions.

Again, the solution is obvious. The American people and the American government needs to change the way we treat those who are different than them drastically (Ruiz-Grossman).Another problem in America that leads to issues to terrorism is the people we put in office. A great example of this is the current president of the United States. Donald John Trump is the 45th and current President of the United States, in office since January 20, 2017. Before entering politics, he was a businessman and television personality, making his very underqualified to run the country. On top of this, Trump has a reputation of not being the best person ever. Shortly after Trump announced that he was running for presidency, he was quoted saying, “When Mexico sends its people, they are not sending their best. They are not sending you. They are not sending you. They are sending people that have lots of problems.They are bringing drugs. They are bringing crime. They are rapists This quote showed some negative qualities of Trump right away. Later, at a South Carolina rally five days after the San Bernardino terrorist attack, Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. And most recently, Trump has been quoted saying, Haitian immigrants “all have AIDS and Nigerian immigrants will never “go back to their huts in Africa and, during a White House discussion on immigration policy, President Trump asked congressional lawmakers why the U.S. should accept immigrants from “sh**hole countries,” according to two people briefed on the meeting. This shows Donald Trump has a very poor character and is in no position to run this country (Clancy, T).

An example of recent terrorism in America is the Orlando, Florida nightclub shooting. In the Orlando, Florida nightclub shooting forty-nine people were killed and fifty-eight were injured. The main suspect behind the shooting was released as Omar Mateen, a man who was born and raised in America. The FBI resolved that he had no connections to ISIS; however, it was classified as a hate crime due to the fact that it was a gay nightclub. This tragedy was horrible for everyone who was involved in the situation, and the families of those who passed. This is a tragedy that could have easily been avoided. If there were stricter gun control laws in place, it would have been much harder for Mateen to have carried out his crime, let alone there is no way he would have had such a destructive gun (Clancy, T). A good way to show this point is by comparing the Orlando terrorist attack to another one. The most recent terrorist attack in America took place on February 16, 2018 in East Orange,New Jersey. Marckles Alcius stole a truck he found and crashed it into a planned parenthood in order to try to get across his beliefs of pro life. In this attack, three people were injured, but there were no deaths. Although the attack was frightening, the amount of injuries and deaths were very low due to the fact that Alcius did not have access to firearms, more specifically, semi automatic firearms. If America makes a law making firearm laws stricter, the amount of deaths and injuries in terrorist attacks will decrease dramatically (Clancy, T).

Many people argue that having stricter firearm laws would be pointless because terrorism will still occur regardless. Although they are correct in asserting that terrorism will continue regardless of firearm laws, weapons used during terrorist attacks would likely be items such as knives, vehicles, and similar weapons. As terrible as this is, at least with stricter firearm laws, terrorists would find it much more difficult to kill citizens. The number of citizens who are killed or injured could potentially be reduced significantly. This is confirmed when examining the statistics of other countries. Japan, for example, has some of the strictest firearm laws worldwide. The law states, “No one shall possess a firearm or firearms or a sword or swords,” and there are very few exceptions to this law. Law enforcement, of course, is permitted to have firearms. However, officers must undergo training and receive a license allowing them to own and operate a firearm. Average citizens are also permitted to own firearms for hunting and sport shooting. Yet, before they can obtain firearms for these purposes, they must work through a lengthy application process. Japanese citizens are allowed to own rifles, but only after they have owned a shotgun for ten or more years. This again requires another long application process (Clancy, T).

Japanese firearm laws are a valuable reference when addressing issues such as terrorism because Japan has demonstrated that stricter firearm laws result in lower crime rates, especially in terms of terrorism. Japan’s murder rates are dramatically lower than those in America. Moreover, overall crime in Japan is four times lower than in America. When it comes to terrorism, Japan has experienced only three major attacks on its country throughout most of its history. In contrast, America experienced eight major terrorist attacks between the years of 2001 and 2017 (Clancy, T). America, which has some of the least strict gun laws in the world, also has some of the highest crime rates—and many of these crimes involve firearms. The US has a much higher rate of gun homicides than other similar countries. “There were 35.5 gun homicides per million people in the US in 2013, compared to only 4.9 per million in Canada, and 0.93 per million in the UK,” according to the Global Burden of Disease study. This high rate is due, in part, to the ease with which one can obtain a firearm in America. Firearm laws in America vary from state to state, but obtaining a firearm is generally a straightforward process. Once a citizen is twenty-one, they can select any gun they want—be it a shotgun or a semi-automatic rifle—and receive the weapon mere days after a basic background check. Some states in America do not even require firearm registration, and no license is needed to own a firearm. North Dakota is one such state (Clancy, T).

Although terrorist attacks are very frightening, they are nothing new, and the number of attacks has actually been decreasing as time goes on. “There have been 2,608 total attacks and 226 fatal attacks in the United States between 1970 and 2011…Just looking at the decade between 2001 and 2011, it is apparent that the number of terrorist attacks has declined since September 11, although the number of fatal attacks has increased lately. That includes a fatal shooting at a Knoxville church in 2008, the assassination of abortion provider George Tiller in 2009, the shooting at Fort Hood that killed 13 people and injured 30 in 2009, and so on. (What the data).” Another encouraging factor is that the police force seems to be improving and becoming more proficient at preventing terrorist attacks. However, luck plays a significant role in this as well. “The highest proportion of unsuccessful attacks occurred in 2011 when four out of nine recorded attacks were unsuccessful,” the report says. “In three of these attacks, bombs failed to detonate before they were discovered, and in the fourth unsuccessful attack, shots were fired at the White House by an individual who has since been charged with attempting to assassinate President Obama. (What the data)”

Another aspect to consider is which part of America is affected by terrorism. Every state in America has fallen victim to a terrorist attack; however, the number of terrorist attacks and fatalities from those attacks vary greatly. Of all the states, California has experienced the most attacks, an astonishing five hundred seventy-four. New York has endured the most fatalities, with a heartbreaking 2,818 innocent people killed. “New York and Virginia dominate the list of fatalities; again, that is because of the September 11 attacks. Pennsylvania is also prominent, because of Flight 93. Following that is Oklahoma, primarily because 168 people died in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Puerto Rico ranks third in the number of attacks on America. This is primarily attributable to the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional, a paramilitary separatist group that was responsible for more than 120 bombings in the 1970s and 1980s. Florida also ranks quite high on the list due to the Earth Liberation Front. Thankfully, these attacks have not led to any fatalities as their focus is more on arson, such as burning down car dealerships. “It is worth noting that the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front have been two of the most active groups since 1970, with 161 attacks in total (and 84 since 2001). (What the data).” When someone mentions the word ‘terrorist,’ many people have a similar image in their heads. Someone from the Middle East with dark skin who does not speak a lot of English, and so on. However, terrorist groups are becoming more and more diverse as time goes on. “Al-Qaeda dominates this list, and the two eco-terrorism groups have been particularly active (though they both seem to be declining).”

Aside from that, terrorist groups seem to come in all types. The misconception that a terrorist must look or act a certain way is why America is so vulnerable to attacks. Everyone is always looking for an outsider who fits a specific profile, but in reality, a terrorist does not have a specific look or life. There have been cases of terrorist attacks where, before the attack, the person lived a normal life with a family, friends, and job (Costa-Roberts). When it comes down to domestic terrorism in America, the numbers can’t lie: People on the side of Far-right extremists conduct many more terror attacks than Islamist extremists. There were almost twice as many terrorist incidents by right-wing extremists as by Islamist extremists in the U.S. from 2008 to 2016, according to a new report from The Nation Institute Investigative Fund and The Center for Investigative Reporting’s Reveal. The researchers counted 201 terrorist attacks and/or plans on U.S. soil from January 2008 to the end of 2016. The research shows 115 cases by right-wing extremists, from white supremacists to militias to “sovereign citizens”. This is compared to the 63 cases by Islamist extremists. Incidents from left-wing extremists, which include ecoterrorists and animal rights militants, were extraordinarily rare in comparison, with only nineteen incidents being reported. While the research does make a point of differentiating between different groups within right-wing extremism, lead reporter David Neiwert stated that “those are all gradations of white supremacy, variations on the same thing”. When it comes to right-wing extremism, attackers are also “mostly men and “almost purely white”. Attacks conducted by right-wing extremists were also notably almost always deadly, with nearly one third of right-wing extremist incidents resulting in deaths compared to the 13 percent of Islamist extremist cases resulting in deaths.

However, the outright number of people murdered by Islamist extremists, a total of ninety citizens, was higher than the amount of deaths caused by right-wing extremists, with seventy-nine citizens murdered (Costa-Roberts). Concurrently, President Donald J. Trump has focused his addresses and policies almost exclusively on counteracting Islamist extremism, and not dealing with the problem at home. “As with a lot of things related to Trump and the Islamophobic right, the reality is viewed through an upside-down looking glass”, Neiwert said. “The reality is the most significant domestic terror threat we have is right-wing extremism”. The Investigative Fund’s research exhibits similarities to past studies of domestic terrorism. The New America Foundation, for example, which has been keeping track of fatal terror plots and attacks happening on U.S. soil since the Sept. 11 attacks, also finds an almost two-to-one ratio of attacks by far-right extremists to Islamist extremists, with 21 fatal attacks by far-right extremists, compared to 11 by Islamist extremists. In spite of the facts, multiple Americans still correlate terrorist attacks and plots with Islamist extremists instead of far-right extremists, Neiwart noted. “I think the larger perception in the public, and this includes many progressives and liberals, is the inversion of the reality: that the greatest threat we face is Islamist radicals”, Neiwert said. “And it’s reflected in the way the press reports on various kinds of domestic terror attacks: When it’s a white domestic terrorist, they underplay it, write it off to mental illness.”

The media has always shown a double standard when it comes to reporting terrorism. It is very common for the government and news outlets to label a crime committed by a white person as not their fault because they are alone and unstable, and quickly to label the crime as an awful act of terrorism if the criminal is of color, and, more specifically, Muslim. A large part of the problem is the difficult nature of how those in charge decide to categorize and label attacks as terrorism. The FBI has definitive criteria it uses to decide if an attack is an act of terrorism or not, and the public is starting to catch on to this. For example, a large number of citizens condemned officials for not labeling Dylann Roof’s attack as an act of terrorism after he murdered nine African American churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, even though he clearly stated that he was there “to shoot black people.” “There’s actually a debate over whether what Dylann Roof did was domestic terrorism when it so plainly is domestic terrorism,” Neiwert stated. “A lot of this has to do with embedded judgements about where these threats come from and that it has to do with fear-mongering around Islamophobia” (Costa-Roberts).

Another type of terrorism is violent extremism. “Violent extremism is generally defined as supporting or committing violent acts to achieve political, ideological, religious or social goals,” said an April 2017 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Some examples of this are anti-government groups, groups with extreme views on abortion, animal rights, the environment or federal ownership of public lands, and radical Islamist entities, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). “The 9/11 terrorist attacks resulted in the largest number of deaths in the United States caused by violent extremism,” the GAO report said. “About three thousand people were killed in the attacks.”

Since then, from Sept. 12, 2001, to Dec. 31, 2016, there have been eighty-five attacks in the country by violent extremists, resulting in two hundred twenty-five deaths. GAO reported citing data from the U.S. Extremist Crime Database. Out of those two hundred twenty five murders, one hundred six individuals were murdered by far-right violent extremists in sixty-two separate episodes; one hundred nineteen individuals were killed by radical Islamist violent extremists in twenty-three different episodes. The number of citizens murdered in a given year varied from one to forty-nine. GAO noted that forty-one percent of the deaths caused by a radical Islamist during the reviewed period happened in one incident: the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting. In June 2016, Omar Mateen, born in the United States to Afghan parents, killed forty-nine people at the Pulse club in Orlando. The think tank New America has gathered information on terrorist attacks and plots in the United States after 9/11. It details information on fatal attacks by planning up to the Aug. 12, 2017 Charlottesville attack. Here is how they explained the statistics on the number of fatalities due to singles of different ideologies: “ninety-five by jihadists, sixty-eight by far-right, and eight by black separatist/national/supremacist.”

“Even individuals who carry out jihadist attacks are, however, sometimes American citizens or longtime residents. The terrorist threat in the United States is almost entirely homegrown, as no foreign terrorist organization has successfully directed and orchestrated an attack in the United States since 9/11,” said Albert Ford, a program associate. Currently, in the United States, the terrorist attacks that occur are mainly cases of domestic terrorism. “Of the four hundred eighteen individuals found by New America accused of jihadist terrorism-related crimes in the United States since 9/11, eighty-five percent of them were either U.S. citizens or U.S. legal residents, and about half were born American citizens,” Ford said. Until the Pulse club shooting, “the number of deaths caused by far-right-wing attacks outnumbered those caused by jihadism-related attacks,” Ford said. The federal government has attempted to take a closer look at national threats from all associations of terror by establishing an interagency Countering Violent Extremism task force, as reported by the GAO. The task force’s plan was to have data collection and study, engaging with communities and citizens of those communities, and interrogating individuals who ‘appear to be moving toward violent action’ (Plumer, B).

Where there is terrorism, it is traumatizing for those who experience it, but terrorism is not very common globally. During 2014, most countries did not have a single fatality due to terrorism. That doesn’t imply that these countries were entirely terrorism-free; many did witness some form of terror, although the majority were not fatal (Plumer, B). In general, many terror attacks are influenced by a country’s location. “Just five countries – Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Syria – accounted for the majority of terror-related deaths in 2014. These countries witnessed seventy-eight percent of the deaths and fifty-seven percent of all attacks. Iraq stood out with nearly 10,000 fatalities, the highest ever recorded in a single country. In 2014, acts of terror in Iraq alone claimed three times as many lives as they did globally in 2000 (Plumer, B).

Terrorist attacks also have a substantial impact on the economy. Research showed that terror attacks cost the global economy $52.9 billion, excluding $114 billion spent by national security agencies in counterterrorism efforts. What has become evident is that in 2004, there was a significant increase in spending towards combating terrorism. While the economic hardship that terrorism caused last year is considerable, it still pales in comparison to the estimated cost of violent crime and homicide, which topped $1 trillion. This economic downturn is highly detrimental to the overall community and the quality of life of the citizens living in the affected nations (Prados, J).

The Americas are fortunate in that the West experiences less terrorism compared to other regions. Out of the world, America has seen fewer terror attacks. “Just 2.6 percent of deaths in 21st-century terror attacks took place in Western countries,” which include the United States, Canada, Australia, and European nations. Major terrorist attacks planned by international terrorist groups garner a disproportionate amount of media attention. However, individuals often labeled as ‘lone wolves’ or antisocial, are responsible for seventy percent of terror attack fatalities in the West, with that number steadily increasing over time. The Boston Marathon bombings are examples of the so-called “lone-wolf” theory (Prados, J).

Overall, many different factors contribute to terrorism; such as motivation, location of the attacks, and where the attackers originate. Terrorism is a horrific act of violence against a country and its citizens. These terror attacks have devastating effects on several areas including the economy and quality of life. Although it is impossible to completely eradicate terrorism, with the correct preventive steps, it can become a less frequent occurrence, and fewer lives will be lost to these terrible acts of terrorism.

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