Terrorism in America: Recognized Vs. Unrecognized Acts

Since before our nation's birth, terrorism has been a problem for America and its allies. One of the earliest examples of this was the terrorism of the Barbary pirates. Between the 1600s and 1700s, these pirates terrorized the waterways of North Africa. No country or fleet seemed immune to the brutality of these men. Both the U.S. and our European allies lost innumerable wealth through stolen cargo, destroyed or hijacked ships, and captured or murdered crewmembers. Ultimately, these pirates would do anything to force individuals and governments alike to pay tribute and cower under their cruelty. Therefore, their exploits are an excellent example of terrorism in early America (Hitchens, 2004). More recent examples of violent acts readily recognized as terrorism include the following (U.S. Army, n.d.):

Bloody Friday-On July 21 of 1972, a bomb exploded in Belfast, Northern Ireland, killing 11 people and injuring 130 others. Then, ten days after this horrific attack, three car bombs rocked the small Irish village of Claudy, taking the lives of 6 more people. In the end, all the bombings were the work of a single terrorist organization: the Irish Republican Army.

Kidnappings in Mexico-In February of 1985, two American officials were kidnapped in Mexico: Enrique Camarena Salazar (an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration) and his pilot. Both men were captured by associates of a narcotrafficker, Rafael Caro Quintero, and eventually brutally tortured and then murdered.

Manila Bombing-On December 30, 2000, a plaza near the U.S. Embassy in Manila was bombed. The attack wounded nine people and was most likely orchestrated by the terrorism organization: the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Colonial Terrorist Acts Toward Native Americans

However, there may be just as many violent acts throughout U.S. history that are forms of terrorism that have not been readily identified as such. For example, the American colonies were largely established using terrorism. Although it is a horrifying reality, many of the English, Spanish, and French settlers did not have much regard for the Native Americans. In fact, they felt they were superior to these individuals and therefore, felt justified to kidnap, enslave, rape, torture, and murder countless men, women, and children. At times, they even devastated entire villages, all for the sake of greed or revenge. As a result, a number of Native Americans resorted to the same horrific tactics to avenge the dead and captive, causing a cycle of brutality and terror that will forever leave a sickening mark in our history (Legends of America, 2008).

Terrorism & America's Fight for Independence

Although we all may be very proud that we are Americans and happy to live in the U.S., we must also realize that terrorism played a hand in the creation of our nation. For example, the Sons of Liberty were a group of American rebels that was formed to protest the tyranny of the British Parliament. They are believed to have connections to the Committee of Correspondence, which eventually was responsible for the Boston Tea Party. Although this group's intentions were good and honorable, many of their demonstrations ended up erupting into violence and destruction of property. Therefore, if we really think about it, these heroes of our independence sometimes resorted to acts of terrorism to try to get their message across to the English Parliament (Kreamer, 1996).

The Oklahoma City Bombing

Additionally, many Americans fail to see the whole picture surrounding the Oklahoma City bombing. Even though I was not quite eleven years old, I can remember how sickened and shocked I became when I heard the news about this bombing on April 19, 1995. The images of the rubble and the idea that young innocent children had fallen victim to such a brutal crime chilled me to the bone. However, until I studied terrorism, it never once crossed my mind that this horrific event was more than simply a violent crime. In all actuality, it was a domestic terrorist attack. This bombing took the life of 168 people, including 19 children, and wounded another 674 (Bullock et al, 2006, p. 13-14), all because two men believed that they were defending the constitutional principles that our nation was founded on (Ottley, 2007).

In conclusion, we can see that terrorism is nothing new to our country nor is it something strictly used by foreigners and enemies of the United States. In fact, everyday Americans, much like you and me, have used acts of terrorism to try to defend what they felt was right. In the end, though, their tactics cannot be justified, even though their causes and their intentions were good and honorable. And though this might be an unpleasant or even sobering realization for us, I feel we are one step closer to understanding the full nature of terrorism.

References:

Bullock, J. A., Haddow, G.D., Coppola, D., Ergin, E., Westerman, L, & Yeletaysi, S. (2006). Introduction to homeland security (2^nd ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Hitchens, C. (2004, June 27). To the shores of Tripoli. Time. Retrieved March 2, 2008, from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101040705-658359,00.html

Howard, R. D., & Sawyer, R. L. (2006). Terrorism and counterterrorism: Understanding the new security environment (2^nd ed.). Dubuque, IA: McGraw Hill.

Kreamer, T. A. (1996). Sons of Liberty: Patriots or terrorists? - How a secret society of rebel Americans made its mark on early America. Early American Review, Fall 1996. Retrieved March 3, 2008, from Archiving Early America Web site: http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/fall96/sons.html

Legends of America. (2008). Native American legends: Native American timeline of events. Retrieved March 2, 2008, from http://www.legendsofamerica.com/NA-Timeline.html

Ottley, T. (2007). Timothy McVeigh & Terry Nichols: Oklahoma City bombing. Retrieved March 3, 2008, from Court TV Crime Library Web site: http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/dawning_1.html

U.S. Army. (n.d.). Timeline of terrorism. Retrieved March 2, 2008, from http://www.army.mil/terrorism