Chapter Thirteen: Conceptualizing Terrorism in America

1. Chapter Thirteen:Conceptualizing Terrorism in America

2. Early Studies of Domestic Terrorism

3. Early Studies of Domestic Terrorism • H.H.A. Cooper and the National Advisory Commission • Cooper and his coauthors provided the conceptual framework for domestic terrorism • They presented a series of recommendations for emergency response • Task Force on Disorders and Terrorism

4. Early Studies of Domestic Terrorism • Ted Robert Gurr and J. Bowyer Bell • Terrorism is a tactic used by the weak to intimidate the strong and, in turn, used by the strong to repress the weak • Terrorism in the nineteenth century was primarily aimed at protecting the status quo and the economic environment • Some vigilante actions equaled terrorism, e.g., the Ku Klux Klan • The shift toward left-wing violence was derived from foreign models • Even though the United States has avoided significant domestic terrorism, both criminals and political activists have used terrorist tactics on a local level • Nationalistic terrorists from Puerto Rico have been far more successful than revolutionaries at launching terrorist campaigns because they have an indigenous base of support

5. Early Studies of Domestic Terrorism • Gurr’s three types of terrorism • Vigilante terrorism • The purpose of vigilantes is to defend the status quo or return to the status quo of an earlier period • Insurgent terrorism • Insurgent terrorism aims to change political policies through direct threats of action against the government • Transnational terrorism • Transnational terrorism occurs when nonindigenous terrorists cross national boarders

6. The Problem of Conceptualizing Terrorism in the United States

7. The Problem of Conceptualizing Terrorism in the United States • Reasons police departments have not prepared for terrorism • American police officers do not spend a lot of time thinking about terrorism; A number of U.S. law enforcement agencies remain focused on local issues • Although U.S. law enforcement officers routinely deal with terrorism, they call it something else • Even after September 11 most domestic terrorism goes unnoticed • William Dyson has identified nearly three hundred terrorist incidents between September 11, 2001 and December 2004 • Terrorism developed slowly in America. Terrorists did not routinely target the United States until 1982

8. The Problem of Conceptualizing Terrorism in the United States • Hate crime • The term hate crime is frequently used with terrorism • Hate crime is a legal definition, not a manifestation of terrorism • Hate crime is a specific violation of the law

9. Classifying Terrorism in Criminal Justice

10. Classifying Terrorism in Criminal Justice • Issues police and security forces should keep in mind • A beat police officer is usually the first responder to domestic terrorism • The investigation techniques used in large, sensationalized terrorist incidents are the same techniques a local agency would use to investigate a stink bomb placed in the locker room of a high school football team • Counterterrorism depends on the fundamentals

11. Classifying Terrorism in Criminal Justice • Spectrum of conflict • The spectrum was a continuum that ranged from low-intensity conflict to full-scale war. This scale probably more correctly reflects the human condition than the belief that we can either be at war or at peace. It also helps us understand terrorism

12. Classifying Terrorism in Criminal Justice • White’s typology • White’s typology is a typology to train military and police personnel in counterterrorism • The first measure shows the level of activity • The second line represents the type of activity • Generally, the larger a group, the greater its potential for terrorist violence • Terrorists are free to move between the criminal and political boundaries • The final continuum illustrates the type of response

13. Classifying Terrorism in Criminal Justice • The National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, Task Force on Disorders and Terrorism • The report cites several types of terrorism • Political terrorism is described as violent criminal behavior designed to produce fear for political outcomes • Nonpolitical terrorism is designed simply to produce fear; quasi-terrorism involves nonpolitical terrorist activities during the commission of crimes

14. Classifying Terrorism in Criminal Justice • John Harris and the FBI’s tactical typology • White leftists • Puerto Rican leftists • Black militants • Right-wing extremists • Jewish extremists • According to Harris, all domestic terrorist groups, with the exception of Puerto Rican nationalists, lack an indigenous base, and they tend to have localized ideological bases. Types of groups are generally defined by location • American terrorism does not affect all local police agencies in the same manner

15. Classifying Terrorism in Criminal Justice • Domestic Terrorism (DT) and International Terrorism (IT) • DT involves violent political extremism, single-issue terrorism, and lone wolf or berserker activities • IT is defined as threats that originate outside the United States. The FBI defines activities on the basis of origin • For DT, political extremism involves violent left- and right-wing extremists. Single issues include violent activities associated with debates over abortion, ecoterrorism, animal rights, and genetic engineering. Lone wolves are included in the category when their actions are politically motivated • IT is composed of three subsets: state-sponsored terrorism, clearly defined autonomous groups, and Jihadists

16. Classifying Terrorism in Criminal Justice • Brent Smith’s categories of terrorist groups • Right-wing extremists • Form a category by themselves • Left-wing and single-issue terrorists • Single-issue groups, criminal gangs, ecologists, and old-style leftists • International terrorists • The remaining group

17. Smith’s Analysis of Domestic Terrorism

18. Smith’s Analysis of Domestic Terrorism • Difference between the average criminal and the average terrorist • The factor separating the average criminal and the average terrorist is motivation • Smith’s findings • American terrorism grew increasingly to a high level about 1985, just at the time the government was improving its counterterrorist tactics • Smith believes ecological terrorists have a great potential for violence in the future

19. Smith’s Analysis of Domestic Terrorism • Difference between American terrorists and their international counterparts • Native-born U.S. terrorists tend to be older than international terrorists, and foreign operatives working in the United States follow that trend • Funding • Those on both the left and the right tend to fund themselves through armed robberies

20. Smith’s Analysis of Domestic Terrorism • Smith’s right- and left-wing comparison categories • Ideology and beliefs about human nature • Economic views • Geographic bases of support • Tactics • Selection of targets

21. Smith’s Analysis of Domestic Terrorism • Difference between left- and right-wing terrorism • Left-wing terrorists favor Marxism, target the economic status quo, base themselves in urban environments, and select symbolic targets of capitalism • Right-wing terrorists are vehemently anti-Marxist and very religious. In addition, they support the economic system without supporting the distribution of wealth, base themselves in rural areas, and focus attacks on symbols of governmental authority • Left-wing terrorists were more active in the 1980s than right-wing terrorists • Left-wing groups tend to follow the Marighella model of revolution, whereas right-wing groups stay in fortresses in rural areas

22. Smith’s Analysis of Domestic Terrorism • The May 19 Communist Organization (M19CO) • The M19CO united several violent leftists under a common umbrella in 1977 • The MC19CO was most active from 1980 to 1984 • By 1989, all members of the M19CO wither were in prison or were in hiding

23. Smith’s Analysis of Domestic Terrorism • United Freedom Front (UFF) • The UFF was composed of mainly anti\-Vietnam War activists and protestors • The UFF became infamous for its ability to bomb American businesses

24. Smith’s Analysis of Domestic Terrorism • Ecological terrorists • Evan Mecham Eco-Terrorist International Conspiracy • Focused on land-use issues, attacking developers and loggers • Animal Liberation Front • Protests the use of animals in scientific experimentation

25. Smith’s Analysis of Domestic Terrorism • Laws regarding terrorism in the United States • Laws regarding terrorism in the United States are exceptionally vague • International terrorists tend to plead guilty more frequently than right-wing and left-wing terrorists • Left-wing terrorists fare the best in court, whereas few right-wing cases are dismissed • Limited data indicate terrorists receive substantially longer sentences than traditional criminals • Terrorism is a matter of attitude

26. Steven Emerson’s View of Jihad and His Critics

27. Steven Emerson’s View of Jihad and His Critics • Jihad in America • Jihadist organizations took root in the United States during the Soviet-Afghan War • Emerson linked the 1993 World Trade Center bombing to the domestic terrorist networks before the government convicted some of their members • Once the mujahadeen and their associates came to the United States, they found a hospitable environment • For the first time in its history, the United States housed a terrorist infrastructure that stretched from the American heartland all the way through the Middle East to Southeast Asia

28. Steven Emerson’s View of Jihad and His Critics • Abdullah Azzam • Emerson credits Abdullah Azzam, one of the founders of al Qaeda, with the construction of the financial network • Azzam understood the vast amount of support available in the United States after helping to establish the Alkifah Refugee Center in New York City • The Alkifah Refugee Center’s Arabic letterhead called for holy war

29. Steven Emerson’s View of Jihad and His Critics • Prominent officials in the domestic jihad • Tamim al-Adnani is the most vigorous recruiter and successful fundraiser among all the leaders • Elsayyid Nossair • Emerson says the most important holy warrior operating in the United States was Sheik OmarAbdel Rahman • Sheik Abdul Wali Zindani, who has been involved in assassinations and bombings around the world, has taken Rahman’s place

30. Steven Emerson’s View of Jihad and His Critics • Terrorist groups in the United States • Under the name Aqsa Vision, theIslamic Association for Palestine (IAP) is Hamas’s chief propaganda arm in the United States • Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) has a base in Tampa, Florida • Hezbollah also has a network in the country • Emerson claims to have found more than thirty radical Middle Eastern groups in the United States

31. Steven Emerson’s View of Jihad and His Critics • John Sugg’s criticism of Emerson • Sugg believes that Emerson’s conclusions about terrorism are painfully incorrect, but the Investigative Project can point to the arrest of alleged PIJ members in southern Florida as evidence of success • Ibrahim Hooper’s criticism of Emerson • Hooper believes that Emerson is overly critical of Islam, calling Emerson an “Islamophobic”

32. Steven Emerson’s View of Jihad and His Critics • Nihad Awad’s criticism of Emerson • Awad, head of CAIR, attacked Emerson’s research in written testimony in the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security. • Awad agrees with Hooper’s label “Islamophobic”