The War on Terrorism

States, perhaps the most significant instance of terrorism was the 9/11 attacks. Since the attacks, terrorist organizations and cells have started to appear more and more. Some are still more prominent than others. For example, the terrorist organization al Qaeda is still a developing threat. The F.B.I., referring to al Qaeda says: “Ten years later, the group still demonstrates the intent and capability to attack the United States. Although al Qaeda’s last successful Western attack was in the United Kingdom in 2005, a steady stream of the group’s operatives have been detected and disrupted over the past 10 years in the United States, Norway, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Pakistan.” It seems that 9/11 was a major starting point (at least in the media) of most terrorist and counter terrorist movements. The F.B.I. says “Following 9/11, the United States faced a threat from al Qaeda not only as an organization but also as an ideology. A new global jihadist movement composed of al Qaeda-affiliated and -inspired groups and individuals began to unfold. Although these groups threatened U.S. interests overseas, they did not rival al Qaeda in the threat they posed to the homeland.” The result of counter terrorist forces is a decrease in terrorist leaders and training assets, yet does not come close to solving the terrorism problem. The F.B.I. report of terrorism in 2001 says that there were a lot of instances of terrorism between 1991 and 2001. The report reads: “Between 1991 and 2001, 74 terrorist incidents were recorded in the United States. During this same time frame, an additional 62 terrorist acts being plotted in the United States were prevented by U.S. law enforcement.” However, of these terrorist attacks, not all of them were through cells from the middle east. Clearly there has been an active effort against terrorist plots but this has not eliminated the threat altogether. Not only are there terrorist plots and actions in the United States but there are even more in the middle east. The total death toll over the years compounds to be over 100,000 casualties, most of which are civilian. Here is a report of a terrorist act in 2000: “December 20, 2000. Five Suspects Indicted in Embassy Bombing Conspiracy. On December 20, 2000, a grand jury in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) returned an indictment against five suspects in the case of the United States v. Usama bin Laden, et al. The five suspects, Saif Al-Adel, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah, Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah, Ahmed Mohamed Hamed Ali, and Anas Al-Libi were charged in the overall conspiracy, led by Usama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda organization, to kill U.S. nationals and engage in other illegal acts. In addition, Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah has been charged for his role as the mastermind of the August 7, 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.” This is just one of 74 terrorist incidents.

Terrorism has evolved in a large way since the beginning of the war on terror. First there were threats of bombs but now, in this new age of technology, there has been a new wave of cyber terrorism. Hacker organizations breaking into classified databases and the like has been a been a major way that terrorism has evolved. Just as weapons tech evolves, terrorism will evolve with it to best fit the times. Whenever a new weapons systems comes out, a terrorist organization will almost inevitably get their hands on it.

To review, here is a overview of terrorism since the 1970s: In the 1970s, terrorism continued to escalate. More efforts were being made at that point in time. New agents were hired, more vehicles bought, and additional technology and equipment added to the anti terrorism arsenal. Additional training was given and handbooks about counter terrorism distributed. Then in the 1980s, the amount of terrorist attacks and acts continued to rise, sometimes exceeding 100 acts in a year. New organizations were formed and more surveys and research were done. New state of the art (at the time) technologies were introduced and implemented in the communications departments. Namely, moving operations to a more electronic base. In the 1990s the new technologies implemented in the 80s were put to great use and had an outstanding benefit. In the early 90s, a initiative to start paying for information on terrorism and terrorist acts was started, resulting in the capture of several terrorists and prevention of many terrorist acts. Today, terrorism continues to be a growing problem. With around 2000 agents in over 150 countries, our efforts continue to increase with the demand. Government agencies have also been working at helping to educate students about the threats of terrorism and have done classes, teaching over 31,000 students in over 125 countries.

In the future, an equal increase in terrorism can be expected. Not only terrorism, but attacks will be made and the best we can hope for is prevention or a fast recovery. There is a need for non-militaristic counter terrorism initiatives as some studies have said that combating terrorism with force is liable to reaffirm the terrorist goals. But, as with any issue, there are always causes and effects which have to be taken into consideration. The anti terrorism force is very prominent in America and will always continue to function.