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Terrorists seek to weaken a hated political authority that is responsible — in their eyes — for illegitimate policies and/or rule. They rely on the use and threat of violence. Like crime, but unlike war, their actions are totally illegal.
Although the focus of terrorists is a political authority, their targets and victims tend to involve innocent civilians. Civilians are easier to attack and often produce more dramatic consequences.
Terrorists, by their attacks, seek to prove that the political authority they target:
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Cannot protect its own population.
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2.
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Cannot protect the symbols of its authority.
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Cannot protect society's institutions.
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4.
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Cannot protect society's infrastructure.
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5.
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Cannot protect its own officials.
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6.
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Cannot end the threat of more terrorism, and so
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7.
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Cannot maintain normal, peaceful conditions in society.
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Terrorists seek to produce the seven effects listed above by attacking the following targets:
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Government buildings, military bases, weapons, ships, airplanes, trains, bridges, and tunnels.
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Government officials, soldiers, police, and diplomats.
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Banks and the security and electronic transmission of currency.
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4.
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Symbolic public monuments.
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Business headquarters, personnel, and factories.
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Civilian crowds, events, ships, airplanes, trains, cars, and resorts.
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7.
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Electric power plants (most dangerously, nuclear power plants), dams, and grids.
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Water supplies and pipelines.
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Communication stations and towers.
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Computers and computer networks.
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Other factors in selecting targets include:
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The high degree of surprise in the attack, causing panic and paralysis.
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The drama of the attack, causing awe and fixation.
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The availability of media to publicize the attack, causing lingering effects.
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4.
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The magnitude of the attack, causing the inflation of the terrorists' power.
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5.
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The ability to repeat the attacks, causing endemic insecurity.
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The State Department lists the following six types of terrorist events, and the total number of international attacks for each in 2000:
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Bombing - 273.
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Arson - 9.
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Firebombing -10.
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Kidnapping - 55.
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Armed attack - 68.
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6.
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Other - 8.
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The following list of U.S. citizen deaths caused by international terrorism from 1995 to 2000 provides some indication why terrorism and counter-terrorism has not been prominent on the government agenda or on the public mind.
1995 - 10.
1996 - 25.
1997 - 6.
1998 - 12.
1999 - 5.
2000 - 19.
By Nicholas Berry
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