4. Terrorism
Is an unlawful act of violence
Intimidates governments or societies
Goal is to achieve political, religious or
ideological objectives
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 4
5. “…warfare seeks to conquer territories
and capture cities;
terrorism seeks to hurt a few people and
to scare a lot of people in order to make
a point” NYTimes, 1/6/2000
“Putting the horror in the minds of the
audience, and not necessarily on the screen”
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 5
10. Early History of Terrorism
Terror has been used to achieve political ends
and has a long history
As early as 66 – 72 A.D. Resistance to Roman
occupation, terrorists killed Roman soldiers and
destroyed Roman property.
Terror was used to resist occupation.
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 10
11. Early History of Terrorism
Suicidal martyrdom represented being killed
by invaders which resulted in rewards in
heaven. It dates back thousands of years in
most societies and religions.
Terrorism against the enemy is often viewed
as a religious act.
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 11
12. Modern History of Terrorism
The term “terrorism” was coined in the French
Revolution’s Reign of Terror (1793 – 1794). .
This was the birth of Government-Sponsored
Terrorism
The line between terrorism and political violence
is often blurred
Goal: of State terrorism was to eliminate
opposition, consolidate power, e.g., the Vanished
in Argentina
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 12
13. Modern History of Terrorism
Anarchists were seen in the late 19th
century
Individual terrorism
The use of selective terror against an
individual in order to bring down a
government, e.g. Lincoln assassination
Propaganda by deeds …terrorists acts
Terrorism became tool of communication,
propaganda
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 13
14. Modern History of Terrorism:
Middle 20th
century, terrorism became a tool
used by both sides of colonial conflicts.
The last 20 years of of the 20th
century
religious based terrorism became more and
more frequent.
Another format is economic terrorism, which
destructs industry and agriculture system.
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 14
15. Modern History of Terrorism
Terrorism is Asymmetric Warfare.
Asymmetric warfare is the use of apparently
random/unpredictable violence by an weak
military against a stronger military to gain
advantage. (Allen, 1997).
The key of Asymmetric warfare is using
unexpected, unconventional tactics in combat
(Craig, 1998).
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 15
16. Terrorism conclusions
Terrorism is an ancient tactic.
Terrorism is a mode of communication.
Terrorism is a special type of violence and
Asymmetrical warfare.
Terrorism is used in times of peace, conflicts and
war.
Terrorism is designed to make a point, through
psychological means, fear.
Terrorism is a political act.
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 16
17. Anatomy of a Bioterrorist Attack
Preparation
5 years
Execution 1 day
Diagnosed case 3 days
First Death
Multiple deaths
Terrorism takes much
Time and planning
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 17
18. Property of Terrorism
Terrorism is different from regular crime
because of its strong political properties
The definition of terrorism can vary from
people to people due to the differences in
standpoint
One person’s terrorist can be another’s
fighter
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 18
19. Prevention of Terrorism
Primary prevention:
Education!!!
Understand the differences in cultures,
religions, beliefs and human behaviors
Think of the peace, freedom and equality of all
human beings, not just “my group of people”
Eliminate the root of terrorism
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 19
20. Prevention of Terrorism
Secondary prevention:
Establish surveillance and monitoring system
on terrorism attack
Improve protective system for citizens
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 20
21. Prevention of Terrorism
Tertiary prevention
Early detection of the sources
Prevent the extension of impairments
Rescue the survivors
Console the rest of the population
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 21
22. Types of Terrorism
Domestic terrorism involves groups whose
terrorist activities are directed at elements of
our government without foreign involvement.
Oklahoma City is a primary example.
International terrorism involves groups
whose terrorist activities are foreign-based
and/or directed by countries or groups
outside the United States. Sept. 11 is an
example of International Terrorism.
the Center for National Security StudiesSteve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 22
23. Methods of Terrorism
Firearms
Explosive and Incendiary Devices
Chemical Agents
Biological Agents
Nuclear Weapon
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 23
24. From Emergency Net NEWS Archives, 1994
Document Courtesy of the U.S. Postal Inspector's Office
Suspicious Thing to Look for
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 24
25. Chemical Agents
Chemical agents kill or incapacitate people,
destroy livestock or ravage crops
Some agents are odorless and tasteless
They can have an immediate or a delayed
effect
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 25
26. Example of Chemical Terrorism
Sarin nerve agent attacked the Tokyo
subway system in March 20, 1995
12 people were killed and 53 were
seriously injured
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 26
27. Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 27
Biological terrorism
Dispersal of microbes or their toxins to
produce illness, death and terror
The paths of infection can be contaminated
water, food, air and packages.
Microbes
Bacteria
Viruses
Toxins
28. Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 28
Is this something new?
14th Century – Kaffa
City on Crimean Peninsula
Hurled plague infested corpses over walls
of city to infest it
29. Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 29
Is this something new?
18th
Century French and Indian War
British Officers gave blankets from smallpox
victims to Indians aligned with French
Caused an epidemic in tribes
Effective means of incapacitating group
30. Motives for bioterrorism
Incident Motive
Polish resistance Resistance against foreign occupation
Mau Mau Resistance against colonialism
Dark Harvest Send a political message
Rajneeshes Win a local election by incapacitating the
non-Rajneeshee voters
AUM Shrinkyo Seize control of Japan through mass
murder, causing fear and apprehension
Dr.Suzuki Revenge for unfair treatment he received
at the medical training
Anthrax(USA) Inculcate fear
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 30
31. Responses to Bioterrorism
Early detection of active and potential cases
Emergency measures to save lives
Prevention and management of secondary
contamination
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 31
32. Nuclear Terrorism
Spreading of radioactive materials through
ventilation system or explosion
Disable nuclear reactor cooling system and
cause leakage of radioactive materials
Detonate a nuclear weapon
No use of nuclear material for non-military
terrorism has ever occurred
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 32
33. Proportion of death from terrorism
in total death in the United States
Average
death per
year
From
terrorism
From all
causes
Proportion
(%)
1990’s 8 2534203 0.0003
2001 2893 2404624 0.12
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 33
34. Risk of Dying
Smoking 10 cigarettes a day One in 200
All natural causes age 40 One in 850
Road accident One in 8,000
Playing soccer One in 25,000
Homicide One in 100,000
Terrorism attack in 2001 One in 100,000
Hit by lightning One in 10,000,000
Terrorism attack in 1990’s One in 50,000,000
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 34
35. Death Rate of Various Causes in
The world and that from Terrorism
Heart disease* One in 400
Cancer * One in 500
Cerebrovascular diseases* One in 2,000
Accidents * One in 3,000
Diabetes* One in 4,000
Suicide* One in 10,000
Homicide* One in 20,000
Terrorism in 2001 One in 100,000
Terrorism in 1990’s One in 50,000,000
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 35
36. What occupation has had the greatest
risk of death from Terrorism?
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 36
37. Why did terrorism draw considerable
attention in 2001?
The risk of dying from terrorism was extremely
low in 1990’s, and was still relatively low
compared with some diseases in 2001
But the death rate increased by 500 times in
2001 due to Sept. 11
Overall the death rate of terrorism has not been
high
Despite the low risk, shock, surprise and fear
engulfed the United States and world
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 37
38. Conclusion
Terrorism is unlawful act
Terrorism has a long history of being used to
achieve political, religious and ideological
objectives
Terrorism can be conducted through
firearms, explosive devices and biological,
chemical, nuclear materials
Even through the events of 2001,the risk of
dying from terrorism has remained much
lower than that from motor vehicles, smoking,
and alcoholic beverage.
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 38
39. The only thing we
have to fear is
fear itself. FDR, 1933
Fears are educated into us & can,
if we wish, be educated out. — Karl A. Menninger
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 39
40. Be Alert! Be Aware! Be
Awake!
If you are not safety conscious, you may
become unconscious. Safety starts with
you/me/us!
Steve Mbugua TM,DS,SJA 40
Editor's Notes
The objective of this lecture is to present some scientific facts about terrorism, so that teachers can educate the next generation, to understand terrorism and help to prevent terrorism. This is a template lecture for teachers. Please feel free to add or take out any slides. For example, you might want to include information about terrorism in your country, rather than the examples used in this lecture. The lecture is designed to be apolitical. The objectives are to 1) provide information to students about terrorism in general, 2) to show that terrorism has had a long history, 3) to demonstrate that terrorism has taken place in all areas of the world and 4 to demonstrate that terrorism although scaring many people is very rare. We must be concerned about terrorism, however, we cannot be paralyzed due to fear.
We have all seen pictures of terrorism during the past year since Sept. 11. This has frightened all of us, and lead to major changes in our society. The Homeland of the United States has been invaded, and we want to feel safe again. Terrorism has taken place in many other regions across the world. This is a lecture for Sept. 11, it overviews what we know about terrorism.
Little girl image:
http://www.corona.bell.k12.ca.us/teach/swa/girl.gif
Plane image:
http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/ehr/ehr/science_home/images/plane.gif
Terrorism is a political act designed by groups to have their message heard.
Arthur H. Garrison, How the World Changed: a History of the Development of Terrorism, presented at Delaware criminal Justice Council Annual Retreat, Oct 28-29, 2001
http://www.state.de.us/cjc/history.ppt
Often we talk about terrorism, without really defining it. Terrorism is not warfare, the goals are different. Terrorists want to seed a political message into our minds, murder, and violence are secondary. Hitchcock is a perfect spokesperson for terrorism as he is the master of terrorism. Terrorist make us afraid, which makes them heard.
On Sept. 11 the Twin Towers received a body blow by a terrorist. Please close your eyes and think about what you felt. Where were you? What type of emotions swept over you? Were your afraid? Most people were.
We want to prevent our children, and us from being afraid. Educators, teachers, and mentors need the best possible information quickly to prevent the buildup of fear, and to dissipate fear after it has arisen. In many ways fear, for the survivors, is more disruptive than death.
The major destructive force of terrorism is fear. However, we can reduce fear by building up our knowledge of terrorism.
The teacher in the classroom teaches, and reduces fear. S/he is a calming influence, siphoning off the fear. By learning the history and facts about terrorism, we can understand how best help ourselves, family and friends.
Classroom image:
http://www.west.asu.edu/itweb/services/classroom.gif
Terror in many ways has been the weapon of groups who want their message heard, and want a political change, but do not feel that they have a way to be heard or have a voice. Terrorism is viewed as a means to be heard.
Arthur H. Garrison, How the World Changed: a History of the Development of Terrorism, presented at Delaware criminal Justice Council Annual Retreat, Oct 28-29, 2001
http://www.state.de.us/cjc/history.ppt
Terrorism has been viewed as honorable by the side who practices it. It is viewed as a crime against humanity by the victims of the countries attacked.
Arthur H. Garrison, How the World Changed: a History of the Development of Terrorism, presented at Delaware criminal Justice Council Annual Retreat, Oct 28-29, 2001
http://www.state.de.us/cjc/history.ppt
.
Governments will sometimes try to suppress dissent. In the Military regime in Argentina in the 1960, young protestors sometimes even your age would sometimes “disappear” because of their views. The goal was to eliminate dissent, and maintain power.
Arthur H. Garrison, How the World Changed: a History of the Development of Terrorism, presented at Delaware criminal Justice Council Annual Retreat, Oct 28-29, 2001
http://www.state.de.us/cjc/history.ppt
Anarchists are those who rebel against the ruling power. One of their tools has been the killing of public officials, e.g. the killing of a president or ruler.
Terrorism has become a statement.
Arthur H. Garrison, How the World Changed: a History of the Development of Terrorism, presented at Delaware criminal Justice Council Annual Retreat, Oct 28-29, 2001
http://www.state.de.us/cjc/history.ppt
Arthur H. Garrison, How the World Changed: a History of the Development of Terrorism, presented at Delaware criminal Justice Council Annual Retreat, Oct 28-29, 2001
http://www.state.de.us/cjc/history.ppt
There has been much discussion of Asymmetric Warfare. This is where a superior power is confronted with an unconventional, much smaller enemy. However, the enemy has a fervent belief in a cause, but attacks using new, often never used before approaches often to the surprise of the dominant force.
Arthur H. Garrison, How the World Changed: a History of the Development of Terrorism, presented at Delaware criminal Justice Council Annual Retreat, Oct 28-29, 2001
http://www.state.de.us/cjc/history.ppt
We were surprised on Sept. 11. However, it is very important to recognize that terrorism is not new, and it’s primary goal is not to kill, but to communicate a message. Terrorism is a form of violence, and has been used throughout history. Terrorism most certainly has a psychological impact, and is a very powerful political act. It gets people heard.
Arthur H. Garrison, How the World Changed: a History of the Development of Terrorism, presented at Delaware criminal Justice Council Annual Retreat, Oct 28-29, 2001
http://www.state.de.us/cjc/history.ppt
The problem is that few recognize the time course of terrorism. There is a long, protracted time period of planning, followed by a short execution phase and short diagnosis phase. The terrorist on Sept. 11 prepared for almost 5 years before finally attacking. The time between execution and first death is typically small. For example, if a nuclear devise were to be detonated, death would arise within seconds. We want to be able to intervene to prevent children and adults from experiencing a terrorist attack, and death.
Just because of its uncertainty, it is hard to collect unbiased data on terrorism and it is hard to propose specific prevention measures. Here we present the general approaches of prevention from the epidemiological and public health point of view.
Recent Trends in Domestic and International Terrorism, the Center for National Security Studies, http://nsi.org/Library/Terrorism/tertrend.html
Chemicals have also been used in terrorist attacks.
Recent Trends in Domestic and International Terrorism, the Center for National Security Studies, http://nsi.org/Library/Terrorism/tertrend.html
Source:Disaster and hospital functions, Genro Ochi M.D., Ph.D. http://www.pitt.edu/~super1/lecture/lec0581/016.htm
Picture from: www.jal.co.jp/information/ branch/index-e.html
Source: Chemical and Biological Terrorism, an overview of the threat. Phillip L. Coule, M.D.
http://www.pemba.utk.edu/bt101/Chem%20and%20Biol%20Terrorism-%20Dr.%20Coule.ppt
The history of bioterrorism goes back a very long time. The first record of bioterrorism was 600 years ago.
Source: Chemical and Biological Terrorism, an overview of the threat. Phillip L. Coule, M.D.
http://www.pemba.utk.edu/bt101/Chem%20and%20Biol%20Terrorism-%20Dr.%20Coule.ppt
World-wide biologic warfare is not new. As early as the 14th century, plague infested corpses were used as weapons.
Source: Chemical and Biological Terrorism, an overview of the threat. Phillip L. Coule, M.D.
http://www.pemba.utk.edu/bt101/Chem%20and%20Biol%20Terrorism-%20Dr.%20Coule.ppt
In the United States at the time of the French and Indian War, the British provided tainted blankets to Indians with the goal of disabling the opposing forces.
Source: the History of Bioterrorism. Fred T. Muwanga M.D. Msc
Reasons for the use of bioterrorism was varied, and not much different for other weapons systems. A primary reason that they were used is that in general the weapon system was inexpensive, and could wreak havoc on an enemy not only as a result of morbidity, but also fear. These systems have some major disadvantages, however, in that one needed a high level of expertise in order to produce them. Also, targeting the systems is most difficult, thus there was the fear of wiping out ones own troops when attacking the enemy.
Bioterrorism can be attacked from several different levels. This presents the public health perspective whereby the response begins at the finding of the first case. A complimentary view is that of law enforcement where prevention begins before any event takes place, in the 5 year period of preparation. This could be a simple as identifying people who want to take flying lessons but who do not want to learn how to land, or those purchasing Anthrax from web sites. Both of these approaches have to go hand and hand to prevent attacks.
Terrorist acts are episodic, not continuous. Usually death from terrorism only occupies a very small proportion in all causes of deaths. When serious attack occurs, like in 2001, the death rate may be increased a lot.
Total International Terrorist Attacks, 1981-2000. Department of State Publication, Office of the Secretary of State, Released by the Office of the Coordinator for Counter terrorism, April 2001.
http://www.usis.usemb.se/terror/rpt2000/totaluscasualties.html
* Used projected data of year 2000
National Vital Statistics Report, Vol.49 No. 12, Oct 9, 2001
National mortality data:
http://wonder.cdc.gov/mortICD9J.shtml
Death from September 11th:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/05/30/rec.wtc.remains/index.html
The purpose of this slide is to have some general comparison between the risk of terrorism attack and that of other more familiar causes, so that we can have a general feeling of the level of the risk of terrorism. Data on other risks is adopted from the BMA Guide to Living with Risk. British Medical Association, Penguin Books, 1987.
It is not scientifically correct to compare the general estimate on risks and the specific death rate of one cause from one year. Also, lightning may be more predictable and random than terrorism attack. Again, this slide just wants to show the general position of the risk of terrorism attack. The point is : there are more important health threats to worry about and we can do something about it.
If you want to compare the death rate from different causes, the CDC and WHO web site can provide more information. The following slide is an example from USA
Death rate of terrorism was calculated from the data of U.S. population and the deaths from terrorism
Resident Population Estimates of the United States by Age and Sex: April 1, 1990 to July 1, 1999, with Short-Term Projection to November 1, 2000.
http://eire.census.gov/popest/archives/national/nation2/intfile2-1.txt
http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/05/30/rec.wtc.remains/index.html
* Age adjusted death rate in 2000. National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 49, No. 12, Oct 9, 2001.
It is important to put risk in context. Most people would think the great risk is a pilot, police man, or fire man. The occupation at great risk is that of President of the US where 3/44 presidents have died from terrorists. The risk for a president of the US, it over 50 million times great than for a student in a classroom.
The risk of dying from terrorism was even lower than that from hitting by lightening. Assume how surprised you will be, if someone tell you that your chance of hitting by lightening will be as high as that of homicide.