Terrorism and hostage taking may be as old as civilization itself. There are numerous references to abduction throughout Greek mythology. In midievil times hostages were taken for money or a guaranteed safe passage through a country. In the U. S. , Indians on the western frontier terrorized settlers to frighten them away. Throughout the twentieth century, up until the 1970s various terrorist acts were committed, yet they were not as big a problem as they are today. The new age of terrorism dawned at 4:30 in the morning of September 5, 1972.
It was hen that members of the Palestinian organization Black September attacked the Isreali Olympic team. Three men were killed on the spot and nine were taken captive. The terrorists demanded that 200 of their fellow Arabs be released from Isreali prisons. They also wanted Isreal disbanded and its territory returned to the Palestinian people. The results of the Munich attack were tragic. Following a gun battle between German sharpshooters and the terrorists, which killed one German policeman, all nine hostages and five of the terrorists were killed by a hand grenade.
The vents at Munich proved that a single terrorist action, cleverly planned and daringly executed by a small band of people could accomplish as much as the movement of a large army. That is why the Munich attack was the dawn of a new age of terrorism. From the point of view of the terrorists, the main goal of the Munich attack was to draw attention to the Palestinian cause, a goal that was achieved through media coverage. This accomplishment was a lesson that terrorists everywhere were quick to learn. This is widely shown in that the number of terrorist acts has generally risen, ith a trend toward bloodier incidents.
The accumulation of terrorist attacks on innocent civilians has caused many changes around the world. There have been thousands of instances of terrorism. Just a few statistics can give one the idea of the seriousness of the problem. Robert Clarke from the National Security Council put it perfectly when he said “organized crime groups now posses such significant resources that they can almost buy and sell governments” (Morrison 6). The Department of Defense estimates that as many as 26 nations may possess chemical agents and or weapons and n additional twelve may be seeking to develop them.
Between 1970 and 1977, terrorist movements throughout the world kidnapped more than 300 people resulting in ransom payoffs of more than $160 million and the release of nearly 300 political prisoners. The death toll from acts of terrorism has risen dramatically in recent years. In 1984, 803 bombing incidents resulted in six deaths and 112 injuries. The death toll from international terrorism rose from 163 in 1995 to 311 in 1996, as the trend continued toward more ruthless attacks on mass civilian targets and the use of ore powerful bombs.
In 1994 alone, there were 163 terrorist incidents in which 31 people were killed and 308 injured . In places like Beirut, Lebanon, terrorist casualties have mounted so fast that many are not even reported in most of the worlds press. As Bruce Hoffman put it “terrorist groups today are more nihilistic than previous groups who were motivated by nationalist and economic grievances” (Deutch 2). Casualties from small terrorist attacks have increased significantly since 1972. These small attacks trigger many countries to change or start new policies.
The large attacks are what really cause governments and civilizations to reconsider their policies though. These attacks are also “increasingly directed against the Western democracies” (Taylor 30). *The first big terrorist attack was at the Munich Olympics on September 5, 1972. Twelve innocent people were killed along with five of the terrorists. *On October 3, 1985 Achille Lauro, a cruise ship carrying mostly retired senior citizens was hijacked . The terrorists were finally taken captive. One disabled man was killed during thehijacking.
On June 14, 1985 TWA Flight 847 was hijacked by the bomIslamic Jihad. There were 153 persons on board. *On December 21,1988 terrorists planted a bomb on Pan Ams flight 103 killing 270 people. *On February 26, 1993 a bomb exploded in the parking garage of the World Trade Center killing five. This attack “shattered the illusion that the U. S. is immune from international terrorism” (Morrison 5)
*On April 19, 1995 the Alfred Murrah federal building was bombed in Oklahoma City. *On June 27, 1976, Air France Airbus carrying 242 passengers was hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. On October 23, 1983, the Islamic Jihad bombed the U. S. Marine peace-keeping force at the Beirut, Lebanon airport. Two hundred and twenty Marines, eighteen U. S. Navy men, and three U. S. Army personnel were killed. *In November 1985 the Colombian group M-19 attacked the Palace of Justice in Bogota, Colombia. At least 100 people were killed. *The largest ransom ever paid was in Argentina. A gang of Montoneros terrorists received $60 million for the release of two brothers. Since 1972, many countries gave battled with policies and ways to combat the problem of terrorism.
These new policies have clearly changed many routines and spending of money. Programs have been set up, thousands of people have been hired, and billions of dollars have been spent in order to reduce terrorism around the world. In the past decade, over 18,000 individuals in 50 nations have been trained in counter terrorism. The U. S. alone has trained more than 19,000 foreign law enforcement officials from more than 80 countries in such areas such as irport security, bomb detection, maritime security, VIP protection, hostage and rescue, and crisis management.
The FBI is moving to reassign 500 of its agents to counter terrorism duty. It is also dramatically expanding its presence overseas. Along with hiring thousands of individuals to counter terrorism duty, governments have set up hundreds of programs to help gain intelligence. Anti-terrorism funding has been boosted by one billion dollars in over four years. In 1986, the Counter-Terrorism Center was set up to collect data about and coordinate strategies toward errorist groups.
In 1985, President Reagan set up a cabinet level commission, known as the Vice Presidents Task Force on Combating Terrorism. And in 2001, George W. Bush added on a program that is called “Internal terrorist Affairs” that is setup to deal with internal terrorism in the U. S. Terrorism has been a problem for thousands of years and continues to be a problem even today. There have been many proposals to ending terrorism but terrorists continue to attack. The ways of combating terrorism need to be tougher if we are to stop the terrorist attacks.
