Thirty-five years of terrorism

[LiberalArkie]

Over the last 35 years, there have been more than 360 incidents attributed to “Islamic extremism.”

This is, of course, only a slice of terrorist incidents around the world over that period, and it’s difficult to determine what should and should not be included. In 1982, five neatly dressed men waited outside the Great Synagogue of Rome. As worshipers exited the building, the men opened fire, killing one child and wounding 37 other people. Was this an act of “Islamic extremism?” No group claimed responsibility, and of those attackers identified only one had a relationship with a known terrorist group—the Abu Nidal Organization—which was known more for its association with socialism than Islam. Nevertheless, it’s on the chart. So are several dozen incidents in Israel, Palestinian areas, or Jordan that might better be thought of as part of the regional conflict that’s been ongoing since 1947, rather than as attacks based on some merciless interpretation of religious texts.

Even with the understanding that the list includes incidents that probably shouldn’t be there and surely fails to include some that should, it’s hard to avoid the interpretation that such incidents are increasing. Each decade has seemed to bring with it a fresh wave, and a growing panic that these waves will soon rise into a world-threatening tsunami.

But before we either construct a wall or go to war against the sea, let’s spend a bit of time looking at the past—and the future—of terrorism.

Snip

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/11/22/1451755/-Thirty-five-years-of-terrorism

[Rex]

1. The GOP needed something of a larger magnitude for the next century.

http://www.oldamericancentury.org/pnac.htm