by Enver Masud
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- While U.S. government statistics indicate that terrorism
is declining, L. Paul Bremer III, Chairman of the National Commission on
Terrorism, in the June 2000 report to Congress, says the threat of terrorism is
"becoming more deadly," and recommends actions which would further erode
American's civil liberties.
Created in the wake of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, the
commission's recommendations include greater monitoring of foreign students,
sanctions against Greece and Pakistan, and adding Afghanistan to the list of
countries designated a "state sponsor" of terrorism. The list currently includes
Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Sudan, North Korea and Cuba.
The U.S. is "not considering sanctions" against Greece or Pakistan says U.S.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Larry Johnson, a counter terrorism
expert who appeared with Mr. Bremer on WETA NewsHour on June 6, challenges the
commission's findings.
Mr. Johnson says, "we had no problem as a country sanctioning Hezbollah
and Hamas, but one of the terrorist groups that was left off the list of
designated terrorist groups...was the Irish Republican Army. The message we sent
to the world is if you're Irish Catholic, it's okay to be a terrorist. If you're
a Muslim, that's bad."
Mr. Johnson also disagrees that the threat of terrorism is "becoming more
deadly." He says "the number of deaths fell from 4,800 in the 80s to 2,500 this
last decade." Government statistics confirm a steady decline in terrorism.
In Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1998, the U.S. Department of State says, "the
number of international terrorist attacks actually fell again in 1998,
continuing a downward trend that began several years ago."
Updating this 1998 report with 1999 data, "Total U.S. Citizen Casualties
Caused by International Attacks" are as follows: the number of those killed each
year from 1993 through 1999 is 7, 6, 10, 25, 6, 12, 5; the number of those
wounded during these same years is 1004, 5, 60, 510, 21, 11, 6.
Perhaps, the more interesting statistic, as far as "Islamic terrorism" is
concerned, is "Total Anti-U.S. Attacks--1999" which lists attacks by region as
follows: Africa--16, Asia--6, Eurasia--9, Latin America--96, Middle East--11, North
America--1, and West Europe--30.
Given the statistics for the Middle East and Latin America, one wonders why
one doesn't hear about "Christian terrorism," at least as often as one hears
about "Islamic terrorism."
Furthermore, "To call terrorism a threat to national security is scarcely
plausible," say John Mueller and Karl Mueller ("Sanctions of Mass Destruction,"
Foreign Affairs, May/June 1999, p. 43). They add, "On average far fewer
Americans are killed each year by terrorists than are killed by lightning, deer
accidents, or peanut allergies."
In fact, the U.S. may have more to fear from American terrorists than
foreign. On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal
Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, killing 168 citizens and injuring hundreds.
This attack was the deadliest terrorist event ever committed on U.S. soil.
But as long as there's money to be made, and friends of the Zionists remain in
control of key positions in the executive and legislative branches of the U.S.
government, they will perpetuate their self-serving myths--leaving Americans
vulnerable to the realities. For this year, the budget for counter terrorism was
doubled to $10 billion.
[Enver Masud is an engineering management consultant, author of "The War on Islam,"
and founder of The Wisdom Fund--www.twf.org.]
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