The Social History of Crime and Punishment in …study.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/90851_14.2r.pdfor economic magnates) to act or cease to act. As previously stated, terrorism

The Social History ofCrime and Punishment inAmerica: An Encylopedia

Terrorism

Contributors: Wilbur R. MillerPrint Pub. Date: 2012Online Pub. Date: September 06, 2012Print ISBN: 9781412988766Online ISBN: 9781452218427DOI: 10.4135/9781452218427Print pages: 1781-1789

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Plouffe, W. (2012). Terrorism. In W. Miller (Ed.), The social history of crime and punishment in America: An encylopedia. (pp. 1781-1789). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781452218427.n672

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Page 2 of 16 The Social History of Crime and Punishment inAmerica: An Encylopedia: Terrorism

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State University of New York at Stony BrookOne of the greatest social, political, and military problems in the modern world isterrorism. It is present around the globe, in both modern developed countries andcountries that have not advanced into the technological age. Terrorism is the greatfear of most peaceful modern societies, a fact not lost on the leaders and politicianswho use it to justify all types of social, political, economic, religious, and even personalagendas. However, defining terrorism is difficult, and it must be realized that terrorismis not just the current (and inaccurate) Western media political portrayals of all terroristsas dirty and ignorant Arabs with beards and burnooses mindlessly reciting the Koranand screaming themselves hoarse for jihad. Terrorism has a long and bloody history inAmerica and highlights the uneasy and frequently contradictory American relationshipbetween its crimes and its politics.

Definition of Terrorism

As a general matter, terrorism can be defined as the threat or the actual use of forceor violence aimed at innocent people or noncombatants to attain a political goal bycreating a climate of fear or demoralization. This is an admittedly broad definition ofterrorism and is arguably open to refinement. But terrorism is not an easy concept tostrictly define. The reason for this difficulty is that labeling or defining a threat or an actas terroristic is often a matter of perspective. For example, when a group of people in asociety decide to revolt to gain their political independence, they are frequently labeledas terrorists by the then current parties in power. However, to the people who aretrying to gain their political freedom, they are viewed as freedom fighters and heroes. Aspecific example of this contradiction in definition is the situation involving the Contrasin the Central American nation of Nicaragua in the 1980s. The Contras were a right-wing revolutionary group who were trying to overthrow the socialist government ofNicaragua. The Reagan administration of the United States supported the Contras andwas covertly supplying them with arms. To the established Nicaraguan government, theContras were terrorists, but to the Contras and the Reagan administration, the Contraswere freedom fighters. As is a matter of historical record, the activities of the Reaganadministration in the infamous Iran-Contra scandal resulted in numerous indictments,

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criminal convictions, and subsequent presidential pardons of American officials. Further,Nicaragua took the United States to the World Court over its mining of Nicaragua'sharbors, which would qualify as a war crime, where Nicaragua prevailed, but the UnitedStates refused to acknowledge the judgment. Thus, it is apparent that it is difficultto objectively determine who is a terrorist and whether certain activities constituteterrorism.

One aspect of terrorism is that it frequently occurs in conjunction with a concurrent orsubsequent political revolt. Individual terrorist activities, whether random or coordinated,are usually the precursors to the actual revolution itself. Thus, the concepts of terrorismand revolution cannot be easily separated.

Purposes of Terrorism

Terrorism can involve several purposes or goals. These purposes or goals can includesocial, political, economic, or religious aspects. There is frequently overlap betweenthese goals. For example, a single terrorist group might use political, economic,and social goals to justify their terroristic activities. Also, religious terrorist groupsfrequently have political goals that involve the installation of a theocracy as a form ofgovernment. The revolt in Iran in 1979, which was preceded by years of demonstrationsand terroristic violence and resulted in the overthrow of the shah with the subsequentinstallation of the Ayatollah Khomeini as the religious and political head of state, is anexcellent example of religious and political overlap.

An example of a social goal involving terrorism is the Environmental Liberation Front(ELF), an American terrorist group whose goal is the protection of the environment.Somewhat related to ELF is the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), whose social goal isthe protection of animal rights. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has rankedELF and ALF as the most serious domestic terrorism threats to America because of themillions of dollars of property damage they are alleged to have caused. ELF's activitiesare reported to include the arson and vandalism of buildings that [p. 1781 ↓ ] ELFconsiders to be environmentally damaging and the staking of trees with nails so thatwhen lumberjacks try to cut those trees down, their chain saws are broken. Throughthese activities, ELF hopes to advance the social cause of environmentalism. Of course,



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ELF's activities also have political aspects, but ELF's primary goal appears to be social.ELF apparently does try to avoid harming people and focuses primarily on propertydestruction.

An obvious example of a religious goal involving terrorism in the modern world is AlQaeda. Al Qaeda is an extremely well-organized political group and has becomeinternational. Al Qaeda is an Islamic group, one of whose goals is the protection andexpansion of the Islamic religion and the removal of Western influence from SaudiArabia. Al Qaeda was led by Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian whose family isextremely wealthy. Al Qaeda is infamous for its use of violence to accomplish its goalsand is not hesitant to cause injury to or the death of innocent human beings. The mostfamous act of terroristic violence committed by Al Qaeda is the destruction of the WorldTrade Center on September 11, 2001.

An example of a political goal involving terrorism is the Irish Easter Uprising of April1916 and the subsequent Irish War of Independence, which lasted from 1919 to 1921and resulted in the creation of the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, which remainedwithin the British Empire. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) at that time engaged in aguerrilla war of terrorism from 1916 until the war started in 1919. The IRA of that timemust be differentiated from the Provisional Irish Republican Army of modern times,which has engaged in numerous acts of terrorism, although in recent years, it hassignificantly lessened and even ceased—and arguably renounced—its violent terroristicactivities. The primary goal of the IRA was the liberation of Ireland from the BritishEmpire.

An example of a purely economic goal involving an extended campaign of terrorism isdifficult to find. Most terroristic activities and revolts involve political or religious issues,with economic issues as a corollary issue. However, the Boston Tea Party in 1773 bythe American colonists is an excellent example of economic terrorism. In 1767, theBritish parliament enacted the Townshend Acts, which included a duty on tea importedto the American colonies. The American colonists refused to pay the duty, and a groupof American colonists disguised as Indians forced their way onto three British merchantships in Boston Harbor and dumped all of the cargo of tea into the harbor. In retaliation,the British parliament enacted the Intolerable Acts of 1774, which essentially lit the fusefor the subsequent American Revolution in 1776.



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Methods of Terrorism

One of the essential problems with terrorism is that it does not target just the partieswho commit the acts that are used to justify the terrorist activities (e.g., torture bypolice, political oppression by rulers, religious suppression by theologians, economicoppression by oligarchs). It also targets innocent people, in part because those whocommit the acts used to justify the terrorism are usually protected by the police, themilitary, and security services. Further, terrorism's purpose encompasses the terrorismof an entire social group or society, including innocent people. Thus, many terroristsattempt to effect change by terrorizing the general populace in an effort to indirectlyforce or compel the actual targets of the terrorism (e.g., political rulers, religious leaders,or economic magnates) to act or cease to act.

As previously stated, terrorism involves the threat or the actual use of force or violenceto accomplish its goals. Terrorism can be accomplished by various acts, which includethreats, extortion, assaults, vandalism to property, arson of property, kidnapping andransom, and murder and assassination. Thus, terrorism can be considered in lightof the degree of violence. The property damage caused by ELF cannot rationally beconsidered to be on the same level of terrorism as the attacks on the World TradeCenter on 9/11, which resulted in the deaths of thousands and the destruction ofinternationally recognized economic and political symbols: the Twin Towers of the WorldTrade Center. Moreover, the economic damage caused by the 9/11 attacks was muchgreater than any ELF attacks.

Terrorists generally cannot effectively operate without weapons. Weapons such asindividual firearms are used. Such individual firearms are favored when terrorists areseeking a specific individual for assassination or kidnapping, as [p. 1782 ↓ ] they areeasily transportable. Explosives are more favored by many terrorists because of thegreater amount of harm and damage that can be inflicted by them. For example, asingle terrorist with a machine gun can fire into a crowded market and inflict a numberof casualties. But that terrorist would likely be swiftly caught and interrogated, hopefullyrevealing the identity and location of his or her compatriots. In contrast, explosives canbe set and detonated later, minimizing the chances of the perpetrators being caughtand maximizing the potential harm and damage. Further, as demonstrated so frequently



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in the Middle East, the use of suicide bombers and explosives is extremely effective.The terror caused by a person willing to sacrifice himself or herself in an explosion forwhat is believed to be a greater cause while causing the deaths of numerous innocentscannot be underestimated. Further, the fact that the victimized populace will not haveany warning of the explosion only heightens the level of fear and terror as a result of it.And there are other methods that raise the level of fear and terror to almost Olympianheights: weapons of mass destruction. Weapons of mass destruction include biological,chemical, and nuclear weapons. The use, or even just the threat of use, of suchweapons magnifies the resulting terror to a level that can cripple an entire nation. Thus,obtaining such weapons is the ultimate step for the most committed and unscrupulousterrorists.

Terrorism as a Tool

Regardless of any social, political, philosophical, religious, legal, or ethical argumentsthat can be made against the employment of terrorism, it cannot be rationally disputedthat terrorism works. Many nations have been formed through the use of terrorismand subsequent revolutions. Unfortunately, it is frequently the tool of the fanatic, whocannot employ any logical reason, or the desperate, who have tried to apply reason,logic, and ethics but have been unable to succeed. The examples of terrorism andrevolution that have occurred throughout the world that have resulted in the successfulattainment of the stated goals are many. The American Revolution and the Irish Warof Independence are only two examples. This is not meant to be a blanket acceptanceof terrorism or revolution as a legitimate tool of social, political, economic, or religiouschange. However, it must be acknowledged that the Declaration of Independence of1776, signed by the founding founders, expressly recognized the right to revolt. Themoral conundrum is determining when such an action is justified.

Early Terrorism in America

There have been hundreds if not thousands of incidents of terrorism in the history ofthe United States. A brief and hopefully representative list of them will be presented to



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demonstrate the presence of terrorism in America and its strange relationship to crimeand politics, especially considering the perhaps arrogant American position that theUnited States is the leader and ultimate shining example of justice, law, and democracyin the free world.

The United States of America was founded on a series of terroristic acts and arevolution. King George III was the legitimate ruler of the thirteen colonies and thefounding fathers displayed episodes of terrorism, such as the tarring and featheringof British tax collectors. They employed violence to accomplish a political goal. It isaxiomatic that history is written by the winners of any war, but even American historydoes not try to hide the role of the colonists as revolutionaries. Indeed, the Declarationof Independence of 1776 specifically recognizes the right to revolt.

In 1841, Thomas Wilson Dorr and many citizens of Rhode Island attempted to changethe voting laws, which allowed only landowners to vote under the original state charter.Their legitimate attempts to change the voting laws through the established politicalprocess failed, and Dorr and his followers held a Peoples’ Convention and adopteda new state constitution, which was subsequently approved by a referendum. Thefollowing election found Dorr elected to the governorship under the new constitution;Samuel Ward King was elected governor under the original charter. In what is knownas Dorr's Rebellion, Dorr and his supporters unsuccessfully attacked an arsenal;the rebellion failed. However, the limited electorate under the original charter waspersuaded of the legitimacy of the cause, and a new state constitution was created.Unfortunately, despite the obvious legitimacy of Dorr's cause, he was tried andconvicted of treason to the state, although he [p. 1783 ↓ ] was later released. The issueof which state government was valid subsequently came before the U.S. SupremeCourt in the case Luther v. Borden (1849). The Supreme Court refused to addressthe issue and held it was a “political question,” meaning that it was not for the courtsto decide. Interestingly, given the Declaration of Independence and the AmericanRevolution, it would seem that this decision seemed to acknowledge that if there was arebellion with associated terroristic activities, then the terrorists had better win.

The Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865, was the ultimate political and militaryact to prevent terrorism against a group of people. The enslavement of the AfricanAmerican people was an extreme form of terrorism directed against a specific group



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of people for illegitimate social (and economic and political) reasons. Theoretically,with the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War, the issue of terrorismagainst African Americans was over. Reality proved otherwise. Even the enactmentof the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments and the Civil Rights Act of1871 did not stop it. Despite all of these attempts to stop it, the Ku Klux Klan formed inthe 1860s in the south to terrorize African Americans. Although it died out, the groupresurfaced in the 1920s and after World War II in opposition to civil rights and minorities.The Ku Klux Klan has morphed over the years into various modern white supremacistand Aryan Nation organizations, many of them borrowing from the Ku Klux Klan,ultraconservative Christian groups, and the fascism and racial purity theories of NaziGermany. These organizations continue to engage in extensive terrorist activities tofrighten and harm minority groups, especially racial and religious groups.

President Lincoln (in top hat) visiting the battlefield at Antietam, Maryland, on October3, 1862 during the Civil War, which was the ultimate political and military act to preventterrorism against a group of people. The slavery issue addressed the question ofwhether slavery was an anachronistic evil incompatible with American values.

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In the 1800s, the political principle of anarchy, that is, society without government,was popular. Famous anarchists included Josiah Warren and Henry David Thoreau,although these proponents were relatively peaceful compared to their subsequentfollowers. During the late 1800s and the early 1900s, there were a number of violentanarchists operating in America who used bombs, many of them being immigrants from



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Europe. Coincident with the anarchy movement in the 1800s and the early 1900s wasthe American labor movement. The cause of the anarchists received much attentionwhen on May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in Chicago, a bomb was thrown at policedispersing a labor rally. Eight anarchists, participating in the labor rally, were arrestedand convicted of murder even though the police conceded there was no evidence thatthey had thrown the bomb. Four of the anarchists were executed and one committedsuicide in prison. The event was immortalized as the Haymarket massacre and wasa rallying point for anarchists and the nascent American labor movement. Anarchistscontinued to operate in America through the early 1900s, when in the infamous case ofNicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrant anarchists were executedon August 23, 1927, for an armed robbery, allegedly to obtain funds for more bombings.The case of Sacco and Vanzetti has been a cause célèbre for many years because ofthe questionable evidence and lack of a fair trial received by Sacco and Vanzetti. Afterthe early 1900s, the anarchist movement and its use of terroristic violence died out, butwas reawakened in the 1960s.

Terrorism in Twentieth-Century America

In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, the American labor movement began to form tofight unjust and unfair economic treatment from the corporations and the robber barons.Labor strikes and rallies often turned violent, with the corporations and businessesobtaining the use of military troops and private Pinkerton troops to violently suppressthe labor advocates, and the labor advocates responding with violent acts of their own.Despite the widespread violence on both sides, the American labor movement, thesocialists, and the communists had great success in forcing through much legislationto address such serious social and economic problems as child labor, the eight-hourworkday, minimum wage, workers compensation, and the National Labor Relations Act,which allowed workers to organize and to create labor unions to bargain over conditionsof employment and to protect their rights. Interestingly, although the socialists and thecommunists in America contributed greatly to the enactment of labor laws, they werestill considered to be a significant terroristic danger to America, although relatively fewwere convicted of terroristic crimes when compared to the political hysteria associatedwith them, as personified by the infamous McCarthy hearings of the 1950s.



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During the late 1800s and through the 1930s, the United States participated in theBanana Republic Wars, a number of police actions, occupations, and small wars in anumber of countries in Central and South America. The countries that were subject toAmerican military might included Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, Haiti, Honduras, and theDominican Republic. Generally, none of these countries had engaged in any acts thatwarranted invasion, and the overriding reason for the presence of the U.S. military wasto protect the economic interests of American sugar companies, fruit companies, andWall Street banks. These American military actions can only be defined as terroristic innature, especially as they had no legitimate justification under international law.

In the 1950s and the 1960s, America was very concerned about the revolution in Cubathat resulted in the eventual establishment of a communist government headed byFidel Castro. Even though the dictatorial Batista government that was overthrown wasinfamous for its corruption, it received the support of the United States. Even thoughCuba had not initiated a war against the United States, America supported, equipped,and financed an invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs by Cuban refugees, which endeddisastrously for America, both politically and militarily. Subsequently, the United Statesengaged in a campaign against Castro and Cuba that included unsuccessful attemptsto assassinate him, which can only be considered terroristic. Historically, the activities ofthe United States and especially the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) concerning Cubaand the Bay of Pigs brought international criticism for their activities.

The 1960s were a turbulent time for America, socially, politically, and economically.It was the [p. 1785 ↓ ] time of the Vietnam War and civil unrest when minorities wereseeking equality. Campus unrest was rife. Student protests reached their height whenthe Ohio National Guard opened fire on student demonstrators at Kent State Universityin 1970 with live ammunition, killing four students; this event became known as theKent State massacre. A number of organizations started to engage in violence toprotest the social injustice. The Students for a Democratic Society was one of the majororganizations trying to effect social change. One of its splinter groups, the Weathermen,started to engage in violent protest and criminal activities that can only be characterizedas terroristic. The Black Panthers, a political party that focused on opposing racialinjustice for African Americans, were frequently the targets of government attack, butrelatively few charges brought against them resulted in convictions. And 1968 wasfamous for the Democratic National Convention, in which the abuses of the Chicago



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police against protestors were nationally televised. One official termed the event apolice riot. There were many other organizations that fought, both peacefully andviolently, for social, political, and economic justice. Despite all of the violence and theassociated terrorism, it has been persuasively argued that all of the advancements ofthe 1960s (e.g., civil rights, racial equality) would not have been achieved without it.The historical effect of the civil unrest and violence of the 1960s on the criminal justicesystem was enormous. Gun laws were passed. Police training was increased. Formalrecognition of civil rights in the criminal justice process was accomplished. Even moreimportant, however, was the social perception of the police. After the 1960s, even someconservatives began to question police activities, and the free pass that police officersand agencies had previously enjoyed was gone.

individual Action and Terrorism

Terrorism as a function of individual action was brought to the forefront in the 1960swith the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald, of RobertF. Kennedy in 1968 by Sirhan Sirhan, and of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968 by JamesEarl Ray. Although each assassination was originally thought to be the act of a lonegunman, subsequent evidence and investigations have cast serious doubt on eachof these theories. The historical effect of these assassinations and the subsequentquestions raised as to the involvement of the government in them on the criminal justicesystem and society was incredible. A level of social and political distrust in governmentand of the criminal justice system entered into the American consciousness.

The pro-life movement in America is an example of domestic terrorism that has dividedthe nation. The pro-life movement is against abortion and is violently opposed to theU.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which essentially legalized abortionin the United States. The past few decades have seen a number of abortion clinicsvandalized and bombed and have seen doctors willing to perform abortions murdered.The ultrareligious, far-right-wing pro-life movement has essentially made heroes ofthose who committed these terroristic activities.

In 1975, with the American public becoming weary of government corruption, the U.S.Senate formed the Church Committee to investigate the CIA and the FBI. The results



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were astounding and shocked America. The Church Committee revealed the activitiesby the CIA and the FBI of not only spying on American citizens but also of beinginvolved in the attempted assassinations of foreign leaders, which can only be termedterroristic in nature. The effect on America and the criminal system was profound.Legal limits were placed on the CIA and the FBI to prevent them from engaging in suchactivities again.

From the 1970s through the 1990s, America was subject to a series of mail bombingsby Ted Kaczynski (the Unabomber), a brilliant but psychologically disturbed individualwho espoused an antitechnology political philosophy. Although Kaczynski's effecton the American criminal justice system was negligible, the investigation, arrest, andprosecution of him were extremely costly and time consuming, spanning severaldecades. However, Kaczynski is illustrative of the ability of a single disturbed individualto be an effective terrorist and that such people exist in free societies such as the UnitedStates.

From the 1970s through the 1990s, with distrust of government increasing, a numberof militias, independent of either state or federal government, began to form. Many ofthem were associated with white supremacists and [p. 1786 ↓ ] the Aryan Nation, butsome of them were based primarily on political beliefs and an expansive interpretationof the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Although there were not a large numberof prosecutions for terrorist activities against these militia groups, a number of themwere convicted of associated criminal charges such as possession of weapons andexplosives. The high-water mark for militia groups in America was the Oklahoma Citybombing of 1995, executed by Timothy McVeigh, a militia movement sympathizer.McVeigh used a truck bomb to destroy the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building; 168people were killed. McVeigh was arrested, convicted, and executed. Some militiaorganizations disavowed McVeigh's actions, and the militia movement lost a lot of itssupport. The effect on the American criminal justice system was immediate. Awarenessof domestic terrorism was brought home and defensive measures at governmentbuildings were increased. Numerous laws were passed, including the Anti-Terrorismand Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. This bombing also brought home to Americathat terrorism could be homegrown.



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In 1993, Muslim extremists attempted to blow up the World Trade Center in New YorkCity. The attempt failed, although six people were killed and more than 1,000 peoplewere injured. The practical effect on America of the 1993 World Trade Center bombingwas a clear demonstration that foreign terrorists could strike inside the territory of theUnited States.

Terrorism in 21st-Century America

The most devastating terrorist attack on American soil was the September 11, 2001,attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by Al Qaeda. Thousands ofpeople were killed, and the World Trade Center was destroyed. Nothing can be saidhere about it that has not been already stated in other works. It is probably the mostinfluential act of terrorism on American society and the way that America views criminaljustice. Essentially, 9/11, despite the previous attempt to destroy the World TradeCenter in 1993, was the act of terrorism that destroyed American innocence about thereality of international politics and terrorism. As a result of the 9/11 attack, the USAPATRIOT Act of 2001 and numerous other laws were enacted. The PATRIOT Act,despite its name, provided for a comprehensive reduction of American civil libertiesand privacy in exchange for a much greater degree of protection against terroristattacks. The effect against terrorism of all the restrictions placed on civil liberties hasbeen seriously challenged. Since 9/11, the huge expansion of government power inthe criminal justice system over the people has been seriously questioned, especiallyconcerning the activities of the National Security Agency in surveilling the privatecommunications of American citizens. Further, there have been a number of challengesto the government's version of what actually happened at the World Trade Center andhow the towers collapsed. However, the most serious result of the terrorism of 9/11 isthe ease with which the American people have acquiesced to the curtailment of theircivil rights. It was Benjamin Franklin who stated that those who would [p. 1787 ↓ ] giveup a little liberty for a little security deserve neither and will lose both.

View of the World Trade Center after the second tower fell on September 11, 2001. TheWorld Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked by Al Qaeda, killing thousands.



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Shortly after 9/11, another terrorist act occurred in America. Anthrax powder was mailedto several Democratic senators and some media outlets. The effect was a nationalscare about biological terrorism. Initially, there was a huge amount of fear that it wasthe work of Islamic terrorists. True horror set in when scientific analysis proved that theanthrax originated in America. What was even more frightening was that it was directedonly at Democratic senators and not at conservative politicians. FBI investigationsfocused on one U.S. government scientist who was, with some embarrassment, latercleared. A second U.S. government scientist was then suspected, but he committedsuicide. Later revelations indicated that the second scientist might not have been theperpetrator. The anthrax attacks reawakened the fear, raised many decades earlier withthe Kennedy and King assassinations, that the American government could have beeninvolved in a terrorist plot against its own people.

Conclusion

Terrorism and revolution work. History demonstrates it. Moreover, domestic terrorismhas had some positive effects in America. The labor movement and the civil rightsmovement probably would not have developed as much as they did, with the concurrentexpansion of civil rights and protections to the people as a result of those movements,if they did not involve violence and, by definition, terrorism. History seems to prove theproposition that terrorism works, no matter how distasteful it might be. But the problem



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is, under what standard can violence and terrorism be considered justified? The U.S.Supreme Court, when it considered Dorr's Rebellion, refused to address the issue andhas uniformly refused to recognize the Declaration of Independence as binding legalauthority.

Terrorism has a long and bloody history in America, both within its borders involving itsown people and outside its borders in actions against other nations. The civil libertiesof American citizens generally survived the terroristic threats of the Civil War, theanarchists, the labor movement, the civil rights era, domestic assassinations, andhighly questionable foreign interventions and occupations. With the militia movements,domestic terrorism, government abuse, and the threat of terrorism from Al Qaeda,the survival of American society, at least as to its theoretical base of individual libertyaccording to some authorities, is not only uncertain—it seems unlikely. The powers ofgovernment for criminal investigation, individual surveillance, violation of privacy, andcriminal conviction of people who might otherwise not have been convicted have beengreatly increased. Further, internationally, the United States has developed not only anarrogant sense of superiority concerning the terroristic activities of other nations but afrightening posture of national privilege and willful blindness when it engages in suchactivities. The final effect of such an attitude on the American society and its standing inthe world has yet to be determined, but the universal condemnation of the activities ofGeorge W. Bush involving the “war on terror” may provide us with a warning.

Wm. C. Plouffe, Jr. Independent Scholar

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See Also

Further Readings

Dershowitz, Alan. Why Terrorism Works . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002.

Hewitt, Christopher. Understanding Terrorism in America: From the Klan to Al Qaeda .London: Routledge, 2003.

Hoffman, Bruce. Inside Terrorism . New York: Columbia University Press, 2006.



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McKnight, Gerald. Breach of Trust: How the Warren Commission Failed the Nation andWhy . Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2005.

Parry, Albert. Terrorism From Robespierre to the Weather Underground . Mineola, NY:Dover, 1976.

Pious, Richard M. The War on Terrorism and the Rule of Law . Los Angeles, CA:Roxbury, 2006.

Prados, John, ed. America Confronts Terrorism . Lanham, MD: Ivan R. Dee, 2002.

Rasenberger, Jim. The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and America's Doomed Invasionof Cuba's Bay of Pigs . New York: Scribner, 2011.

Reich, Walter, ed. Origins of Terrorism . Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UniversityPress, 1998.

Wright, Stuart. Patriots, Politics, and the Oklahoma City Bombing . Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 2007. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511619045



http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511619045

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The Social History of Crime and Punishment in …study.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/90851_14.2r.pdfor economic magnates) to act or cease to act. As previously stated, terrorism