The Face of Terrorism: Policymaking and the Eye of the Beholder,
Abstract
According to the Department of State, in the last 5 years there have been 1,559 international terrorist incidents involving U.S. citizens and property as targets. These incidents include the Beirut Marine barracks bombing. In that period, 312 U.S. citizens have been killed and 212 wounded. In the period 1973 through 1982, the total numbers of international victims of terrorism have been 3,500 killed and 7,600 wounded. Bombing have fluctuated in the 50 to 75 percent ranges as the cause of terrorist acts each year, and more than a third of deaths from terrorist acts have been attributed to bombing. Now, decisionmakers-and not only those who sit at the very top at the National Security Council level, but also those at other levels-have to ask questions: What is terrorism? How do you define it? When does a specific act fit within definitions, and when doesn't it? How does the government protect against that specific kind of act? Furthermore, they must think about the institutions they are dealing with, because they need to know not only how to govern their own troops and run their own agencies, but also how these other pepole, who should be having an interplay with them, approach the subject. My view is that we have basically five institutional perspectives: diplomatic, intelligence, law enforcement, military, and security.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 04, 1984
- Accession Number
- ADP004495
Entities
People
- J. R. Mcbrien
Organizations
- United States Department of the Treasury