Terrorism throughout the World has been affecting we as a society for many years. Terrorism can be dated back to the assassination of our 15th President Abraham Lincoln, who was shot and killed by a right-wing activist John Wilkes Booth on April 14th 1865. (Johnston, R. Wm) There has not been a single accepted definition of terrorism, however, “terrorism may be defined as violent, criminal behaviour designed primarily to generate fear in the community, or a substantial segment of it, for political reasons.” (Poland, J. M, P. 8) Terrorism is used threats, use of force and violence to attain political goals.
For example, I am going to be comparing and contrasting two events one that took place before the attack on 9/11 and another after 9/11. In this comparison, I will discuss the different methods that were used, mixed motives, intents, to what extent they would go to complete the mission. Before 9/11 the attack on the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) building in Oklahoma City showed what weakness the United States had in security. Timothy McVeigh and an accomplice placed a Ryder moving truck outside of a Federal building packed with explosives. After 9/11 the attack in Paris at the Bataclan stadium and other areas around Paris resulted in mass shootings and suicide bombers. If you look at the complexity of each attack, you can tell a lot of thought and planning went into both. However, the great length the attackers in Paris went to “succeed” is far greater. In the new age of terrorism, society sees a lot of suicide bombers, mass shootings, and social media. Whereas pre-9/11 they were bombs, few mass shootings no social media to excite their agenda.
The Oklahoma City Bombing
On April 19th, 1995 Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols killed 168 people and injured more than 680 others. This attack took place at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK. The blast was so large that it damaged upwards of 324 buildings causing an estimated 652 Million dollars worth of damage. (OMICS International, 2014, par. 1) The morning of April 19th was just like any other day for everyone working in the area, but Timothy McVeigh had other plans. At 8:45 AM McVeigh and Nichols stopped for directions to the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF) building in which at that time he had planned on blowing up. Just shortly before arriving on site, McVeigh lite the fuses on two bombs that he had made himself and stored in the back of a rented Ryder moving truck. Upon arrival, he parked in a handicap spot just outside the building, locked the vehicle, and walked away in a hurry. At 09:02 AM his bomb detonated sending off a blast wave so large that it killed 168 innocent lives, and injuring more than 600 others. This attack was the largest case of domestic terrorism in United States history. (Linder, 2006)
Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, and Michael Fortier were all survivalist who disagreed with the way certain cases were handled. They were motivated by the way the Federal government dealt with the standoff with Randy Weaver and Ruby Ridge, as well as the siege in Waco, Texas. It was after these that he decided he would destroy a Federal Building. After some thinking, he decided it would be better to kill as many people as possible to get his point better across. McVeigh had requirements for selecting his target; it had to house at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, or the Drug Enforcement Agency. He also wanted to limit the amount of non-government casualties. He decided to choose the Murrah Federal building because it had glass windows up front to maximise damage, contained many government agencies, parking garage across the street that could take away some blast waves.
Timothy McVeigh used a traditional method of a bomb. There was not much to the plan and the weapon itself. He had planned on getting caught but still fled the scene. Much of the supplies needed to make the gun down were either purchased or stolen by the team. The Ryder truck was loaded with three 55-gallon drums of liquid nitromethane mixed with 108 50lbs bags of ammonium nitrate fertiliser resulting in 7,000 pounds of explosives. (Poland, P. 174) They had the bombs rigged on timers, which McVeigh started shortly before drop off. “Inside the vehicle was a powerful bomb made out of a deadly cocktail of agricultural fertiliser, diesel fuel, and other chemicals. McVeigh got out, locked the door, and headed towards his getaway car. He ignited the one-timed fuse, then another.” (Terror Hits Home: The Oklahoma City Bombing, n.d.)
The eventual outcome of the bombing was 168 innocent lives taken 19 of them young children and 600+ injured and damaged 324 buildings. “The Oklahoma City bombing "was the wake-up call," said Barbara Nadel, a New York-based architect and author of Building Security. "It was almost a precursor to 9/11 and many of the things we've seen around the world since then." (Naylor, Par. 6) It was after this attack that the Clinton administration decided that more considerable efforts need to be put forth to gather intelligence on terrorism to stop it before it begins. Any Federal building built now is located away from the street.
Paris Terror Attack
The night of November 13th 2015 seven terrorists with links to the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) initiated a series of coordinated attacks on the citizens of France. The attack included suicide bombs and mass shootings. Just after 9:20 PM local time, two explosions occurred just outside the Stade de France, where a football game was taking place. Inside the stadium was the German Prime minister, in which the bomber was trying to get to. This bomb was detonated when the attacker was trying to gain entrance to the stadium but was denied by the security guards searching. After the guard, the attacker detonated the vest killing.
Meanwhile, another small group of attackers drove to Petit Cambodge, a restaurant, where they opened fire on unsuspecting citizens who were enjoying their dinner killing 15 people. The same group then drove down the road to a pizzeria and again opened fire killing another five citizens. Following the attack on the pizza, the attackers drove to a bar named arriving approximately around 9:35 PM La Bella Equipe where they killed 19 people who were on a balcony. The deadliest outcome came from the Bataclan concert haul, where an American heavy metal band was playing. There were approx. One thousand five hundred people are attending the concert. Three attackers stormed into the concert haul around 9.40PM with AK-47s and began a mass shooting ultimately killing 89 individuals.
The militants in this attack on Paris used a variety of different methods in their offence. This attack displayed how much thought and coordination went into the planning of this attack: a small group, all initiated within 30 minutes of each other devastated multiple locations. The communication methods used to orchestrate the entire event were very in depth. They used a variety of weapons to include, Ak-47 assault rifles, grenades, and explosives attached to their bodies. These attackers were willing to show their commitment to kill as many as they could by using the explosive vest to kill themselves and as many others as possible.
The attacks on Paris killed 130 people in total and changed the lives of many for the rest of their lives. This attack showcase that terrorism is not something that should be taken lightly because it can happen anytime, anywhere and this is what the terrorist group ISIS is trying to showcase. After the attacks, France’s information service for the Government (SIG) issued this statement "Following the attacks of 13 November, the Government wanted to launch a communication campaign to better prepare and protect citizens against terrorist threats.” (Buchanan, Par. 3) France’s government wants to give out information to its citizens to help better their chances during a mass shooting or an attack.
Terrorist Events Comparison
The motives between Timothy McVeigh’s Oklahoma City Bombing on April 19, 1995, and the attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015, are different but can have a slight similarity, as both events were acts of retaliation. The Oklahoma City Bombings were in retaliation to how the U.S Government responded to the standoff of Randy Weaver and Ruby Ridge as well as the Waco siege. The attackers in Paris may have attacked due to Frances take in the bombings over the years in Iraq and Syria. However, Timothy McVeigh was a right-wing activist and believed that the government was taking away his right to guns and many others. He acted out on his soil and was motivated to showcase the government's Tyranny. ISIS is driven by a bunch of different causes; they want to showcase that they can strike anywhere in the world. They usually often strike with lone-wolf terrorists who act alone.
The methods used in both events have one thing in common, the use of bombs. The Oklahoma City attack used fertiliser and nitromethane packed in 55-gallon drums to create a homemade explosive. The explosives were then placed inside of a moving truck and denoted on the side of the road by a timed fuse. This is where the attacks differed in methods. ISIS is known for its use of bombs, especially suicide bombs. In Paris attacks the attackers used multiple guns and acted in sets as well as lone wolves. When one assailant could not get access to a stadium, he detonated his suicide vest outside trying to kill as many as possible. When the attackers went on their mass shootings, they just opened up and began shooting. Both of these attacks struck fear into the society around them, which a definition and goal of the word terrorism. When the bomb went off in Oklahoma is struck fear into everyone because not only was this the act of a terrorist, but the action was committed by a decorated war vet from the United States. A mental study was conducted six months following the attack on 182 directly exposed adults. The test wanted to see any psychiatric disorders, injuries or anything that can relate to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The research group conducted a follow-up study a year later.
Despite their high level of exposure to this disaster, the majority of the bombing survivors did not develop a psychiatric disorder afterwards. Nearly all (96%), however, had one or more symptoms of PTSD. PTSD related to the bombing was the most common post-disaster diagnosis, identified in 34%, being approximately twice as common among women (45%) as men (23%) (North, 2010, Vol. 55, No. 3, pp. 242).
Much of Europe is very concerned about the flooding of Syrian refugees coming across the borders into Europe. Especially after the attacks during the cleaning a Syrian passport was found on one of the attackers. A study conducted by an Arab Opinion Index team of the Doha-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies resulted in a “disturbing subset of 13% of Syrian refugees say their view of ISIS is “positive” or “positive to some extent.” (Thiessen M. Par. 2) “Yet it is a stark reality that the refugee crisis is now being framed not only as a social and economic challenge for Europe as a continent, but also as a security threat to European cities.” (Hoelscher, K. Par. 8)
Due to the attack, many citizens in Paris/France/ and Europe fear countries will be using more military force throughout the cities to help with security. Much of Europe has open borders, which countries will try to tighten up on. Hoelscher discusses that fear is that European countries may result in the U.S like militarisation; often cops carry weapons on them in the U.S. Some countries in Europe cops do not take any gun, and this is something that the citizens do not want to see happen.
There are always lessons that can be learned after any attack, much of the lessons learned after the bombing in Oklahoma were taken into effect. The U.S government realised domestic terrorism is not something to take lightly and to put more effort in its counter-intelligence agency. The attack was mostly a wake-up call for government security. “After Oklahoma City, the GSA determined that federal buildings from now on should be set back from the street, that blast-resistant glass should be used and the buildings themselves engineered to prevent the floors collapsing.” (Naylor, B. Par. 10) The encryptions that the attackers used in the Paris attack were hard to decrypt they often-used burner phones and got rid of the sim cards frequently. Europe can learn from this by better screening the refugees who come through, despite that mass amount of people. Conducting through searches of counter-intelligence. ISIS recruits from all over the world, but a large number have been coming from Europe. Five of the attackers had travelled to Syria.
The advancement in terrorism over the years from 1995 to 2016 has drastically changed. The methods used, the technology, the willingness to complete the mission, types of propaganda used has all changed terrorism in front of our eyes. The use of social media is a big game changer. Back in 1995 when Timothy McVeigh planned his attack, he did not get coverage all over the Internet through social media. Reporters who were on scene and, journalists who wrote about it in the paper that people read every day covered his attack. Today you cannot get on any form of social media without seeing something about ISIS. ISIS has members who create false accounts and search for information through people’s reports on Facebook or other accounts similar. They recruit through social media. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols had no intent to die that day; however, the attackers in Paris went in knowing that it would be their last day on planet earth. ISIS is very well known for using suicide bombers to cause as many casualties as possible. That is the difference that we see today, and it is not just men it is women and even children at times. The suicide vest shows the extent that the terrorists are willing to go to be “successful” in their eyes.
The technology that the terrorists are capable of using vs today 20 years ago is insane. ISIS has recruits who are cyber-terrorist and do nothing but hack into places find peoples information, and conduct intelligence for them. McVeigh spent time organising his attack, but his shooting was a single layer attack with one plan. Terrorists today will plan an attack for months making sure every detail is correct, they have all the supplies needed and that they have accepted their fate. The attackers who entered the Bataclan haul went in shooting, but as soon as they were trying to stop, they escorted to their plan B that was to detonate their vests killing themselves and anyone else they could. Timothy McVeigh only wanted to kill government employees, which was his plan even though he murdered plenty of non-government people he targeted one group. Many terrorist attacks today do not target a specific, the shooters opened fire showing no discrimination to race, ethnicity, gender, age. They killed to demonstrate the power and kill as many as possible.
In conclusion, Terrorism is affecting every single person in this world. Terrorism comes from all walks of life, and you never know when it can strike around you. We learned about Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols who was their domestic terrorist responsible for the Oklahoma City Bombing that killed 168 innocent people and injuring more than 600 others. This was the first real threat of domestic terrorism on U.S soil, and it woke America up to the reality of terrorism and its weak security. We discussed how terrorism has evolved into social media and sophisticated multi-layered attacks. How terrorist work together to strike five different locations within a 30 minute time frame killing a total of 129 lives. Terrorism is evolving around us before our eyes; just like technology changes every day so does the methods of terrorist. The recruitment tools used, the information that they can find about you is near impossible to stop. A terrorist does not always come from a Muslim background; they do not always wear a turban. This is a profile that media in a whole has portrayed and made many people believe. We as a society need to change the way we think about terrorism and terrorist. We need to educate ourselves about the types of terrorism and learn how to stop an attack if it is imminent possibly. All societies around the world need to be proactive instead of reactive in safeguarding information. Terrorism is not a subject that should be joked about.
References
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Hoelscher, K. (November 17, 2015). Darkness in the city of light: The Paris attacks and urban security in Europe. Retrieved from http://hir.harvard.edu/darkness-in-the-city-of-light-the-paris-attacks-and-urban-security-in-europe/
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