Buzz
Note: This article was drafted on November 12 and intended for publication on November 14. In response to the heartbreaking events in Paris on November 13, we have revised the content accordingly.
Since the events of 9/11, no threat has dominated the Western consciousness as intensely as the fear of terrorism. Gallup reports that more than half of Americans are deeply concerned about a terrorist attack, with nearly a third doubting the government’s ability to safeguard them. News outlets rarely miss a day without mentioning extremism.
Despite this widespread concern, our understanding of terrorism may not be entirely accurate. In reality, many of us hold significant misconceptions about the true nature of modern terrorism.
10. Several of the World’s Largest Terror Organizations Have No Ties to Islam
In the annals of terrorism, few groups have rivaled the size and financial resources of ISIS. The caliphate stands as the wealthiest terror organization globally, with Hezbollah, another Islamist extremist group, ranking second. However, not all major terror groups are linked to Islam; some operate entirely outside religious influence.
A prime example is the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Recognized as a terrorist organization by the US, this Marxist-Leninist group identifies as atheist. In November 2014, Forbes Israel ranked it as the third-richest terror group worldwide, controlling nearly 30 percent of Colombia and boasting thousands of members.
This places FARC above both Al-Qaeda and Boko Haram in terms of size, and it hasn’t even reached its historical peak. During the early 2000s, FARC was nearly triple its current size and abducted an astonishing 3,000 individuals annually.
Recall Joseph Kony, the focus of Invisible Children’s viral campaign, Kony 2012? His Lord’s Resistance Army remains active in the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and southern Sudan. Listed as a terrorist organization by the State Department in 2001, this Christian rebel group has caused up to 100,000 deaths since 1987, surpassing Boko Haram in lethality.
In Japan, the successor to the notorious Aum Shinrikyo cult, responsible for a 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway that killed 12 and injured 5,500, maintains an active membership of approximately 1,300 and continues to grow annually. While Islam is often associated with terrorism, some of the world’s largest terror groups have no connection to Allah whatsoever.
9. The Majority of Terrorism Victims Are Not in the West
Watching events like those in Paris unfold on screen can make it feel as though the West is under constant threat. Combined with incidents like 9/11, 7/7, and the Madrid train bombings, it’s easy to believe that Western nations are the primary targets of global terrorism.
In reality, the West experiences far fewer terror attacks compared to other regions. From 2004 to 2013, the US faced 131 attacks, with 20 resulting in fatalities. France endured 47 attacks. Meanwhile, Iraq saw 12,000 attacks, 8,000 of which were deadly.
During the studied period, nearly half of all terror attacks and 60 percent of related fatalities occurred in just three nations: Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Following these were India, Nigeria, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
This isn’t to diminish the impact of attacks on the West. Events like the Paris attacks and 9/11 were undeniably devastating, affecting countless lives. However, the overwhelming majority of terrorism’s victims reside in the Middle East and Asia, not in the US or Europe.
8. A Significant Portion of European Terrorism Stems from Separatist Movements
The Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris marked the most severe terror incident in Europe since Anders Breivik’s massacre of 77 people in Norway. The November 13 attacks surpassed both in terms of casualties. However, the situation in Europe is more complex than it appears. Rather than being solely driven by Islamist or far-right extremism, many terrorist acts in Europe are linked to nationalist causes.
In 2014, more than half of all terror attacks in Europe were tied to Irish Republicanism rather than religion or right-wing extremism. According to Europol, 109 of the 201 attacks reported that year occurred in Northern Ireland, representing all attacks in the UK. Nationalist or separatist agendas also fueled terrorism in other regions. For instance, France’s FLNC, advocating for Corsican independence, carried out several rocket assaults on French police stations in 2013. Similarly, in 2015, five Macedonian officers died in confrontations with Albanian nationalist militants.
This isn’t to suggest that separatism is the sole cause of Europe’s challenges. Left-wing terrorism has also emerged in recent years. In Greece, Marxists killed two political rivals in 2013, while Italian anarchists dispatched numerous letter bombs. Some attacks have even been tied to niche issues. In France, a group of radical winemakers bombed a Socialist Party office over disputes concerning wine production. While ISIS has claimed responsibility for the November 13 attacks, they are just one of many groups active in Europe’s terror landscape.
7. Domestic Terrorists Pose a Greater Threat to Americans Than Jihadists
While 9/11 cemented jihadism as the deadliest terrorist threat to Americans in history, Islamic extremists have claimed 26 additional lives in the 14 years since, most notably during the Boston Marathon. However, jihadism isn’t the leading cause of extremist-related deaths in modern America. Over the same period, domestic terrorists have killed twice as many Americans as jihadists.
Since 9/11, 48 Americans have died due to right-wing extremism. For instance, in 2012, neo-Nazi Wade Michael Page targeted a Sikh temple, killing six and injuring three. In June 2015, Dylann Roof shot and killed nine people in a Charleston church. Additionally, members of the antitax Sovereign Citizens Movement have killed so many law enforcement officers that the FBI classifies them as a serious terrorist threat.
Some attacks have been even more shocking. In 2010, Andrew Joseph Stack crashed a small plane into an IRS office in a suicide mission, killing himself, one agent, and injuring 13 others. Such incidents have led many police departments to view right-wing terrorism as a significant danger. A 2015 survey of 382 US law enforcement agencies revealed that 74 percent ranked antigovernment violence as the top threat in their areas, compared to 39 percent for “Al-Qaeda–inspired” violence.
6. Left-Wing Extremists Are Responsible for the Most Nonlethal Attacks
Left-wing ideologies are seldom linked to contemporary American terrorism. In the 1970s, groups such as Weather Underground targeted the US State Department with bombings. Today, left-wing terrorism is so uncommon that articles speculate on its apparent disappearance.
The truth is, it never vanished. During the first decade of the 21st century, the organization responsible for the most attacks on US soil wasn’t Al-Qaeda or a far-right faction. It was the ecoterrorist group Earth Liberation Front (ELF).
From 2001 to 2011, ELF carried out 50 separate attacks—more than all other active terror groups combined. Their methods typically involved incendiary devices that ignited massive fires, resulting in millions of dollars in damages. Despite their extensive campaign, ELF caused no fatalities, as they intentionally avoided loss of life. Nonetheless, their high activity level earned them a spot on the FBI’s terrorism watch list.
The only other group with a comparable number of attacks was the Animal Liberation Front, a related organization known for similar nonlethal firebombings. Together, their actions signaled a resurgence of left-wing terrorism in America.
5. Most US Terrorism Is Perpetrated by Individuals, Not Organized Groups
Names like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and FARC dominate the history of terrorism, evoking fear worldwide. However, in the US, terrorist acts are seldom executed by organized groups. Data from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) reveals that nearly every domestic terror incident is the work of lone individuals.
A study of 60 separate attacks by the SPLC found that approximately 75 percent were planned and carried out by a single person without any known accomplices. When the definition of “lone wolf” was expanded to include pairs acting independently, it accounted for 90 percent of all incidents.
The concept of “leaderless resistance” emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s to prevent authorities from tracking potential attackers. After Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, killed 168 people with just one accomplice, lone wolf attacks surged. Between 1995 and 2011, they represented one-third of all attacks, with their prevalence growing in subsequent years (explaining the higher percentage in the SPLC study post-2009). Today, organized terror groups in the US are nearly extinct.
4. Terror Attacks in the US Are Becoming Less Frequent
The peak of terrorism in the US, in terms of the number of attacks, occurred in 1970 with over 450 recorded incidents. This was the era when the Weather Underground was most active, Puerto Rican separatists were highly active, and the Jewish Defense League carried out bombings. No subsequent year has come close to matching this level of activity. In fact, terrorism has been in a sharp decline since then.
While 1970 was exceptional, the 1970s overall experienced a high frequency of attacks, with at least 50 incidents annually. By the 1990s, the number of attacks rarely exceeded this figure. Today, the annual count of terror incidents is closer to zero than to 50.
In summary, the frequency of terrorist incidents in the US is decreasing, even though it may seem like we hear about them more often. Fatal attacks also reached their peak in the early 1970s. However, due to mass-casualty events like 9/11, the highest number of annual fatalities occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
3. 9/11 Was Not the Largest Attack Ever Planned
The 9/11 attacks remain unmatched in modern history in terms of lives lost, injuries, economic devastation, and the lasting trauma inflicted on a nation. Nearly 3,000 people perished, and many who were at Ground Zero continue to suffer from related illnesses. However, other planned attacks could have surpassed 9/11 in scale had they succeeded.
Within the US, one plot nearly eclipsed the devastation of 9/11. On April 22, 1997, four KKK members were apprehended for planning to bomb a gas refinery near Fort Worth, Texas. Authorities estimated the attack could have killed up to 30,000 people—nearly 10 times the death toll of 9/11. The plot was thwarted when the local Klan leader lost his nerve and informed the FBI.
Internationally, other catastrophic attacks were narrowly prevented. In 1993, Japan’s Aum Shinrikyo cult released a cloud of anthrax over Tokyo, threatening nearly 7,000 residents. Fortunately, the cult accidentally used a vaccine strain that was harmless to humans.
Two years later, the same group attempted to detonate cyanide bombs on Tokyo’s subway system. Authorities warned that a single successful explosion could have claimed 10,000 lives. While the history of terrorism is grim, it’s sobering to consider how much worse it could have been.
2. Promoting Religion or Ideology Is Only One Aspect
When examining why terrorists target innocent lives, two primary perspectives emerge. One suggests terrorists are inherently evil and derive pleasure from causing harm. The other argues they use violence to propagate an ideology or religion. While this holds some truth, research reveals it’s a smaller aspect of the terrorist mindset than commonly believed. Many terrorists are driven by surprisingly trivial motives.
A study at Ohio State University analyzing 52 Islamic extremists who targeted the US found that revenge was the dominant motive. Rather than pursuing religious objectives, most sought to retaliate against America for its support of Israel or expressed anger over conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
A University of Michigan study took this further, asserting that many terrorists, typically young men, join for reasons like seeking adventure, camaraderie, status, or romantic relationships.
This isn’t to trivialize the gravity of terrorism or the need to understand a group’s stated objectives. Rather, it highlights the importance of considering the broader historical context and the personal motivations of individuals within terrorist organizations.
1. Research Indicates Terrorism Is Ineffective
Beyond the decreasing frequency of attacks, another fact offers a glimmer of hope regarding terrorism: studies indicate it rarely achieves its aims. Rather than securing concessions, indiscriminate attacks on civilians typically weaken the terrorists’ cause and fail to deliver their desired outcomes.
A 2009 study from George Mason University analyzed 457 terrorist campaigns since 1968 and found that no extremist group succeeded in seizing control of a state. Moreover, 94 percent of these groups failed to accomplish even one of their stated objectives.
While the study is somewhat outdated, one might argue that ISIS has defied this trend by establishing a brutal, semi-functional state in the Middle East.
However, the broader conclusion remains valid. Despite the IRA’s prolonged conflict, Northern Ireland remains part of the UK. Right-wing militias, despite their violent campaigns, have failed to incite a revolution or topple the US government. Even FARC, which nearly destabilized Colombia in the late 1990s, is now considering disarmament. Far from being an effective strategy, terrorism generally leaves its perpetrators no closer to achieving their goals.
