Terrorism and Mass Violence

Acts of international terrorism worldwide against United States’ citizens and property in 2002 included 66 bombings; 8 armed attacks; 2 kidnapings; and 1 barricade hostage. (Bureau of Public Affairs. 2003. Patterns of Global Terrorism, 2002. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State.)

The Department of State reported 199 international terrorist attacks in 2002. Twenty-six U.S. citizens died as a result of the terrorists attacks and 35 U.S. Citizens were wounded. (Ibid.)

The Department of State reported that 51 U.S. businesses; 4 governmental facilities; 10 diplomatic facilities; 2 military installations; and 18 other facilities were the targets of anti-U.S. terrorist attacks in 2002. (Ibid.)

Two hundred and seventy people were killed in 1988 in the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. (Centre for Defense and International Security. 1999. CDISS Database: Terrorist Incidents. Lancaster England: University of Lancaster.)

The World Trade Center was bombed for the first time in 1993 killing six people and injuring over 1,000. (Ibid.)

In 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was bombed, killing 168 people. (Ibid.)

Suicide bombers attacked United States Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998, killing 224 people including 12 Americans. (Ibid.)

The U.S.S. Cole was bombed in the port of Aden in Yemen in 2000, at which time 17sailors were killed and 39 were injured. (Ibid.)

Unofficial estimates place economic losses in the United States from the attacks on September 11th at $2 trillion. (International Information Programs. 2002. At-a-Glance: Global Terrorism. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State.)

There were 3,047 victims of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001: 2,175 males and 648 females died at the World Trade Center; 108 males, 71 females, and 5 unknown died at the Pentagon; and 20 males and 20 females died in the plane crash in Somerset County, PA. (Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2002. Uniform Crime Reports: Crime in the United States 2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Antiterrorism Emergency Reserve at the Office for Victims of Crime has assisted nearly 22,000 victims, crisis responders, and family members through state agencies and local programs. (Office for Victims of Crime. 2003. Meeting the Needs of the Victims of the September 11^th Terrorist Attacks. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)

A national survey of stress reaction 3-5 days after the attacks of September 11th found that 44 percent of adults reported one or more substantial symptoms of stress. Thirty-five percent of children had one or more symptoms of stress and 47 percent were worried about their own safety and that of love ones. (Schuster M., Stein,B., Jaycox, L., et. al. 2001. “A National Survey of Stress Reactions After the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks.” New England Journal of Medicine. 345. [1507].)