Terrorism and Mass Violence

According to the Department of State, there were 208 acts of international terrorism in 2003, which represents a 42 percent drop since 2001 when there were 355 attacks. (Bureau of Public Affairs. 2004. Patterns of Global Terrorism, 2003. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State.)

Between 1998 and 2003 there were 4,465 casualties within North America as a result of international terrorism. (Ibid.)

In 2003, 625 persons were killed in acts of terrorism. Included in this figure were 35 United States citizens. A total of 3,646 persons were wounded during terrorist attacks in the same year. (Ibid.)

The greatest number (80) of terrorist attacks in 2003, leaving 222 persons dead and 1,205 persons wounded, occurred in Asia. There were 67 terrorist attacks in the Middle East in 2003, leaving 331 persons dead and 1,492 persons wounded. (Ibid.)

In the United States, most terrorist incidents have involved small extremist groups who use terrorism to achieve a designated objective. (Federal Emergency Management Agency. Backgrounder: Terrorism. www.fema.gov/hazard/terrorism/index.shtm. Accessed September 30, 2004.)

Between 1991 and 2001, 74 terrorist incidents were recorded in the United States. During this time period, an additional 62 terrorist acts being plotted in the U.S. were prevented by U.S. law enforcement. (Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2004. Terrorism 2000/2001. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice.)

For every successful terrorist attack mounted in the United States during this time period, nearly 20 (19.83) anti-U.S. attacks were carried out around the world. (Ibid.)

The FBI recorded eight terrorist incidents and one terrorist prevention in the United States and its territories in 2000. Each was perpetrated by domestic special-interest terrorists, specifically animal rights and environmental extremists. (Ibid.)

The FBI recorded 14 terrorist incidents and two terrorist preventions in the United States and its territories in 2001. Twelve of the 14 incidents were carried out by domestic terrorists. One incident, the attack on September 11, was perpetrated by international terrorists. The other incident, an unsolved series of anthrax-tainted letters sent through the U.S. postal system, has not been determined as domestic or international in nature. The two terrorist plots prevented by U.S. law enforcement in 2001 were being planned by domestic extremists. (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.)

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 17 sailors were killed and 39 were injured. (Ibid.)

An investigation of the physical injuries directly associated with the blast in Oklahoma City found that of the 842 persons injured: 168 died; 442 people were treated in area hospitals, of which 83 were admitted and 359 were treated in emergency rooms and released; and 233 people were treated by private physicians. (City of Oklahoma City. 1996. Final Report: Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building Bombing, April 19, 1995. Stillwater, OK. Fire Protection Publications. Oklahoma State University.)

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, D.C.: 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 five 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. Crime in the United States, 2001. Washington, D.C.: 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 11th Terrorist Attacks. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice.)

A national survey of stress reactions three-to-five 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 loved 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).)

A study of the psychological effects of the September 11th attack on New York City schoolchildren, conducted six months after the attacks, estimated that 10.5 percent of children in grades four through 12 suffered from PTSD. Estimates of other psychological disorders that developed include: 8.4 percent with major depression; 10.3 percent with generalized anxiety; 15 percent with agoraphobia; 12.3 percent with separation anxiety; 10.9 percent with conduct disorder; and 5.1 percent with alcohol abuse (grades nine through 12 only). (Applied Research & Consulting LLC and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. 2002. Effects of the World Trade Center Attack on NYC Public School Students. New York, NY: The Board of Education of the City of New York.)