The "Terrorism" Echo Effect

Over the past decade, incidents of domestic terrorism have far exceeded those of transnational terrorism in the United States. Why is so little attention (comparatively) devoted to this documented problem? What are the implications of this issue?

Author: Jonathan B. Smith
March 27, 2005

Michigan State University 's School of Criminal Justice
Issues in Terrorism
Professor Robyn R. Mace, Ph.D.
Module 7: Domestic Extremism

Why has so little attention been devoted to domestic terrorism over the last decade?

Domestic terrorism has received significantly less attention vs. transnational terrorism in the US over the last decade; even though the incidents of domestic terrorism have far exceeded those of a transnational nature. I feel that there are five primary factors that have led to the nation's single minded focus upon transnational terrorism:

• History of Political Violence: The US has a long history of violence in the name of a political cause. As White noted, "until recently few scholars characterized this experience as 'terrorism.'" I believe that law enforcement has not embraced White's notion and continue to operate under "the old rules;" characterizing the majority of acts of domestic terrorism, as crime rather than incidents of terror.
• Dramatic Connotation of Terrorism: The term terrorism tends to evoke a far more emotional response than the crime moniker. As the Chinese Proverb states, "once bitten by a snake, you are even frightened by a rope that resembles a snake." I believe that law enforcement tends to be reluctant to use the terror label for domestic terrorism. White notes, "The irony of their efforts was that the FBI simply did not call much of their [domestic terrorism] work counterterrorism.
• Criminal vs. Political: White notes that the overwhelming majority of bombings are the result of individual crime vendettas and not political motivations. As a result, the majority of this type of vigilante terrorism is tagged as criminal vs. terrorist activity.
• Myopic View on the Beat: The first line of defense on domestic terrorist issues is the local police departments and first responders. Their duties are primarily focused upon tactical local issues and often fail to reveal the pervasive terrorist undertones of an individual criminal act, such as a burglary, bank robbery or even kidnapping. As the Chinese Proverb states, "the participant's perspectives are clouded while the bystander's views are clear."
• Force Multiplier Effects - Media: This issue was not covered in the text, but I believe that the media has played an important role in the allocation of resources and focus in the counterterrorism arena. The media has focused an incredible amount of attention on the risks and ills of transnational terrorism and comparatively little airtime to domestic terror issues.

What are the implications of this issue?

Americans have learned that they can no longer ignore terrorism, regardless whether it is vigilante, insurgent or transnational. I believe that unless the tenor of the domestic terror issues quickens and morphs into a more dangerous form of leaderless resistance, it will continue to be characterized more often as crime than terrorism. I do not believe that the mischaracterization of domestic terrorism as crime is necessarily harmful. I believe law enforcement officials have a duty to prudently use the word "terrorism" in their characterization of domestic criminal activity because of the great force multiplier effect that the word "terrorism" has by the very nature of the fear its use generates throughout the community.

Food for Thought

If international terrorism is a form of war, why is the US fighting it with the criminal justice system?

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