Domestic Terrorism

Democratic, free, open societies like the United States are soft targets for terrorism. They are also the kind of societies most at risk of infringing on civil liberties with counterterrorism. Security at the expense of liberty is no security at all. It leads to oppression, minority disenfranchisement, corruption, bribery, voter fraud, organized crime, militarization, and a diminished quality of life for everyone. We've seen this pattern time and time again with what used to be some of the world's most shining places -- Ceylon, Lebanon, Uruguay, e.g. -- turned completely into war zones where regimes retain law and order at any cost. Converting democracies into dictatorships is, in fact, one of the goals of (Marighella-style) terrorism -- getting governments to show their repressive, true colors. "History teaches that grave threats to liberty often come in times of urgency... when the scourge is manifest... and the need for action is great" (Thurgood Marshall)

Democracies are not perfect. They are fragile entities and experiments in progress. Democracy involves a game of numbers in which everyone is assured equal footing at the starting line (with fundamental freedoms), and then interest groups of like-minded people fight peacefully for their privileges to become rights. These fought-for rights are called liberties. They are always acquired, not bestowed, easily lost, and there are at least five types:

The United States is not perfect. In fact, it's not even a true democracy. It's a constitutional republic (which means the constitution is used to manage the always-imperfect balance between civil rights and due process versus security and citizen safety). People don't have a direct vote on each and every issue. They elect political representatives who make the hard decisions, and the battle for newfound freedoms and liberties has always been a battle for access and opportunity involving the "hearts and minds" of politicians. Unfortunately, this pluralistic and sometimes amorphous situation lends itself to partisanship, paranoia, conspiracy, and the vested interests of a few who inflate every national security crisis into the need for some overly repressive response. During a terrorism crisis, a "do anything, do something" knee-jerk response is understandable, but there may be no need for haste in expanding new laws, new agencies, or new government powers. By all accounts, American national security was largely successful at regularly preventing more than half of all terrorist attacks, including international terrorist attacks, resulting in a 25-year low during the 1990s (CDT figures). In any hasty counterterrorism reaction, there's a tendency for the principal weapons to be those which restrict civil liberties, expand surveillance, seize and interrogate anyone, and act aggressively against threats and symbols.

While the U.S. has been relatively free from terrorism, other nations in the world have not, and other nations in the world have carried out a wider variety of counterterrorism programs. In the quest for maintaining law and order, some nations have trampled upon the established rights and liberties of their citizens. A list of these excessive countermeasures would include at least the following:

While at the same time infringing upon civil liberties, democracies always seem to fight terrorism with one hand tied behind their backs. That's because they must engage in adversarial review, and justify their actions to the legislature, the courts, and public opinion. The ultimate purpose of all this openness is to prevent two things from happening -- (1) the betrayal of democratic principles (not staying the course and remaining a democracy); and (2) the recruitment of fresh recruits for terrorism that comes from the misguided rounding up and punishing of innocent civilians. Yet, democracies must fight terrorism as a desirable, if not necessary duty. Too many failed states, civil war zones, and safe havens or sactuaries for nihilism exist, and each of them (or all of them) represent a threat to popular forms of government. Sometimes, fighting terrorism involves using extreme means that are foreign to the principles of democracy (e.g., assassination), but are seen as the lesser evil. "Liberal states cannot be protected by herbivores" (Ignatieff 2004). What's important is that democracies who engage in extreme measures ultimately stay the course, and remain democracies, true to their founding principles. Nowhere is this friction point better found than in the way democracies deal with their own "homegrown" problem -- the problem of domestic terrorism.

The FBI conducts about 10,000 terrorism investigations a year, and of that number, only about 200-400 cases are prosecuted a year. Prosecutions for international terrorism (kidnapping, hostage taking) run steady at about 50 a year, although they jumped to 200 in 2001. Prosecutions for domestic terrorism (explosives or weapons, threatening the President) fluctuate and seem to have been increasing in recent years, from 147 in 1997, 166 in 1998, 187 in 1999, 194 in 2000 and 259 in 2001 (TRAC figures). Convictions rates are more certain for domestic terrorism than international terrorism. Only one in ten domestic terrorists escape an average seven-year prison sentence. The Justice Department’s Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) defines domestic terrorism as groups or individuals who seek to further their political goals wholly or in part through activities that involve force or the threat of force. There is no foreign direction or foreign involvement.

Whereas in other parts of the world, species of domestic terrorists tend to be systemic, in the U.S., they're cyclic. Domestic terrorism can involve right-wing, left-wing, anti-government, pro-government, anti-tax, paramilitary, anti-abortion, anti-religious, anti-ethnic, and militia groups. America has it all, but for the most part, much of domestic counterterrorism in the U.S. is militia-watching. In dealing with right-wing domestic terrorism, often a good counterstrategy is simply to watch, and let them know you're watching (Laqueur 1999). This keeps them underground, and deprives them of publicity and a wider audience. It's often said that journalists are terrorists' best friends. Depriving terrorists of publicity acts as a deterrent. In most cases, the best counterterrorism strategy involves advanced computer technology and informants. However, domestic terrorists usually have an inordinate interest in cyberterrorism and weapons of mass destruction, so more active countermeasures are sometimes called for.

American domestic terrorism was at one time a left-wing phenomenon with groups such as the Weathermen and Black Panthers active in the 1960s and 70s. Before that, it was anti-Catholic during the 19th century, and then became anti-black and anti-Semitic in the 20th century. It has now evolved into diverse and divided right-wing extremism consisting of White Supremacists, Tax Rebels, Militia Patriots, Christian Patriots, Christian Reconstructionists, Anti-Abortionists, and Neo-Nazis. Such extremism has not been confined to the United States -- it exists worldwide in places like Germany and Italy. Israel even has right-wing terrorism. It embraces all the exotic forms of terror -- cyber (groups operate over 200 websites at last count), eco- (they hate the "tree huggers" but share a common vision), and WOMD (groups that have been caught preparing biological, chemical, or radiological weapons). The extreme right does not have a well-delineated party line, and is best seen as a breeding ground for terrorism since there is no command-and-control structure. They take leaderless resistance to new levels with self-made "phantom" cells which ensure the movement's survival even if everyone else in the group is eliminated or compromised. The one thing they have in common is HATE, although it is best to keep in mind that there are differences between hate groups and domestic terrorism groups. Domestic terrorists usually hate liberals, Democrats, lesbians, homosexuals, police, politicians, tax collectors, bankers, the media, anyone from Washington D.C., New York City or Los Angeles, anyone not like them, and anyone disagreeing with them.

AMERICAN LEFT-WING TERRORISM -- a series of movements that peaked and died in 1984, their targets being military facilities, corporate establishments, and the U.S. Capitol Building. A typical group was the United Freedom Front (UFF), composed of four white males and three white females who operated from 1981-1985. They raised funds by bank robberies from Connecticut to Virginia, murdering numerous policemen along the way. They lived under a variety of false identities and had a system of safe houses from Norfolk to Cleveland. They conducted extensive surveillance of their targets prior to an attack. Other leftist groups of the mid-1980s include the Red Guerrilla Resistance (4 bombings), the Armed Resistance Unit (3 bombings), and the Revolutionary Fighting Group (1 bombing). Their identities have never been known, and it is believed the different names may be one and the same group. An 80's spin-off of the old 1970s Weather Underground Organization (WUO, or weathermen) called the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee (PFOC) was active on the West coast. An East coast spin-off, more radical in ideology, adopted the name M19CP and was captured in Baltimore safe house after a Brinks robbery in 1984.

AMERICAN RIGHT-WING TERRORISM -- dominant since the mid-1980s, and strongly white supremacist and antigovernment, their enemies are Jews, Asians, Blacks, and other "mud people". A national headquarters exists in Hayden Lake, Idaho. A second and third headquarters is located in Arkansas (the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm) and in West Virginia (National Alliance). In regular contact with other hate groups, such as the Klan, Skinheads, and Neo-Nazis, a common bond is the desire to see a separate nation created out of five Northwestern states. They live in compounds where extensive paramilitary and survivalist training occurs. They view the U.S. government as ZOG (for Zionist Occupied Government). The most violent 1980s group was the Order (aka Silent Brotherhood), a spinoff of the Aryan Nations. In the late 1980s, another far-right faction emerged, dedicated to tax protest and revolt, targeting IRS agents and facilities. The two most common were the Sheriff's Posse Comitatus (SPC) and Arizona Patriots. They advocate nonpayment of taxes and regard Federal and State laws as unconstitutional. Like other groups, however, they hold paramilitary practice. One such group, the North Carolina White Patriot Party (WPP), was busted for engaging in such training, but re-emerged as the Southern National Front.

It is important not to confuse survivalists (those with a self-reliant bent who choose to prepare on their own or in a small group rather than rely on the government to help them survive) with terrorists. For far too long, the term "survivalist" has called to mind paranoid separatists or white supremacists who give up the conveniences of modern society, drop out of the government's databases and live in one-room, woodsy cabins like the Unabomber. There are many law-abiding paramilitary and survivalist individuals in America, and they are not domestic terrorists. A more useful, and yet controversial distinction to make between far right groups and individuals is in terms of their religious beliefs; i.e., religion or religious beliefs (controversial because religion cannot or should not be used in profiling, however much it is the best separator). The most extreme and non-religious element in this regard (which includes most neo-Nazis) is the direction of either atheist or pagan believes, which have their closest affinity with Nordic mythology. The names may change, but the story usually goes like this. Odin, chief of the Norse gods, is said to have called all warriors to racial purification from Valhalla, Viking heaven. Thor, god of thunder, is said to have reinforced Odin's call by slamming his hammer. Pure Odinism has no direct nor remote connection to Christianity, but many varieties of hybrids exist which are variants of Nordic Christianity, which adds the element of serving Christ by purifying and protecting the white race. Fascist groups which worship brute force tend to share some of the symbolism in Nordic mythology and its varieties.

Another typical extreme and non-religious belief is Creatorism, a hate religion that usually distinguishes skinheads from neo-Nazis. Creatorists believe the Creator left humanity on its own, with each race fending for itself, and that the idea of an always-loving God is a lie. They must therefore fight a racial holy war because that is what is expected from their god. Race is religion to a Creatorist. The White Man's Bible contains their mythology, which is based on a strange mixture of racism and herbal medicine. Some survivalists patterns might be similar, but are not generally dangerous unless some race-related holy war, or jihad, is involved. Certain forms of Islamic jihad mimic this form of Christian jihad, but is directed more specifically against non-believers and infidels who insult the religion.

Christian identity theology, popular among Aryan Nations and some Patriot and militia groups, claims that white people are the true Israelites. It is a variation of what was once called Anglo-Israelitism, and is perhaps the world's largest hate religion (with the possible exception of Black Hebrew Israelism which holds that African Americans are the true Jews and white people are descended from the devil). Christian identity holds that Jews originated from an illicit union between the devil and Eve, and nonwhites from animals or mud. It also posits that the pilgrims who came over in the Mayflower were descendants of the original Caucasian Israelites.

Klan theology is an American nativist belief in the natural inferiority of black people, based on the latter's descent from the curse of Noah's son Ham, which resulted in the black race. Shem is the founder of the Asiatic peoples and is inferior to Japheth, the father of white people. The Klan seeks to prevent the government from falling into the hands of blacks. They believe that racism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, and hatred of immigrants is both a religious and patriotic duty. Klan group activity is known primarily for its cross-burning signature characteristic.

Christian reconstructionism seeks to eliminate democracy and replace it with a theocratic elite that would govern by imposing an interpretation of Biblical Law. There would be no such things as labor unions, civil rights laws, public schools, or women allowed to work outside the home. Insufficiently Christian men would be denied citizenship, perhaps executed. Capital punishment would also extend to blasphemy, heresy, adultery, and homosexuality. This has been the theology of most anti-abortionists.

Freewheeling fundamentalism is a fiercely independent, highly patriotic, free thinking form of right-wing Christianity. It is a term coined by White (2002) to describe the religion of the Patriot movement. This would include the tax rebels and various militia. It involves taking what one wants or needs from established religion to justify certain social or political beliefs. Beliefs most often center upon fear or hate of centralized government (ZOG - Zionist Occupied Government) and conspiracies to destroy America's sovereignty (NWO - New World Order). Many of these groups oppose racism, and some claim they are not anti-Semitic. The so-called County movement, however, is interested in establishing free white-people zones in places like Idaho and Montana.

AMERICA'S HOMEGROWN TERRORISTS

Army of God -- a loose knit collection of Christian extremists who take their cue from Biblical interpretation of such passages as Joshua 5, and have been active since 1982 in the kidnapping and killing of doctors who work in abortion clinics as well as numerous firebombings of abortion clinics; serial bomber Eric Rudolph was the most well-known member of AOG, but his eventual 2003 capture in the hills of North Carolina did nothing to slow the group's increasing level of organization. The Army of God maintains walled compounds in North Carolina which propagandize about the "New World Order," believe the Holocaust was fictional, and decry race-mixing. There are close ties to the Church of Israel, a Christian Identity congregation in Missouri which espouses the belief that only white people are descended from the biblical Adam and Eve.

Creativity Movement -- the latest name for a cyberspace-intensive group formerly known as World Church of the Creator (creativity meaning white supremacy and racial holy war, RaHoWa), founded in 1973, and currently active in 22 states and 8 foreign countries, with murder, assault, and firebombing as trademarks, primarily on race-mixed couples and Jews; and like Klan groups, leave their propanganda on front yards, trying to appeal to disaffected Christians who might believe the Bible and parts of it (like the concept of Hell) was a Jewish conspiracy; publishes the White Man's Bible; active in Midwest states like Illinois (where leader Matt Hale is awaiting trial on contract murder) and currently headquartered out of Wyoming.

National Alliance -- America's largest and most well-organized white supremacy group that is anti-black, anti-Semitic, anti-gay, and affiliated with vanguard neo-Nazi (skinhead), Klan, and fascist groups; created in 1970 by its charismatic founder, William Pierce (who penned the Turner Diaries), out of disappointment in the 1968 presidential bid of Alabama governor George Wallace, splinter groups have been active for decades, including armored car heists, machine-gunning a Jewish talk show host, murder of suspected informants, and the well-known Timothy McVeigh bombing in Oklahoma City; headquartered in Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina with ties overseas, in the military, on college campuses, the music industry (Oi music, a genre of white power heavy metal), and stock car racing.

Aryan Nations -- an openly neo-Nazi, Hitler-worship group with little connection to prison gangs by the same name, headquarted in Idaho with subheadquarters in Ohio and Pennsylvania and founded in 1975 by charismatic leader Richard Butler and tied to many Klan and NA splinter groups; extremely militant survivalist ideology has led to random (or selective) murder (and intimidation) of Jews, immigrants who take jobs away from Americans, civil rights leaders, priests (suspected of pedophilia), and college professors (suspected of being too liberal); sending white powdery substances in letters is a trademark.

The role of heavy metal music: Oi music has its origins in a genre of racist, neo-Nazi skinhead music called Black Metal. There are other genres of heavy metal music that stoke terrorist sentiments, but Black Metal, especially when influenced by pagan themes (such as in the Norwegian band Mayhem, whose leader formed a group called Black Circle), is especially dangerous. Black Circle believes that Christianity should be violently expelled and replaced by a hybrid mixture of Satanism and paganism, and Black Circle has been blamed for many church burnings worldwide. Many European countries have banned post-1994 National Socialist Black Metal (NSBM as it's called) for its extremely racist, anti-Semitic, and violent content. The result of such music bans has done nothing except create a multi-million dollar underground, criminal music industry.

Controversies over profiling are abundant. There is no "right" way to use profiling effectively as a weapon in the war against terror. It may be counter-effective, who knows? Research on whether profiling "works" is incomplete, and serious thought ought to be carried out before contemplating the development of police-profiler-counter-terror experts. Too often in domestic terrorism, particularly, the most readily available profiling criterion is race or religion, and even though those might be the most salient factors, false impressions would reverberate throughout society that persons of certain religions or race were more criminal somehow. There's also quite a bit of controversy over what distinguishes right-wing extremism from its "fringe" elements. Some say it's the level of violence they're willing to engage in -- baby killing or nuclear devastation, for example. The more orthodox approach considers conspiratorial delusions and irrational spin-offs to be fringe, and by definition, you can't (or shouldn't) predict or profile anything that delusional and irrational. There's an abundance of literature on conspiracy theory by those who've tried, however (Robins & Post 1997; Knight 2001). There's also some literature on what kinds of attacks and weapons domestic terrorists would use (Laqueur 1999). It turns out that the most destructive kinds of weapons are NOT the ones that domestic terrorists would seek to use. Most groups (via most leadership) exercise some restraint by avoiding nuclear weapons that could kill hundreds of thousands, and most groups also generally avoid localized, biological weapons that could only kill hundreds. Body counts seem to be important to domestic terrorists, so there may exist a preferred range in the number of victims -- chemical agents that kill thousands, or possibly radiological "dirty bomb" weapons. Cyberterrorism is also a "natural" habitat for domestic terrorism since viruses and logic bombs can be set to detonate at certain times, perhaps a significant anniversary date for the group.

One common trait of the less extreme right is rugged individualism, of the kind that characterizes small-town Americans and farmers. Montana and Michigan are strongholds of this feeling. The tax rebellion movement, for example, is especially strong in the Midwest. Individualists see the U.S. government as an enemy for wasting money on welfare for people who should not be in America in the first place. They also believe any police official above the rank of local sheriff is under the control of a centralized government intent on taking away their freedoms and liberties. They may or may not advocate armed struggle, but they will most likely favor the idea of a militia, which is in the spirit of the Founding Fathers and the Constitution. They read and interpret the Constitution quite frequently, almost as frequently as the Bible. Their ranks include people from all social classes.

Far right extremists, on the other hand, have a strong streak of anti-intellectualism. Other than Nazism, it's been said the source of this is a reaction to the increasing bureaucraticization of American life. They blame minority overpopulation and loose immigration laws for creating a society of registration, permits, stickers, tests, queues, and answering machines. Rather than think how to work the system, they seek to destroy it, and simplify things by engaging in sporadic acts of offensive violence against minorities, foreigners, homosexuals, government, and big business. They genuinely believe the government is preparing concentration camps for them, with the guards most likely recruited from the ranks of L.A. gangsters. Their ranks are drawn from the working or lower middle class.

Fringe extremists see conspiracies everywhere, from secret messages on billboard signs to subliminal messages in contemporary music to the way produce is arranged at the grocery store. These are not "literal" conspiracies where there is an identifiable purpose and agency. These are the kind of unreal, metaphorical conspiracies that involve "a striking concurrence of tendencies, circumstances, or phenomena as though in planned accord" (Knight 2001). It is crackpot, do-it-yourself sociology involving delusions of persecution by unknown elements of a New World Order. They point to Ruby Ridge and Waco as evidence of the need to move violently against the government before the government moves violently against them and their families. Ironically, this extreme tends to have the most well-organized leadership structure, drawing their leaders from the ranks of fundamentalist preachers or former military officers. Members are drawn from the ranks of drifters.

Extremism almost always takes the form of preparatory or defensive measures. Weapons, food, tactics, logistics, identities, and bunkers are all laid out in advance. By 1997, it was estimated that there were some 600 fully-armed extremist groups waiting for the impending government takeover and race war that would begin in the year 2000 (Laqueur 1999). In this context, it's customary to talk about millenarianism (or chialism, which is the Greek derivative meaning the same thing) as a driving force of terrorism. Strictly defined, millenarianism is any belief in the Second Coming of Christ and establishment of His kingdom on earth as predicted in the Book of Revelation. Broadly defined, it refers to any prophecy about the immanent destruction of the present order and establishment of a new order. A millennium is a period of 1,000 years, and according to the Gregorian calendar, did not begin until January 1, 2001. Others believe Christ was born in 4 B.C., so the millennium started in 1997. Others predict the year 2033 (or maybe 2029, due to Dionysius' error) will hallmark the millennium, 33 years corresponding to the lifespan of Jesus. Yet others make calculation on the basis of the Islamic calendar (1420), Jewish calendar (5760), or Chinese calendar (4697).

Apocalypticism is the belief that the end of the world and of time are immanent, and that the signs of this are visible. In fact, the AntiChrist may be believed to be already among us. In Christianity, the Apocalypse is another name for what happens in the Book of Revelation, with close ties to other Books, such as Daniel and Ezekiel, and in some cases, is mostly an oral tradition. Apocalypticism is different from eschatology, which refers more broadly to God's divine plan for mankind. An apocalyptic vision, however, is kind of like a plan, or more accurately, an epiphany where one experiences a call to action, eliminates any gray area between good and evil, and is able to clearly identify one's opponent as pure and total evil. According to the vision of future events in Christian theology, the first thing that happens is the Rapture (God judges the dead and each and every household), followed by a 7-year Tribulation Period, and then a calling of all nations and people to a final battleground where the Battle of Armageddon occurs (Yahweh will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle - Zechariah 14:2). Shortly after the Battle of Armageddon, there is a Second Coming, another millenium, and then a New Heaven and New Earth. Each apocalyptic vision usually contains "signs" or "markings" of significant pre-cursor events, and variations of these can usually be found by denomination. According to Islamic theology, Sura 57 of the Koran can be read as an apocalyptic prophecy fulfilled in the Trade Center bombing. Respected Saudi theologians, like Sifr al-Hawali, and Abdullah Azzam, Bin Laden's (now dead) mentor and the founder of MAK (the predecessor to Al Qaeda), have nourished Islamic apocalypticism in the form of a cosmic battle that pits the warriors for truth against the agents of Satan and evil in this world.

The most dangerous aspect of apocalyptic vision is not that it makes a perfect terrorist indoctrination device, but that it promotes the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Every domestic terrorist captured by the FBI for dabbling in WOMD has said they were attempting to stockpile such weapons for the upcoming apocalypse. In 1994, there was an Ohio militia group captured with sizable quantities of bubonic plague cultures, and in 1995, a Minnesota Patriot group was preparing Ricin for use against law enforcement officials. If there is anything that can be called a Bible for the lunatic right fringe, it's a book called The Turner Diaries.

THE TURNER DIARIES: a 1978 millenarian novel by William Pierce, leader of the neo-nazi National Alliance, under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald, and regarded as the world's most controversial book. It is a fictional account of the activities of a racist, anti-Semitic underground group which comes to control the world through a series of terrorist acts. The book is a thinly-disguised how-to manual for blowing up FBI headquarters in Washington along with other national monuments and how to disrupt or destroy America's infrastructure. It describes how to forge money, engage in bioterrorism, and use atomic bombs on several East Coast cities, European cities, and all of Asia and Africa. Tim McVeigh's Oklahoma bombing, the Order's execution of a Jewish talk show host, and numerous other incidents, including the dragging death of a black man in Jasper were all linked to this book. In fact, the perpetrators said the book inspired them. A less widely read sequel is the book Hunter, by the same author, which describes the need to kill interracial couples and all law enforcement officers.

The existence of "Christian terrorists" in the U.S. is a phenomenon that smacks of heresy, and most Christians would probably take umbrage at juxtaposition of the words "Christian" and "terrorist." However, Muslims must feel the same way whenever they hear the term "Islamic terrorism." There are some remarkable similarities or parallels between Middle Eastern terrorism and domestic terrorism, not so much in a real but literary sense. In the Turner Diaries, for example, the book ends with a nuclear suicide mission into the Pentagon, the great "Houston bombings" occurring on September 11, and the number of dead in one mission almost matching exactly the number of 9/11 victims. The Order favors multiple simultaneous attacks, much like Al Qaeda. In fact, if one was to substitute "Islam" for "White Race" in the Turner Diaries, one would almost have Osama bin Laden's complete apocalyptic design of restoring the Islamic caliphate (Leighton 2004).

PROFILE OF ERIC RUDOLPH: At right is a 2005 AP photo of Eric after a successful court appearance where he avoided the death penalty with a plea agreement. As with all his court appearances, he only submitted his statement in writing. This one read: "The fact that I have entered an agreement with the government is purely a tactical choice on my part and in no way legitimates the moral authority of the government to judge this matter or to impute guilt." One is likely to infer that Eric is a stone-cold, remorseless psychopath, but he claims to be a devout Christian. Other statements: (1) "Abortion is murder, and when the regime in Washington legalized, sanctioned and legitimized this practice, they forfeited their legitimacy and moral authority to govern;" (2) "The lesbian nightclub attempted to force society to accept and recognize this behavior;" and (3) "I apologize for the Olympic Park bombing and did not intend to harm innocent civilians. It was an opportunity to shame the United States for its legalization of abortion. The goal was to knock out Atlanta's power grid and shut down the Olympics." In Florida, Eric's father died when Eric was 11, and the family moved to NC where Eric was homeschooled but attended a year at Western Carolina before joining the army where he was kicked out after a year for smoking marijuana. Afterwards, he grew marijuana and helped out his brother's carpentry business as he became increasingly paranoid and extremist.

There are two main impacts, beyond the toll of death and devastation: economic and psychological. Nations are sorely tempted to spend more fighting homeland terror than international terror. Doing both exceeds the capacities of most deficit spending wartime budgets. Following 9/11, the U.S. Congress allocated $60 billion, roughly five times the counterterrorism budget for previous years. Homeland security is expected to average $150 billion a year over the next decade, approximately half of the military's $345 million budget. The money will be spent on things like protecting nuclear power plants to building up federal vaccine stockpiles. The nation is most concerned about protecting its critical infrastructure from disruption and destruction. The eight critical infrastructures of the U.S. include the electric power system, gas and oil (storage and transportation), telecommunications, banking and finance, transportation, water supply systems, emergency services (including medical, police, fire and rescue) and continuity of government services. Threats to these infrastructures fall into two categories: physical threats to tangible property ("physical threats"), and threats of electronic, radio-frequency, or computer-based attacks on the information or communications components that control critical infrastructures ("cyber threats").

The psychological impact involves short-term and long-term trauma, especially in children, who are most vulnerable to WMD attacks, and nothing exposes the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of a national healthcare system like a campaign of domestic terrorism. Emergency rooms become overworked, vaccines run out, and decontamination teams are found in short supply. Stress and incident-related counseling become of paramount importance (see Lecture on Psychological Effects of Terrorism for information about the effects on victims and first responders too).

By far, however, the greatest threat of a war on terrorism is perhaps the loss of civil liberties. Wartime powers often erode them to the point where they cannot be regained. Protection against intrusive surveillance measures are difficult to win back because technology is put into place. Loosening of the rules of evidence is difficult to overcome because the legal system operates slowly by precedent. Now is the time to carefully scrutinize anything in the name of anti-terrorism. America, has, in the past, been able to reconcile the requirements of security with the demands of liberty, and it is important to have faith, but it is also important to have a healthy dose of skepticism.

Many public opinion polls are unreliable and unnecessary, but in the case of identifying tradeoffs between security and liberty, some are useful, and quite interesting, as are the opinions of Americans on international issues (see PIPA and/or its Americans and the World website for the recording and analysis of attitudes in this regard). Below are the results of some recent polls taken since 9/11 which focus on how fear can lead Americans to abandon, sacrifice, or tamper with civil liberties.

Americans willing to do the following:

77% Receive vaccination 70% Carry national ID card
33% Allow authorities to monitor e-mail & telephone

Source: Gallup Organization, June 11, 2002

Whether the government is doing its job:

67% Positive of way handled

Civil liberties willing to be infringed upon:

70% Approve creation of new Dept. of Homeland Defense
64% Approve allowing FBI to monitor libraries, churches and chat rooms
60% Say OK to give up some personal privacy to fight terrorism

Source: Washington Post-ABC News, June 11, 2002

In November 2002, the top-secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court handed the government broad new authority to wiretap phone calls, intercept mail and spy on the Internet use of ordinary Americans. FISA (the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act), as amended by the Patriot Act, now supports cooperation between intelligence and law enforcement agencies in establishing probable cause for the issuance of wiretaps against any American citizen suspected of aiding, abetting, or conspiring with others in international terrorism. In the past, restrictions had prevented criminal investigators and intelligence agents from sharing information.

It is much easier now for authorities to justify secret wiretaps and surveillance since probable cause under FISA represents a lower threshold of evidence based on a record of automatic approval for most warrant applications. Agents in the FBI's National Security Law Unit can also now use an electronic system to draft surveillance applications instantly. Citizens may never know who might be accessing their personal and business e-mails, their Internet usage, their medical and financial records, or their cordless and cellular telephone conversations.

Prototype computer monitoring systems such as those being developed at DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) would search for terrorists by probing through networked databases of "transactional" information. Such data mining projects make programs like DCS-1000, or Carnivore, seem antiquated. Such programs proactively search the Internet for terrorist plots in progress. They flag for instance, certain steps a terrorist might take -- cruising government websites on Monday, for example, followed by foreign emails on Tuesday, followed by looking up how to make explosives on Wednesday, etc. Such programs can be considered the Net cousin to Echelon, which monitors mobile phone traffic. Officials believe that terrorists use the Internet for many purposes ranging from recruitment and fund-raising to spreading propaganda and scouting out potential targets. Officials scour the Internet, looking for disguised or encrypted e-mails and statements on Internet discussion forums that drum up anti-Western sentiment, in some cases setting up so-called "honey pots" or bogus Web sites to attract the very people they are trying to monitor. Officials are also wise to the possibility that when terrorists think they are being monitored, they release chatter just to screw with people's minds.

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