Foreign Terrorist in America: Five Years After the World Trade Center

• NCJ Number: 189852
• Author(s): Dale Watson
• Date Published: February 1998
• Length: 7 pages
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; US Dept of Justice
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Legislative Hearing/Committee Report
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded August 9, 2001

Annotation

This report focuses on the trends of terrorism and the capabilities of the government to counter terrorist attacks.

Abstract

One of the three trends identified as a result of the World Trade Center bombing was that loosely affiliated groups of like-minded extremists pose a real and significant threat to security and a particular challenge to law enforcement. These groups often form on a temporary, ad hoc basis; are not generally known to law enforcement; are not dependant on traditional state sponsors; and are free to operate on their own terms. One advantage to such a small membership, however, is lack of funding. Another trend was that an increasing number of terrorist organizations possessed a command of technology and had the expertise to use it for fund-raising, recruiting, and even operational planning. The last trend was that terrorism was perpetrated by individuals with a strong commitment to the causes in which they believed. An action in one location often brings reaction in another, although not necessarily a coordinated one. The web-like nature of terrorism underscores the need for vigilance in counteracting terrorist groups. Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has an enhanced capability to track the activities of foreign terrorist organizations maintaining a presence in this country. There are five traditional offensive ways through which the government fights terrorism: diplomacy, sanctions, covert operations, military options, and law enforcement action. The enactment of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) in 1996 has enhanced the ability of the government to respond to terrorist threats, providing the means to disrupt the ability of terrorist organizations to fund their destructive activities. The FBI has centralized many specialized operational and analytical functions in the Domestic Counterterrorism Center, which combats terrorism on many fronts. The FBI’s capabilities have also been enhanced by the expansion of Legal Attache-or Legat offices-around the world.