- Dirk McQuigley's diary :: ::
The entire list may be seen here, but I will limit the scope of my diary to: attacks against American citizens; attacks on American soil; and major attacks abroad resulting in the loss of more than 50 people.
A similar list can be found on the website of the U.S. Army, under the heading of "Timeline of Terrorism", which covers the period from 1960 through 2006.
According to the State Department's Office of Historian, the first terrorist attack during this period specifically targeting an American citizen was the assassination of John Gordon Mein, the Abassador to Guatemala, who was gunned down by rebels in Guatemala City Aug. 28, 1968. Mein, killed only one block from the U.S. consulate was the first American Ambassador to be assassinated.
The pattern of terrorist attacks against Americans abroad for the next 13 years seemed to be limited to American diplomats and ancillary staff. These included the assassinations of the Ambassador to the Sudan in 1973 and the Ambassador to Cyprus a year later.
According to the State Department, January, 1975 marks the first Domestic terrorist attack although several sources indicate the first attack that the FALN of Puerto Rico claimed credit for took place three months earlier.
All told, FALN and other factions from Puerto Rico conducted a terror campaign which were responsible for:
... resulted in 72 actual bombings, 40 incendiary attacks, 8 attempted bombings and 10 bomb threats, resulting in 5 deaths, 83 injuries, and over $3 million in property damage.
Similar to the FALN, the existence of the Macheteros became publicly known when the group sent a communiqué to the United Press International in which they claimed credit for the death of a Puerto Rican police officer on August 24, 1978. The goals of the Macheteros were complete autonomy and sovereignty for Puerto Rico. In order to achieve their goals, the Macheteros conducted an armed struggle against the United States Government, mainly represented through attacks on military and police, in several cases causing the death of U.S. servicemen. In a January 1981 attack, Macheteros commandos infiltrated a Puerto Rican Air National Guard base and blew up 11 planes, causing approximately $45 million in damages.
Other diplomats murdered in the 1970's included the Ambassadors to Lebanon and Afghanistan.
There was a terrorist attack in the United States in September of 1976, directed against the former Foreign Minister of Chile, Orlando Letelier, which also killed his American assistant in a car bombing in Washington, D.C.
A major terrorist attack at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, killed more than 250 people and wounded 600 more, in Nov. 1979.
What is noteworthy about this attack is the involvement of the Bin Laden family:
At the time, the Grand Mosque was being renovated by the Saudi Binladin Group in what was the most prestigious construction contract in the Islamic world. An employee of the organization was able to report the seizure to corporate headquarters before the insurgents cut the telephone lines. A representative of the Binladin Group was thus the first to notify King Khalid.
Suspicion of the Bin Laden family playing a role in those attacks continues to this day:
In the 1960s Osama bin Laden's half-brother Mahrous bin Laden joined a rebel group opposed to the Saudi government. With his assistance, in 1979 the rebels smuggled weapons into Mecca, Saudi Arabia, using trucks belonging to the bin Laden family company. 500 rebels then seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca (sic), Islam's holiest mosque in its holiest city. They try, but fail, to overthrow the Saudi royal family. All the men who took part are later beheaded except Mahrous. Eventually he is released from prison because of the close ties between the bin Ladens and the Saudi royal family. Mahrous apparently abandons the rebel cause and joins the family business. He is eventually made a head of the Medina branch and a member of the board. He will still hold these positions on 9/11. But a newspaper reports that "his past [is] not forgiven and most important decisions in the [bin Laden family business] are made without Mahrous' input."
Steven Coll, author of Ghost Wars, reported that weapons were brought to the mosque BEFORE the takeover. Because Bin Laden company trucks were common in the mosque, which had been under renovation since 1973, there presence did not arouse any suspicion.
More suspicion of Bin Laden family involvement centers around the crackdown on secular images and the imposition of Sharia law in Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the attacks. The theory is that the Bin Laden family provided plans of the mosque to the Royal Saudi Family in exchange for the strict adherence to Sharia law, which continues to this day in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In the 1980's, attacks against Americans abroad intensified, beginning with the brutal rape and murder of three nuns and a lay missionary inEl Salvador.
The [1993] U.N.-sponsored report of the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador concluded that the abductions were planned in advance and the men responsible had carried out the murders on orders from above. It further stated that the head of the National Guard and two officers assigned to investigate the case had concealed the facts to harm the judicial process. The murder of the women, along with attempts by the Salvadoran military and some American officials to cover it up, generated a grass-roots opposition in the U.S., as well as ignited intense debate over the Administration’s policy in El Salvador. In 1984, the defendants were found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison. The Truth Commission noted that this was the first time in Salvadoran history that a judge had found a member of the military guilty of assassination.
There were three significant terrorist attacks in the 1980'son airliners, with each killing several hundred passengrs. In 1985, an Air India jet exploded over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 329 aboard. In 1987, North Korean agents killed 118 on Korean Airlines Flight 858 . Three years later, Pan AmFlight 103 blew up near Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all of 259people on board. Eleven more people were killed in Lockerbie, by debris from the wreckage.
The rest of the 1980's was marked by increased attacks on American citizens abroad, especially military personnel:
Bombing of U.S. Embassy in Beirut, April 18, 1983: Sixty-three people, including the CIA’s Middle East director, were killed and 120 were injured in a 400-pound suicide truck-bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
Naval Officer Assassinated in El Salvador, May 25, 1983: A U.S. Navy officer was assassinated by the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front.
Bombing of Marine Barracks, Beirut, October 23, 1983: Simultaneous suicide truck-bomb attacks were made on American and French compounds in Beirut, Lebanon. A 12,000-pound bomb destroyed the U.S. compound, killing 242 Americans, while 58 French troops were killed when a 400-pound device destroyed a French base. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility.
Naval Officer Assassinated in Greece, November 15, 1983: A U.S. Navy officer was shot by the November 17 terrorist group in Athens, Greece, while his car was stopped at a traffic light.
Kidnapping of Embassy Official, March 16, 1984: The Islamic Jihad kidnapped and later murdered Political Officer William Buckley in Beirut, Lebanon. Other U.S. citizens not connected to the U.S. government were seized over a succeeding two-year period.
Restaurant Bombing in Spain, April 12, 1984: Eighteen U.S. servicemen were killed and 83 people were injured in a bomb attack on a restaurant near a U.S. Air Force Base in Torrejon, Spain.
TWA Hijacking, June 14, 1985: A Trans-World Airlines flight was hijacked en route to Rome from Athens by two Lebanese Hizballah terrorists and forced to fly to Beirut. The eight crew members and 145 passengers were held for seventeen days, during which one American hostage, a U.S. Navy sailor, was murdered. After being flown twice to Algiers, the aircraft was returned to Beirut after Israel released 435 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners.
Attack on a Restaurant in El Salvador, June 19, 1985: Members of the FMLN (Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front) fired on a restaurant in the Zona Rosa district of San Salvador, killing four Marine Security Guards assigned to the U.S. Embassy and nine Salvadorean civilians.
Berlin Discothèque Bombing, April 5, 1986: Two U.S. soldiers were killed and 79 American servicemen were injured in a Libyan bomb attack on a nightclub in West Berlin, West Germany. In retaliation U.S. military jets bombed targets in and around Tripoli and Benghazi.
Servicemen’s Bar Attack, December 26, 1987: Catalan separatists bombed a Barcelona bar frequented by U.S. servicemen, resulting in the death of one U.S. citizen.
Kidnapping of William Higgins, February 17, 1988: U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel W. Higgins was kidnapped and murdered by the Iranian-backed Hizballah group while serving with the United Nations Truce Supervisory Organization (UNTSO) in southern Lebanon.
Naples USO Attack, April 14, 1988: The Organization of Jihad Brigades exploded a car-bomb outside a USO Club in Naples, Italy, killing one U.S. sailor.
Attack on U.S. Diplomat in Greece, June 28, 1988: The Defense Attaché of the U.S. Embassy in Greece was killed when a car-bomb was detonated outside his home in Athens.
Assassination of U.S. Army Officer, April 21, 1989: The New People’s Army (NPA) assassinated Colonel James Rowe in Manila. The NPA also assassinated two U.S. government defense contractors in September.
This is quite the long list and I haven't yet mentioned the first World Trade Center attacks on Feb. 23, 1993 or the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 20, 1995.
Other attacks against Americans and in the U.S. BEFORE Sept. 11, 2001, include:
Khobar Towers Bombing, June 25, 1996: A fuel truck carrying a bomb exploded outside the US military's Khobar Towers housing facility in Dhahran, killing 19 U.S. military personnel and wounding 515 persons, including 240 U.S. personnel. Several groups claimed responsibility for the attack.
Abduction of US. Citizen by FARC, December 11, 1996: Five armed men claiming to be members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) kidnapped and later killed a U.S. geologist at a methane gas exploration site in La Guajira Department.
Empire State Building Sniper Attack, February 23, 1997: A Palestinian gunman opened fire on tourists at an observation deck atop the Empire State Building in New York City, killing a Danish national and wounding visitors from the United States, Argentina, Switzerland, and France before turning the gun on himself. A handwritten note carried by the gunman claimed this was a punishment attack against the "enemies of Palestine."
Murder of U.S. Businessmen in Pakistan, November 12, 1997: Two unidentified gunmen shot to death four U.S. auditors from Union Texas Petroleum Corporation and their Pakistani driver after they drove away from the Sheraton Hotel in Karachi. The Islami Inqilabi Council, or Islamic Revolutionary Council, claimed responsibility in a call to the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. In a letter to Pakistani newspapers, the Aimal Khufia Action Committee also claimed responsibility.
U.S. Embassy Bombings in East Africa, August 7, 1998: A bomb exploded at the rear entrance of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, killing 12 U.S. citizens, 32 Foreign Service Nationals (FSNs), and 247 Kenyan citizens. Approximately 5,000 Kenyans, 6 U.S. citizens, and 13 FSNs were injured. The U.S. Embassy building sustained extensive structural damage. Almost simultaneously, a bomb detonated outside the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 7 FSNs and 3 Tanzanian citizens, and injuring 1 U.S. citizen and 76 Tanzanians. The explosion caused major structural damage to the U.S. Embassy facility. The U.S. Government held Usama Bin Laden responsible.
Hutu Abductions, March 1, 1999: 150 armed Hutu rebels attacked three tourist camps in Uganda, killed four Ugandans, and abducted three U.S. citizens, six Britons, three New Zealanders, two Danish citizens, one Australian, and one Canadian national. Two of the U.S. citizens and six of the other hostages were subsequently killed by their abductors.
Attack on U.S.S. Cole, October 12, 2000: In Aden, Yemen, a small dingy carrying explosives rammed the destroyer U.S.S. Cole, killing 17 sailors and injuring 39 others. Supporters of Usama Bin Laden were suspected.
The State Department did not count the terrorist activities of Eric Rudolph or James Kopp, even though they were both considered terrorists by law enforcement.
If one were to only count terrorist atacks against Americans or ON American soil BEFORE 9/11, the death toll would be more than 700 Americans and at least 500 foreign nationals murdered by terrorists.
These are very significant numbers that should never be discounted, especially with those idiots like Cheney that think no one was ever a victim of terrorism before that September morning in New York and Washington. At minimum it is historical amnesia, but at worst, this is American exceptionalismrun amuck.
The basis most commonly cited for American exceptionalism is the idea that the United States and its people differ from other nations, at least on a historical basis, as an association of people who came from numerous places throughout the world but who hold a common bond in standing for certain self-evident truths, like freedom, inalienable natural and human rights, democracy, republicanism, the rule of law, civil liberty, civic virtue, the common good, fair play, private property, and Constitutional government; and that through these values America diverged from the rest of the world at least during its early years.
The term is also used by United States citizens to indicate that America and Americans have different states of mind, different surroundings, and different political cultures than other nations, and still others use it to refer to the American dream and the slow yet continuous journey of the people of the United States, sharing a nation and a destiny, to build a more perfect union, to live up to the dreams, hopes, and ideals of its founders, so that "these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this Earth."
So the next time, a wing nut tries the hackneyed argument that 9/11 changed everything, you can effectively counter that by citing some or all of the above examples You can even mention that infamous Aug. 6, 2001 PDB "Bin Laden Determined to Attack U.S." but the Bush Administration decided to blow that off until after the fact.
Even if you limited to just the attacks on American soil, the changed everything argument is absurd because it ignores the 1993 WTC attacks which ultimately led to 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing, which should have changed everything but didn't.
The other thing you could point out to torture fans is that the Bush Administration's ability to protect us from terrorist attacks AFTER 9/11 was a meager one week — those anthrax attacks that they have convenient amnesia — and not the eight years that Cheney and the rest of his goons are claiming.
A version of this diary appears on Daily Kos under the byline of Dirk McQuigley.
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