TERRORISM AND IMMIGRATION

Terrorism in the United States

The terrifying event that occurred on September 11, 2001 is an example of what the world had been warned about many times, “TERRORISM”. In 1998, for example, the U.S. government told American citizens that they were potential targets for a terrorist group joined by the now infamous Osama bin Laden (Eland, 1998). However, many did not think any terrorist would be capable of the tragedy that leveled the World Trade Center and took many thousands of human lives. Americans thought they could not be touched, especially on their own turf.

While it may be that organizations involved with Bin Laden that are in the United States, and have been for years, there are other groups that U.S. citizens may not be aware of. Many have probably forgotten The Order of the Rising Sun. Members of this group, in 1972, possessed thirty to forty kilograms of bacteria that they planned to put into the American water supply (Yonah, 1999). The nation is a main target for both national and international terrorists. There are numerous foreign groups and governments that target U.S. For example, Libya, Iraq and Iran in addition to groups from Germany and Palestine(Yonah, 1999). While most of the damage done by such organizations has been overseas, their presence is felt in the United States.

Almost all foreign terrorist organizations have caused a problem in the United States, in which the primary threats come from Middle East terrorist organizations (Emerson, 2000). The concept that the Middle East groups are more dangerous to the U.S., is not thought of as a prejudice comment. It is a concept that has been realized by both the FBI and CIA(Emerson,2000). The Middle Eastern and Islamic terrorist groups that have members in the United States include the Algerian Armed Islamic Group, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Palestinian group, the Egyptian group, Al Gamat Al Islamiya, the PKK, the Islamic party, and Al- Qaeda, which belongs to Osama bin Laden (Emerson,2000).

Al-Qaeda is the most dangerous in respect to U.S. interests. The group was formed by Osama bin Laden during the 1980s. In 1989, the organization stated it was their duty, and the duty of all Muslims, to kill U.S. citizens and all U.S. allies (2001). Like other groups, some of their plans were stopped such as the 199...

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...ble to freely move about the United States, whether they entered legally or illegally, supporting activities such as bombings, assassinations and other methods of destruction aimed at the Western world. The future likely holds a less trustworthy planet and one would guess that questionable people with questionable passports would be denied entry when they get to U.S. borders throughout the twenty-first century. Still, the fact that terrorists have been able to live in the United States unencumbered during the past decade or so is rather chilling.

References

Alexander, Y. (1999). Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century:

Threats and Responses. The World & I, 14, 80.

Eland, I. (1998, September 25). The U.S. Government Is

Endangering American Citizens. The Cato Institute.

[Online]. Available: http://www.cato.org/dailys/9-25-98.html

Emerson, S. (2000). INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM AND IMMIGRATION

POLICY:STEVEN EMERSON. Congressional Testimony, PG (Reprinted in http://www.elibrary.com. Original publisher not listed).

Terrorist Group Profiles. (2000). Dudley Knox Library:

Naval Postgraduate School. [Online]. Available:

http://web.nps.navy.mil/~library/tgp/tgp2.htm