Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 7, 1993 TAG: 9303070272
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RUTH SINAI THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
IS TERRORISM COMING TO AMERICA?
Roughly half the world's terrorist attacks are directed at Americans, but only a handful have been carried out on U.S. soil.The United States has enjoyed almost blanket immunity from the terrorists who have bombed and caused havoc in Europe and South America for the past 20 years. But the bomb that tore into the foundations of the World Trade Center in New York showed Americans they were just as vulnerable.
Americans have taken for granted that they were safe from terrorism at home - and for good reason. Of the 557 terrorist attacks logged by the State Department in 1991, only five occurred in the United States.
"We've been very blessed in this country to be free of the kinds of terrorist acts that have gripped other countries," President Clinton said last Monday.
Yet 55 percent of worldwide terrorist attacks in 1991 were directed against Americans or American-owned property, according to the State Department. The year before, Americans were targeted in 42 percent of international attacks.
Why are Americans easier targets in Europe or South America than at home?
For Middle East-related groups, Europe is closer. It's where they have established clandestine networks, complete with safe houses, false documentation and escape routes. For groups like the Irish Republican Army or the Basque ETA, Europe is home. South American groups also operate at home, especially in Peru and Colombia, targeting Americans who work or travel there.
Americans are no strangers to violence. So why is the idea of five deaths in a terrorist attack - presuming the New York bombing was one - more unsettling than the reality of some 21,000 U.S. homicides each year?
"It's this innocence we have, of thinking these foreigners won't bring their battles here," said Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at the Rand Corp., a private California research center which often conducts government studies.
In other words, better the thugs we know than the ones we don't.
Fear of the unknown is a big part of the problem, experts say.
Parisians think nothing of having their handbags and briefcases checked for bombs when they enter buildings or stores. Londoners wouldn't hesitate to call a cop if they notice a suitcase left unattended in the subway.
Once, Americans were more likely to believe their civil liberties were being assaulted if someone asked to look in their bag - and probably would have ignored an unattended bag rather than call a policeman.
Not any more, security experts say.
The last time the specter of terrorism was raised in this country - when the FBI warned of possible Iraqi-sponsored attacks as the United States mobilized forces to expel Iraq from Kuwait - Americans took the precautions in stride.
Metal detectors were installed at airports that hadn't had them, more technicians were trained to operate those already in place, employees entering federal buildings had their bags checked, concrete barriers were erected outside government facilities.
"But it's very hard to maintain that level of security for very long, especially in such a big country as ours," said Clayton McManaway, a former State Department counterterrorism expert. "You heighten security, you heighten awareness, and then it lapses - until the next time."
With terrorism so rare in the United States, most experts doubt awareness of the threat will take root the way it has abroad.
"Why get people into a panic, nervous, upset for something that might not happen for another 20 years?" said Billie Vincent, a counterterrorism expert who designs international security systems.
He noted that the last large-scale terrorist attack in this country was a bomb left in a locker at LaGuardia airport in 1975, killing 11 people. The attackers were never caught.