Data sheet cases

Read through the information on this data summary sheet
(https://www.start.umd.edu/pubs/Overview%20of%20Terrorist%20Attacks%20in%20the%20US%201970-
2013_1.pdf (Links to an external site.)) . What aspects of the trends from the Global Terrorism Database
(described here) make intelligence and counterterrorism activities difficult? Why?
case 1
As described in the Global Terrorism Database, what makes intelligence and counterterrorism activities difficult
is that they are most times random. Most attacks are from nonaffiliated individuals. That is to say that these
could just be people from right off the street, they are not part of a bigger organization. Like the Wade Michael
Page’s assault at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin in 2012. There were 28 attacks in 2012 and 2013 from these
unaffiliated individuals. This article has narrowed the targets to 3 prominent locations. Locations that have been
frequented as targets for attacks. These 3 locations are: abortion-related targets, educational targets, and
government targets. What makes it even more difficult for intelligence or counterterrorism activities is that
individuals at these locations were not targeted except when it came to the governmental targets, where a
whopping 27% of attacks were intended for personnel, politicians, or public officials. Which makes it even
harder to track these attacks, much less, prevent them. The database also states that close to one-third of all
attacks were based around business targets, like banks/commerce and 23% were on retail businesses. What
makes it more difficult for intelligence and counterterrorism activities to track and predict terrorist attacks is that
it comes from random individuals that have no affiliation to any terrorist groups, which in turn makes it even
harder to predict or manage. Because the government already has eyes on these terrorist groups, it makes it
harder for them to act out without us knowing about it, but when someone random were to attack us, we would
not expect it.
case 2
While there are some patterns in the Global Terrorism Database that would theoretically make some aspects of
collecting intelligence and counterterrorism easier, one particular trend makes each of these significantly more
difficult. Between 2000 and 2013, the majority of terrorist attacks that occurred were undertaken by individuals
who were unaffiliated with any known terror groups or cells (Miller, 2014). Between 2012 and 2013, 12 out of
28 terror attacks were conducted by individuals with no group affiliation (Miller, 2014). When terrorists act on
their own accord without any sort of group, club, or gathering, their activities are significantly more difficult to
track.
An individual person has much more control over their own plans, thoughts, and speech – each of which would
be incrementally more likely to arouse suspicion as the number of participants in a terror group grows larger
(think ‘loose lips sink ships’). Intelligence gathering and counterterrorism agencies are going to have an
extremely difficult time tracking a single person due to heightened privacy and the security of individuality. A
single person can better manage their own activities, connections, and conversations than they can the
activities of other people. This makes it very difficult for intelligence and counterterrorism agencies to pinpoint
potential risks and prevent them before they happen when they are masterminded and conducted by a single
individual.
Miller, E. (2014, November). Terrorist Attacks in the US Between 1970 and 2013: Data from the Global
Terrorism Database (GTD). Retrieved November 08, 2020, from
https://www.start.umd.edu/pubs/Overview%20of%20Terrorist%20Attacks%20in%20the%20US%201970-
2013_1.pdf
case 3
Based on the aspects of the trends from the Global Terrorism Database, keeping the public, practitioners, and
policymakers safe is the main concern. The most frequently attacked type of target in the United States
between 1970 and 2013 was business targets. Many of these attacks were on banks/commerce, and some
were on retail stores. Most of the attacks were carried out by environmental and animal rights violent extremist
groups. Although, most of the attacks were carried out by individuals not known to be affiliated with a
perpetrator group as such. This makes finding the individual more complicated because no one knows exactly
who they are associated with or what their motive is for the attack. The issue is in that we cannot wait for
terrorists to attack and then respond. Intelligence has to prevent terrorist groups from gaining access to
technology. Although, that can be challenging when it is an individual who is not always associated to a group,
based on the Global Terrorism Database