More on the Boston Terrorist Attack
Following up an a quick post right after the attacks on April 15th, some further thoughts about this attack and terrorism in general.
Too many people I know think that terrorism in this country started with the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center (and the Pentagon, of course). A few remember the original attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, but they see that as almost a "prequel" to 9/11. A precious few can expand their horizons to the attack on the Marines in Lebanon in 1983, or possible go back to the first attack on a sporting event: the 1972 Munich Olympics.
But, as Max Boot explains in this Wall Street Journal piece, modern terrorism started in 1867 with the invention of dynamite. Indeed, the U.S. has seen its share of terrorist attacks going back to the 19th century.
While no one was ever tried for the 1920 crime, everyone believed it was yet another in a series of anarchist attacks, one of which took the life of any American President. Five days and one century before September 11, 2001, the assassination of the President of the United States by a terrorist shocked the nation and the world. On September 6, 1901 Leon Czolgosz, an admitted anarchist, shot President William McKinley with a concealed revolver at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. McKinley, mortally wounded, died eight days later.
One hears very little about the anarchist terrorists. It's another example of how little we study history anymore in this country. In spite of how much smarter we all believe we are these days, most people have managed to get through years of public schooling - and even some of the best private schooling - without learning very much. Ignorance of the past is but one striking example of our lack of education.
In any case, we would all benefit from a broader knowledge of terrorism and its impact on our society in the past. It would help us face our current threats with at least some basic level of understanding, possibly moving us beyond the knee-jerk reaction of looking for the nearest Arab to blame - not that it may not indeed turn out to an Arab. On the other hand, as Mr. Boot points out:
Too many people I know think that terrorism in this country started with the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center (and the Pentagon, of course). A few remember the original attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, but they see that as almost a "prequel" to 9/11. A precious few can expand their horizons to the attack on the Marines in Lebanon in 1983, or possible go back to the first attack on a sporting event: the 1972 Munich Olympics.
But, as Max Boot explains in this Wall Street Journal piece, modern terrorism started in 1867 with the invention of dynamite. Indeed, the U.S. has seen its share of terrorist attacks going back to the 19th century.
...the late 19th century saw the flowering of the first age of international terrorism, featuring such organizations as the Ku Klux Klan, the Irish Fenians, the Russian Nihilists and the anarchists who operated in both Europe and the Americas.The one that stood out for me after the Boston attacks was the bomb that exploded on Wall Street in 1920. A few minutes before noon, on September 16, 1920, near the intersection of Wall and Broad Street, right next to the headquarters of JP Morgan, roughly two hundred people were killed by another terrorist attack. Had the explosion occurred a few minutes later, thousands more would have been walking the street during lunchtime. Many, many more would have died. In Boston, had the explosions occurred earlier, many more would have died.
While no one was ever tried for the 1920 crime, everyone believed it was yet another in a series of anarchist attacks, one of which took the life of any American President. Five days and one century before September 11, 2001, the assassination of the President of the United States by a terrorist shocked the nation and the world. On September 6, 1901 Leon Czolgosz, an admitted anarchist, shot President William McKinley with a concealed revolver at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. McKinley, mortally wounded, died eight days later.
One hears very little about the anarchist terrorists. It's another example of how little we study history anymore in this country. In spite of how much smarter we all believe we are these days, most people have managed to get through years of public schooling - and even some of the best private schooling - without learning very much. Ignorance of the past is but one striking example of our lack of education.
In any case, we would all benefit from a broader knowledge of terrorism and its impact on our society in the past. It would help us face our current threats with at least some basic level of understanding, possibly moving us beyond the knee-jerk reaction of looking for the nearest Arab to blame - not that it may not indeed turn out to an Arab. On the other hand, as Mr. Boot points out:
...history suggests that it may be a while before the culprit or culprits behind the Boston bombing are caught, if indeed they ever are.In the end, I have to concur with Boot's closing remarks:
Meanwhile, we must do our best to make sure that the terrorists don't achieve their objective—to terrorize us. As the British said in World War II: Keep calm and carry on.
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