Assassination is a tactic used by nearly all terrorist groups,
although far less frequently than other types of armed attacks.
Assassination, when used as a terrorist tactic, is the targeted killing
of a country’s public officials or individuals who represent the
political, economic, military, security, social, religious, media, or
cultural establishments. The killings can be motivated by ideology,
religion, politics, or nationalism. Most terrorist groups conduct
assassinations to eliminate enemies, intimidate the population,
discourage cooperation, influence public opinion, decrease government
effectiveness, gain media attention, or simply to exact revenge.
Simple terrorism-related assassinations can be
carried out with a minimum of personnel, training, or equipment, and
they are usually successful when aimed at public figures who are
protected least. An example of such an attack was the 2004 killing of
filmmaker Theo Van Gogh by a Dutch-Moroccan extremist in the
Netherlands. By contrast, assassination operations directed against
highly protected individuals, such as heads of state, are difficult and
costly. Although impressive when successful—such as the 2007 killing
of former Pakistan prime minister and party leader Benazir Bhutto—these
operations are rare and prone to failure. Similar to attacks on other
hard targets, they require extensive planning, financing, personnel,
training, and equipment.
There have been 26 incidents of
terrorism-related assassination attempts in the United States over the
past 100 years. The last events of this type were in 1990, when Jewish
Defense League founder Meir Kahane and Qur‘anic scholar and teacher
Rashid Khalifi were killed by extremists linked to foreign terrorism.
Only eight of these attacks may be directly or indirectly attributed to
foreign groups or state sponsors of terrorism. The majority of US
assassination attempts have been conducted by homegrown violent
extremists with little or no connection to foreign organizations and
most often directed against public figures having minimal security, if
any. Terrorism-related attempted assassinations of highly protected
public figures are an extremely rare occurrence in the United States,
with the 1950 attempt on President Truman by Puerto Rican nationalists
the only one that truly qualifies as such. Robert F. Kennedy, whose
killer claimed an international nexus due to Kennedy’s support for
Israel, is on the chart but cannot be considered a highly protected
official. He had minimal personal security when he was killed, and it
was this assassination that generated future Secret Service protection
for presidential candidates. Anyone who does not have a high level of
security should vigilantly pay attention to their surroundings, vary
their everyday routines and travel, and be aware of individuals
loitering nearby.
Source: http://www.nctc.gov/site/technical/assassination_tactics.html
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