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/
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