A history of terrorism.... .mil style

So the Army has this flashy page about the 'timeline of terrorism'. I'm glad I took a look, since a lot of what I thought I knew about terrorism is wrong (good thing I figured that out before I started writing my dissertation on the subject!). Here are some things that might be news to you too:

*Apparently, terrorism began with the hijacking of a plane in 1961. And here I was thinking that it went as far back as the French Revolution. Silly me.


*There were only four terrorists actions between 1960-1969, 10 in the '70s and increasing numbers after that. Again, glad I looked at that web site since I thought that, gee let me think of an example...say all the thousands of desaparecidos in Argentina or the torture and killing in Chile under Pinochet were terrorism, was I ever wrong or what!


*I thought that the explosions targeting the American Military in Iraq were acts of War, but apparently they're acts of terrorism. This is an important one, since it also helps clear up the status of the current residents of GITMO; if attacking a foreign army engaged in combat against you isn't war, then of course your not a prisoner of war if you get caught doing it, duh!

Anyway, hope this has been as informative for you as it was for me.