Rescorla's Influence On Other Terrorist Attacks

I make sure everyone else is out". He was last seen on the 10th floor, heading upward, shortly before the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 A.M. His remains were never found. Rescorla was declared dead three weeks after the attacks (Stewart, 2002).
Fear is defined by the Oxford American College Dictionary as “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat”. Fear is an incredibly powerful emotion. It leads individuals to do things that one never thought were possible. It can motivate for both the good and the bad, which is part of what makes it so powerful. One reason that terrorism is so rampant throughout our modern world is that it is so undeniably effective. Fear can be a
driving force for change like nothing else. The FBI defines terrorism as “acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law; appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping”. Terrorism has greater motives than to simply cause harm and fear.
The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) is an open-source database of information on terrorist events around the world from 1970 to 2014.
Brian Michael Jenkins, an author, advisor to the Presidential Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism, and Director of the National Transportation Security Center at the Mineta Transportation Institute, worked with two others in a study where statistical analysis via the GTD of all terrorist attacks from 1970 to 2013 were observed. This study sought to answer two main questions. Does a significant terrorist attack somehow inspire other terrorist attacks, and can terrorist attacks be anticipated statistically? They were searching to see if there was any evidence to the likelihood that another attack would occur where one just had. The authors found that “Although the volume of terrorist incidents worldwide has increased dramatically, the volume of terrorist incidents in the United States and Europe resulting in at least one fatality has declined since the 1970s, and especially in the years since 9/11”. Some explanations for this are that groups in the 1970s were better organized, counterterrorism efforts also have made it more
difficult to carry on continuing terrorist campaigns, and counterintuitively, the Internet may impede effective action. One major hypothesis was that along with the decrease in attacks occurring, the overall lethality of the attacks has increased. In short, there are fewer terrorist attacks occurring throughout the world, but the attacks that do occur are deadlier. However, “since 9/11, only two attacks in Europe have caused more than 100 fatalities, while the deadliest attack in the United States resulted in 14 deaths (in San Bernardino).” The reason why there have not been deadlier attacks can only be attributed counter terrorism actions or the lack of capability from various extremist groups. The study concluded with the idea that “current assessments of terrorism are driven not by what terrorists have done since 9/11, but rather by what terrorists might do in the future—replicate a 9/11-scale attack or worse using weapons of mass destruction”. What happened on September 11 no doubt changed the world, in more ways than most can imagine. What we do know as we look to the future is that terrorism and disaster situations are not going away, and they are likely becoming more destructive. Terrorism often leads to disastrous conditions.
Uncertainty, lack of organization, destruction, chaos, and fear. All of these negative effects of various hazards can be decreased in part by adequately planning. According to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), there are three types of hazards. These three types of hazards that you can prepare for are natural, technological, and human caused hazards. Natural hazards are emergencies caused by forces extraneous to man in the elements of the natural environment. Natural hazards cannot be managed and are often interrelated. Natural hazards can occur and cause no damage to humans or the built environment; however, when a hazard and development intersect, significant damage to the built environment occurs, creating a natural disaster. Some examples of a natural hazard would be an avalanche, animal disease outbreak, drought, or an earthquake. Technological events are emergencies that involve materials created by man and that pose a unique hazard to the general public and environment. The jurisdiction needs to consider events that are caused by accident (e.g. mechanical failure, system breakdowns) or result from an emergency caused by another hazard (e.g flood, storm) or are caused intentionally. Some examples of a technological hazard would be an airplane crash, dam failure, a mining accident, or hazardous materials release. Human caused disasters are created by man, either intentionally or by accident. Examples of this type
of hazard would be a biological, chemical, or radiological attack, cyber incident, explosives attack, or sabotage.