The Consequences Of Domestic Terrorism

I would say immediately that both domestic and international terrorists are threats within the borders of the United States. The media coverage of recent events seems to imply that domestic terrorism is the more pressing concern. The data from a recent study shows that terrorist attacks have been more commonly perpetrated by domestic groups than by international extremists since 2001. However, this study left out 9/11, and also overlooked the many foiled terror plots in the US since then. Accordingly, when you look at arrest data for the same time the numbers have reversed; showing 314 arrests for "jihadist terrorism", and only 183 arrests for right-wing or “home grown” terrorism.

Right-wing extremists are usually American citizens, who are killing because of some paranoia or mental illness. They usually have a specific target, and focus solely in that target. These killers are terrible and should be stopped, but they are not part of any organized group with an expressed agenda or goal.
International terrorists however are usually aligned with factions that have declared their intention to destroy America and Americans.
Islamic jihad groups are expressly single-minded in killing as many Americans as possible. These killers also have a specific target; but the target is so broad that any death will suffice. In fact, the more deaths that are caused the the better the outcome in their minds. Disturbingly, we are seeing a trend of American citizens living in the US that are being radicalized and becoming terrorists, too. Both types of terrorism are a pressing issue without a doubt, but regardless of the type of terrorist attack the overwhelming majority of terrorist attacks have been committed by US-born citizens. Of the 497 individuals arrested for terrorism, 64 percent were born
here.