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January 8, 2010
Terrorist Attacks and Presidents
I compiled a pair of graphs to illustrate incidents of terrorism during each of the last three presidents, including President Obama, as a means of locking down what happened and when.
In terms of methodology, I covered the following types of terrorist attacks against American personnel, civilians and interests:
1) Domestic (Abortion-related attacks, Oklahoma City, Unabomber, Anthrax)
2) Domestic Islamic (9/11, WTC 1993, Beltway Snipers, Chapel Hill)
3) Overseas Islamic (Iraq, Afghanistan, USS Cole, Embassy Bombings)
4) Known Failed Attempts (Shoe Bomber, Underpants Bomber)
5) Overseas Attacks Against U.S. Allies (London, Madrid).
These categories should cover the basic forms of terrorist attacks against Americans whether abroad or on our soil.
UPDATE: I created a third graph as a variation of the attacks graph. I eliminated Obama, as he's only been president for 11 months. I also dropped the domestic abortion attacks and the failed attacks. Additionally, I eliminated any attacks that took place in Iraq and Afghanistan. The resulting graph, reflecting only domestic and Islamic terrorism, is still pretty damning of the Bush record. I also added a Domestic Islamic attack in the Bush column -- the Chapel Hill SUV attack.
Regarding Iraq and Afghanistan, I recommend taking a look at this link. The number of overseas attacks against U.S. targets outside of Afghanistan and Iraq during the Bush presidency are considerable. 11 attacks according to this source, all involving U.S. personnel.
UPDATE 2: Made some small numerical corrections to the attacks graphs.
UPDATE 3: Added the Holocaust Museum shootings to the Obama column.
(A more thorough listing of sources after the jump...)
The number of terrorist attacks are as close to comprehensive as possible. I culled the lists of attacks and total fatalities from the following sources:
1) Chronology of Major Terrorist Attacks Against U.S. Targets
2) Terrorist Attacks (within the United States or against Americans abroad)
3) Notable attacks associated with domestic terrorism
5) Abortion Violence in the United States
6) Beltway Sniper Attacks (which were prosecuted under terrorism laws)
7) Ft. Hood Shooting (I've classified this as a domestic Islamic terrorist attack as a concession to righties.)
10) London Bombings
11) Anthrax Attacks
12) Richard Reid (Shoe Bomber)
13) Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (Underpants Bomber)
--I tried to be as fair as possible. I have included the Beltway Snipers, for example, as a terrorist attack because they were prosecuted under terrorism statutes. In exchange, I have made a concession to classify the Ft. Hood shootings as an act of terrorism rather than as a multiple homicide.
--Also, I don't claim 100 percent accuracy on the totals, but they're as close as possible based upon the above sources. I would estimate a margin of error around +/-3 attacks, and +/-100 fatalities.
--You will also see that the fatalities under Bush were considerable. That number includes the 2,992 fatalities on 9/11, along with the 10 Beltway Sniper fatalities and the 2 LAX shooting fatalities. All three attacks were carried out by Islamic radicals.
--The Clinton domestic number is pretty large due to the number of abortion-related attacks by right-wing extremists. There were, based on my sources, 13 abortion-related attacks with 12 fatalities.
--Due to the limitations of the graph here are the Obama attacks: Two attacks in Iraq with a total of 9 fatalities, Ft. Hood with 13 fatalities, Abortion shooting of Dr. Tiller, the CIA bombing in Afghanistan with 7 fatalities, and the failed Underpants Bomber.
--Also, I'm open for questions in the comments and I reserve the right to make edits to the numbers. In other words, consider this quasi-open source.
--Here's the specific attacks and fatalities from the revised graph contained in the UPDATE above.
CLINTON
(Not including abortion clinic attacks)
1) World Trade Center 1993 (Domestic Islamic) - 6 fatalities
2) Oklahoma City (Domestic) - 168 fatalities
3) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Overseas Islamic) - 5 fatalities
4) Khobar Towers (Overseas Islamic) - 19 fatalities
5) U.S. Embassy Bombings (Overseas Islamic) - 224 fatalities
6) USS Cole (Overseas Islamic) - 17 fatalities
7) Unabomber (Domestic) - 3 fatalities
8) Atlanta Olympics (Domestic) - 2 fatalities
BUSH
(Not including Iraq and Aghanistan attacks, and abortion attacks)
1) September 11 (Domestic Islamic) - 2,992 fatalities
2) Karachi (Overseas Islamic) - 12 fatalities
3) Riyadh (Overseas Islamic) - 34 fatalities
4) Riyadh #2 (Overseas Islamic) - 22 fatalities
5) Riyadh #3 (Overseas Islamic) - 4 fatalities
6) Jeddah (Overseas Islamic) - 4 fatalities
7) Amman (Overseas Islamic) - 57 fatalities
8) Damascus (Overseas Islamic) - No fatalities
9) Athens (Overseas Islamic) - No fatalities
10) Algeria (Overseas Islamic) - 60 fatalities
11) LAX Shooting (Domestic Islamic) - 2 fatalities
12) Beltway Snipers (Domestic Islamic) - 10 fatalities
13) Anthrax (Domestic?) - 5 fatalities
14) Madrid (Overseas Islamic Allies) - 191 fatalities
15) London (Overseas Islamic Allies) - 56 fatalities
16) Chapel Hill SUV attack (Domestic Islamic) - No fatalities
17) Yemen (Overseas Islamic) - 16 fatalities
18) Mumbai, India (Overseas Islamic) - 190 fatalities
Filed under: 9/11 || Bill Clinton || Bush legacy || One Nation Under Fear || President Obama || Terrorism
Posted By Bob Cesca | January 8, 2010 3:32 PM
Comments
Bob, don't be an apologist, just take half the attacks you attributed to Bush and give them to Clinton, give the other half to Obama....obviously only democrats invite terrorism and republicans always keep us safe. Haven't you been listening to Cheney, Asshat Rudy, Peter King, Hoekstra, Demint, etc?
Seriously, good work Bob. It's disgusting how republicans are all over Obama for this. Could you imagine how they'd be calling for Obama's impeachment if there actually was an attack on the scale of 9/11? After all the passes we gave Bush. Let these assholes keep lying. We aren't falling for it. They're just reminding the voters how evil they really are.
Posted by: eljefejeff ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.bobcesca.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at January 8, 2010 4:31 PM
I'd also be curious to see intercepted attempts like the recent Dallas situation. It would be good to show how many attempts didn't even get close before authorities stopped them -- under administrations who believed in completely different strategies for gaining information.
Great stuff, Bob! Thanks for sharing.
Jennifer
Posted by: jhw22 at January 8, 2010 4:38 PM
Bob - I'm on your side. Even so - this doesn't appear to be a valid comparison. Bush W was President for 8 years. Obama: 11 months.
Posted by: Daddy Dave at January 8, 2010 4:58 PM
Daddy Dave has a point Bob. Could you let us know what that second graph would like if you only considered the first 11 months of each presidency?
Wait, nevermind. That second one would pretty much look the same.
Posted by: SierraDrinker at January 8, 2010 5:07 PM
I could drop Obama entirely, but that doesn't address accusations of multiple terrorist attacks on Obama's watch.
You'll notice that Giuliani and others are suggesting that there have been MORE attacks under Obama than Bush. Ridiculous, I know, but still an accusation on the right.
The real comparison is between Bush and Clinton, and the ultimate conclusion to draw is that there were more attacks under Bush, and considerably more fatalities.
Posted by: Bob_Cesca at January 8, 2010 5:36 PM
You do know that all of the wingnuts out there don’t consider it terrorism if it was committed by anyone other than an Islamic extremist. Domestic terrorism to them is local Muslims and environmental extremists’ only.
You should ask David Niewert about right-wing domestic terrorism, I recall him listing the various incidents over the years at his blog Orcinus.
Posted by: watchdog at January 8, 2010 5:50 PM
The thing is, raw facts such as these do not disuade people who are just going to believe whatever they want to believe regardless.
The only thing that will silence claims like Rudy's is removing their voice by not giving them a public forum to spew bullshit.
They can be wrong all day long, but as long as they have a platform to spew nonsense they will do so.
Posted by: J M Ashby at January 8, 2010 6:06 PM
Um, I know this is off topic, but am I seeing that Stranahan is almost proud of the fact that Red State is endorsing his video? Huh?
Posted by: LAH at January 8, 2010 6:26 PM
Bob, are you omitting the Chapel Hill SUV attack because no one was killed although 9 were injured, or does that count as a "failed" attack?
Posted by: Broadway Carl at January 8, 2010 6:53 PM
This is great Bob and I will be sharing it.
The right wing isn't interested in the truth: it just gets in the way of their agenda and their followers don't require it. The ends justify any means.
Posted by: Radical SAHM at January 8, 2010 7:11 PM
Thanks, Carl! Updating now!
Posted by: Bob_Cesca at January 8, 2010 7:30 PM
Okay, the definitive versions should be up.
Posted by: Bob_Cesca at January 8, 2010 8:11 PM
In the words of Mr. Burns Exxxxxcellent!
Posted by: Jim in Michigan at January 8, 2010 8:17 PM
Funny, LAH, but I've been getting giggles from Stranahan all day. He is now preaching constructive criticism -- the kind that the Republicans can't use against the Democrats. I am laughing my ass off here.
Posted by: staci at January 8, 2010 8:21 PM
Graphs re-colored. I'm a tweaker.
Posted by: Bob_Cesca at January 9, 2010 10:29 AM
I think you need to add the Holocaust Museum shooting to Obama's.
Posted by: Naomi Zikmund-Fisher at January 9, 2010 11:50 AM
@Naomi:
Done!
Posted by: Bob_Cesca at January 9, 2010 1:35 PM
Nice charts Bob--did you include the 2005 Bali bombing? Don't think I saw it in your sources.
Posted by: Ken at January 9, 2010 2:33 PM
You have not counted all the terrorist attacks on France - most notably the terror wave in 1995. Or doesn't France count as "allies"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1995_Paris_Metro_bombing
Posted by: jerome a paris at January 9, 2010 4:38 PM
What about waco all americans murdered by clinton and family. and the mass gang chain migration that has murder many Americans is that not terrorist attacks?
Posted by: Fred Dawes at January 10, 2010 3:11 PM
