Was yesterday’s bomb attack in Boston an act of “terrorism?”

Hard to say since there are so many definitions of the word.

The FBI defines ‘domestic terrorism’ as ‘the unlawful use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual based and operating entirely within the United States or Puerto Rico without foreign direction committed against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives.’

The Patriot Act defines it this way: “A person engages in domestic terrorism if they do an act ‘dangerous to human life’ that is a violation of the criminal laws of a state or the United States, if the act appears to be intended to:  (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) 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.”

“To solve these problems the (Syracuse University) study offers a surprisingly straightforward solution: come up with “a clear and understandable definition of terrorism.” – PublicIntelligence

The last line of this article, “Five questions about terrorism in the wake of the Boston Marathon explosions” – Harrisburg Patriot-News, may be more foretelling than all the spur-of-the-moment speculation.

by Charles Thompson

There are more questions than answers about the explosions that marred the Boston Marathon today, but while the investigation proceeds there are some questions that may be common to all of us.

We reached out to John Horgan, director of the International Center for the Study of Terrorism at Penn State with some initial questions about the apparent bombings, and share his responses below.

Horgan is in the United Kingdom this week, the conversation below was excerpted from e-mails.

Q: Is an event like the Boston Marathon the kind of event we should be more worried about these days, given the sprawling nature of the course and that, unlike big stadium events, there aren’t limited, secured access points plotters would have to defeat to get weapons in position to harm people?

A: “It’s a fantasy target for a terrorist… Guaranteed crowds, media coverage, and in a major city. Exceptionally difficult to control from a counter-terrorism point of view. This person or persons wanted attention and whatever their cause, they got it.”

Continue reading this Harrisburg Patriot-News article by clicking here.