Categorizing September 11

Abstract

This article discusses the problems of categorizing and coding the casualties associated with the September 11, 2001 attack. How the losses of lives are categorized the loss of lives is a vital issue, especially for the Federal Bureau of investigation (FBI). The FBI is the U.S. government agency responsible for the collection and production of national crime statistics. Each year, the FBI releases the Uniform Crime Report, which contains data on the past year's criminal activity in the United States. One consequence that needs to be taken into consideration is that the method of classifying the casualties could have a tremendous impact on the annual crime rate. To allow for such casualties to be categorized as acts of terrorism, it is first necessary to define this term. This, too, is a challenge, as there is little agreement as to how terrorism is defined. The FBI has two categories, domestic and international. Because the perpetrators of the September 11 incidents have been identified as foreign nationals, should the deaths be categorized as international-based terrorist acts? Terrorism is defined as premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience. International terrorism means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more than one country..