Naval History and Heritage Command

• General Information
• Bibliographies
• Chronologies
• U.S. Navy and Terrorism
• Definition of Terrorism

General Information: 

Country Reports on Terrorism. Washington: U.S. Dept. of State.
https://www.state.gov/country-reports-on-terrorism/
This online publication includes a link to annual editions dating back to 1995 as well as biannual editions of Foreign Terrorist Organizations Designations, and the annual Significant Incidents of Political Violence Against Americans from 1995 to 1998. Patterns of Global Terrorism includes useful appendices such as "Background Information on Terrorist Groups" which provides material on al-Qaida established by Usama Bin Ladin.

Terrorism. Dudley Knox Library, Naval Postgraduate School 
https://libguides.nps.edu/terror  
The site contains an excellent selection of links to a wide selection of sources on terrorism.

Defend America
https://www.defense.gov/
This Department of Defense website includes links to a wide range of official U.S. military and government sources relating to Operation Enduring Freedom and the struggle against terrorism.

America's War on Terrorism: World Trade Center/Pentagon Terrorism and the Aftermath 
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~graceyor/govdocs/usterror.html
This University of Michigan website contains a wealth of sources.

America on Alert: The War Against Terrorism
https://usnwc.edu/Learning-commons
This Naval War College Library site contains useful sources including bibliographies on political Islam and homeland defense/domestic terrorism as well as links to Congressional Research Service reports concerning terrorism.

General Accounting Office 
https://www.gao.gov/
This website contains many reports on homeland and aviation security, combating terrorism, and defense against chemical and biological weapons.

Centers for Disease Control
https://www.cdc.gov/
Includes homeland defense material such as the report "Biological and Chemical Terrorism: Strategic Plan for Preparedness and Response," and information on the national pharmaceutical stockpile, and defense against smallpox attack.

Terrorism: Background and Threat Assessments 
https://fas.org/irp/threat/terror.htm
The Federation of American Scientists has assembled links to a wide range of useful sources. 

The World Factbook 
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
This Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) publication includes a section on Afghanistan and other countries accused of harboring terrorists. Information is provided on each country including a map and data on the government, military, communications, geography, communications, and transnational issues.

CIA Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room
https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/home  

University of Texas Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection 
https://legacy.lib.utexas.edu/maps/
This site includes an extensive selection of maps of Afghanistan including maps produced by the CIA and historic maps. Maps relating to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks are available for the Pentagon, World Trade Center, and the Pennsylvania crash site of  United Airlines Flight 93.

The Rand Corporation 
https://www.rand.org/
This site provides several recent online publications on terrorism. A section titled "Research Areas" includes a subsection titled "National Security" with further information on terrorism. 

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 
https://www.fbi.gov/
Provides useful information on terrorism including photographs of the hijackers associated with the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, as well as press releases. The site also includes a "ten most wanted fugitives" section and a publications section which includes the online publication CONPLAN--U.S. Government Interagency Domestic Terrorism Concept of Operations Plan. The website's search engine will locate numerous items relating to terrorism.

U.S. Coast Guard
https://www.news.uscg.mil/
The "News" section includes articles on port, harbor, and other security activities.

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 
https://www.fema.gov/
Contains information on the recovery from the Pentagon and New York terrorist attacks, as well as advice on how to talk to children about terrorist attacks, information about urban search and rescue, and fact sheets on terrorism.

National Security Archives 
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
Provides an extremely useful selection of official documents concerning terrorism. Documents to be posted shortly will include lessons from the Soviet war in Afghanistan, U.S. policy and planning for "Low-Intensity Conflict," CIA guidelines on the recruitment of agents, and the use of assassination in U.S. foreign policy.

Countering the Changing Threat of International Terrorism: Report from the National Commission on Terrorism. Washington: National Commission on Terrorism, 2000.
https://fas.org/irp/threat/commission.html 

Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
http://www.dtra.mil/
In the "News and Information"section under "Threat Reduction Literature" is a bibliography on weapons of mass destruction.

Bibliographies

"Homeland Defense and Domestic Terrorism: A Selected Bibliography." Library Notes [Naval War College, Newport RI] 29, no.2 (Oct. 2000).

Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear Terrorism/Warfare: A Bibliography. Dudley Knox Library, Naval Postgraduate School.

"Nuclear Terrorism: Published Literature Since 1992." U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. Military Review 77, no.4 (Jul.-Aug. 1997): 

Chronologies

Casualties: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Wounded in Wars, Conflicts, Terrorist Acts, and Other Hostile Incidents.
http://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/c/casualties1.html
See the post-World War II section of the chronology for terrorist incidents.

U.S. Navy and Terrorism

The U.S. Navy Office of Information
http://www.navy.mil
The "Navy News Stand" includes articles relating to the struggle against terrorism.

Casualties: U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Wounded in Wars, Conflicts, Terrorist Acts, and Other Hostile Incidents.
http://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/c/casualties1.html
See the post-World War II portion of the chronology for terrorist incidents.

Definition of Terrorism
[Source: Patterns of Global Terrorism. Washington: Dept. of State, 2001: vi]

No one definition of terrorism has gained universal acceptance. For the purposes of this report, however, we have chosen the definition of terrorism contained in Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f(d). That statute contains the following definitions:

The term "terrorism" means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant (1) targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.

The term "international terrorism" means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more than one country.

The term "terrorist group" means any group practicing, or that has significant subgroups that practice, international terrorism.

The U.S. Government has employed this definition of terrorism for statistical and analytical purposes since 1983.

Domestic terrorism is probably a more widespread phenomenon than international terrorism. Because international terrorism has a direct impact on U.S. interests, it is the primary focus of this report. However, the report also describes, but does not provide statistics on, significant developments in domestic terrorism.

(1) For purposes of this definition, the term "noncombatant" is interpreted to include, in addition to civilians, military personnel who at the time of the incident are unarmed and/or not on duty. For example, in past reports we have listed as terrorist incidents the murders of the following U.S. military personnel: Col. James Rowe, killed in Manila in April 1989; Capt. William Nordeen, U.S. defense attache killed in Athens in June 1988; the two servicemen killed in the La Belle disco bombing in West Berlin in April 1986; and the four off-duty U.S. Embassy Marine guards killed in a cafe in El Salvador in June 1985. We also consider as acts of terrorism attacks on military installations or on armed military personnel when a state of military hostilities does not exist at the site, such as bombings against U.S. bases in Europe, the Philippines, or elsewhere.