The accumulation of solid data on U.S. terrorism is only now beginning, most notably with the FBI's tabulation of hate crimes starting in the early 1990s. These and other reports suggest that the number of terrorist acts against Americans worldwide over the past 20 years is 250,000 to 300,000. During this time, at least 1,500 Americans have died in terrorist incidents that, in their timing, were utterly unpredictable. Most died as a result of bombings. The biggest domestic terrorist act in recent years was, of course, the 1995 bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Political beliefs have little to do with domestic terrorism.
Another important category, one that is not adequately covered by official statistics, is attacks against and harassment of abortion-services providers. Unfortunately, there are no reliable statistics on other kinds of terrorism, such as student attacks on other students, exemplified by the infamous Columbine shootings in 1999, and police violence against civilians, as in the notorious Rodney King episode of 1992. It would be useful to include such acts, as well as anti-abortion terrorism, in the national reporting system. That way, Americans will have a comprehensive and reliable picture of all types of terrorist acts.