(crowd noises)

Narrator: September 11, 2001. The attacks on America shocked us as never before. We were the victims, and terrorism became a gruesome reality. People all over the world shared our horror and grief.

Various speakers:
- Before September 11, we didn't really think about terrorism in the U.S. very much.
- I think terrorism is the loss of the opportunity to take something for granted.
- I think terrorism is a pretty broad concept. How, exactly, do you define it?

Narrator: Terrorism is difficult to define. It is generally accepted that terrorism is the use of violent or intimidating acts against people or property, especially for political purposes. Terrorist acts are deliberately shocking, and are intended to cause a psychological reaction to violence in as large an audience as possible.

- I didn't really think about terrorism that much before September 11. When did terrorism start? Is this something new?

Narrator: No, it's not new. Terrorist acts have taken the lives of people throughout history. In fact, the term "terrorism" evolved during a phase of the French Revolution known as the "Reign of Terror." From 1793 to 1794, one faction of the revolution used violent methods to weed out traitors and to spread terror throughout the country. In just six weeks, more than 1,300 people were guillotined in Paris alone.

Today, assassinations, hijackings, gassings, and bombings are common terrorist tactics. And by attracting attention through the media, especially television, terrorists are now able to reach a wider audience than they ever thought possible.

Throughout history, few places in the world have been untouched by terrorism. These are among the most shocking attacks:

• September 1972. As the world watched the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, the Palestinian terrorist group Black September tried to force Israel to release 200 Arab prisoners by taking 11 Israeli athletes hostage in the Olympic Village. The terrorists killed 9 hostages during the German government's rescue attempt.

• November 1979. After the exiled Shah of Iran was admitted to the United States for medical treatment, angry Iranian students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took scores of American diplomats hostage. Thirteen hostages were released shortly thereafter, but the others were held for over a year.

• June 1984. In an effort to establish an independent state, Sikh terrorists seized the Golden Temple Shrine in Amritsar, India. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered a military campaign to drive out the terrorists. Hundreds were killed.

• December 1988. A bomb exploded on Pan American airlines flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 259 people on board were killed. No one claimed responsibility; however, years later, two Libyan intelligence agents were convicted.

• July 1992. Shining Path, an extremist offshoot of the Peruvian Communist Party, exploded 2 car bombs, killing 24 people and wounding close to 200 in Lima, Peru. Its goal was to destroy Peruvian institutions and replace them with the peasant revolutionary regime.

• March 1995. The terrorist group Aum Shinrikyo released nerve gas in a Tokyo subway station to head off a raid by the Japanese government. The terrorists killed 11 people and injured thousands.

• April 1995. A massive truck bomb destroyed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 166 men, women, and children. Right-wing American extremists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols claimed they were avenging the deaths of Branch Davidian cult members in Waco, Texas.

• June 1996. A truck bomb exploded at a Manchester, England, shopping center, wounding over 200 people. No one claimed responsibility, but the blast followed a coded telephone warning typical of the Irish Republican Army, which opposed British rule in Northern Ireland.

• September 1997. Three suicide bombers of the Palestinian movement Hamas detonated bombs in the Ben Yehuda shopping mall in Jerusalem, killing 8 persons and wounding nearly 200. Hamas denies Israel's right to exist.

• August 1998. A bomb exploded at the rear entrance of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya, killing 12 Americans and 279 Kenyans. At the same time, a bomb detonated outside the U.S. Embassy in Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, killing ten Tanzanians. The U.S. government holds Osama bin Laden responsible.

• September 11, 2001 was the deadliest terrorist attack in history. Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization, al-Qaida, hijacked four commercial jets. Two of the jets were flown into the World Trade Center, another into the Pentagon, and the last plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania. Thousands of lives were lost - innocent citizens of over 80 different nations were attacked and killed without warning, shocking the civilized world.

Various speakers:
- Terrorists' intention is to hurt people.
- How do we stop terrorism?
- What can I do to stop terrorism?

Narrator: That is the question being asked every day by every person in every nation. Sadly, we have yet to find the answer. What do you think?