Pavel Prikhodko, Ph.D. Machine Learning
The first terrorist attack in the United States was recorded on April 14, 1865, when Abraham Lincoln was shot in Washington, D.C. and died a day after. Since then, terrorist attacks have occurred regularly in the country, but the most shocking attack in the history happened in New York City on September 11, 2001. As a result of the crashing of two hijacked planes into the World Trade Center towers, 2,759 people died and 8,700 were injured. Now the global threat is the Islamic State (ISIS), a terrorist organization that promotes violence and bloodshed and follows a very extreme form of Islam known as Salafism.
According to Statista.com, the U.S. military spending was about $596.02 billion in 2015. The 2014 number was higher: $609.91 billion. In 2013 and 2012, the U.S. spent $639.7 billion and $684.78 billion respectively. The highest rate of military spending occurred in 2011: $711.34 billion.
Some private U.S. citizens were victims of terrorism attack in other countries. In 2011, 15 private American citizens were killed by acts of terrorism in Afghanistan. In the same year, one death of a private citizen was recorded in both Jerusalem and Iraq. In 2010, 15 U.S. citizens were killed due to terrorist attacks, and it was less than one percent of the total deaths associated with terrorism that year.
In 2011, there were also kidnappings of private American citizens due to acts of terrorism. Thus, private citizens were taken as a hostage by terrorists in three countries: Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia. If we examine the direct costs of terrorist attacks within the United States, we can say that severe attacks such as 9/11 would cost almost 1 percent of the U.S. GDP.
In 2014 the United States proved successful in building an international coalition of 24 countries to combat the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. According to the Pew Research Center, over 50 percent of American citizens support military actions against ISIS. In contrast, 29 percent did not support Obama’s plan for military actions. It’s interesting to note that most people who approve military efforts against ISIS are Republicans — 64 percent. The number of Democrats who support military actions is 60 percent, versus 47 percent of Independents.
About Pavel Prikhodko
Pavel Prikhodko, Ph.D. Machine Learning
Pavel has worked for many years as a researcher and developer on a wide range of applications (varying from mechanics and manufacturing to social data, finance and advertising), building predictive systems and trying to find stories that data can tell.
In his free time, he enjoys being with his family.
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