# Are there twice as many terrorist incidents in the U.S. as in Italy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [December 17, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-twice-as-many-terrorist-incidents-in-the-u-s-as-in-italy/521654 "2009-12-17T17:10:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pascal666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eada6e/32.png) [@Pascal666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pascal666)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-twice-as-many-terrorist-incidents-in-the-u-s-as-in-italy/521654/1 "2009-12-17T17:10:49Z")
[Are there twice as many terrorist incidents in the U.S. as in Italy?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/206/are-there-twice-as-many-terrorist-incidents-in-the-u-s-as-in-italy) Anyone know the name of the ex-CIA agent? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Baldy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Gary\_Baldy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Baldy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-twice-as-many-terrorist-incidents-in-the-u-s-as-in-italy/521654/2 "2009-12-17T19:20:25Z")
> [@Pascal666](#): > > [Are there twice as many terrorist incidents in the U.S. as in Italy?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/206/are-there-twice-as-many-terrorist-incidents-in-the-u-s-as-in-italy) > > Anyone know the name of the ex-CIA agent? John Paisley. Also, in 1996, William Colby died in Chesapeake Bay. ---
**Author:** ![kdeus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b487fb/32.png) [@kdeus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kdeus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2009, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-twice-as-many-terrorist-incidents-in-the-u-s-as-in-italy/521654/3 "2009-12-19T06:09:07Z")
Are there more details about the University of Maryland bomb? I’m an alum, and live in the area, and this is the first I’ve heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![PhilArman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ad7895/32.png) [@PhilArman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhilArman)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-twice-as-many-terrorist-incidents-in-the-u-s-as-in-italy/521654/4 "2010-01-07T19:59:31Z")
I think this is what you want kdeus. - [blogbaltimore.com/?p=154](http://blogbaltimore.com/?p=154) ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-twice-as-many-terrorist-incidents-in-the-u-s-as-in-italy/521654/5 "2010-01-07T20:14:31Z")
Please note, that column is from 1982, and hasn’t been updated. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-twice-as-many-terrorist-incidents-in-the-u-s-as-in-italy/521654/6 "2010-01-07T22:22:07Z")
I’m glad to see my ancestral home, Dominica, is mentioned. The story about the Klan invasion of Dominica is an insane one - the Klan and sundry mercenaries were invited to invade by the ousted (black) former Prime Minister Patrick John, in exchange for some kind of port facility in the north of the island. They were picked up in the Gulf of Mexico by the US Coast Guard before they could get anywhere close. I would dispute Cecil’s nearly 30-year-old assertion that this was an act of terrorism, though - it was mercenary activity, pure and simple, and not politically motivated except by the person who commissioned it, who wanted to use the Klan to overthrow the PM-in-residence Eugenia Charles. A well thought-out plan if ever I heard one… ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-twice-as-many-terrorist-incidents-in-the-u-s-as-in-italy/521654/7 "2010-01-09T01:13:21Z")
Were the Klan known for regularly engaging in mercenary activities, or did they take on this one because it fit their political agenda? Though you may be correct to argue whether this technically qualified as terrorism. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-twice-as-many-terrorist-incidents-in-the-u-s-as-in-italy/521654/8 "2010-01-09T08:51:57Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Were the Klan known for regularly engaging in mercenary activities, or did they take on this one because it fit their political agenda? I think this was a one-off. Sounds like they were just a band of Canadian lunatics looking for any small Caribbean island to take over: [this page](http://www.thegrenadarevolutiononline.com/page17a.html) says they were originally targeting Granada. I would speculate that their agenda was that they would be naturally “superior” and therefore be able to govern with impunity, using Nazi-style brutality. I’m certainly sure they wouldn’t have behaved as the black leaders who negotiated with them expected. I also note that my recall of the US Coast Guard picking them up appears a little wrong: that says it was the ATF who got them before they even set off.