IBT Timeline

Think the whole Islamic-backed terrorism (IBT) thing is overblown? Check out this timeline. It's a companion to a film being produced on the subject. Interesting to me is what I remembered from my childhood, as the timeline nearly parallels my own life. I especially recall the bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon and the myriad plane hijackings of the mid 80's. I recall the Iranian hostages of 1979 and the hostages who were taken in Lebanon, some freed through the arms-for-hostages scandal. Mixed in with episodes of the Dukes of Hazzard, Fantasy Island, and the Incredible Hulk, I saw seemingly repeating stories of Americans overseas kidnapped, killed. It was so bad in 1985-86, that my school's 2 week summer trip to Germany was cancelled; not enough parents would allow their kids to travel overseas that summer.

I wonder if because of this, my generation does not largely accept IBT as a fact of existence, something which has always been and will always be. I wonder then if any generation in particular is more concerned with IBT than the others.

One thing is for certain: plenty of us are damn tired of it.