Terrorism on American Soil by Joseph T. McCann

Author:Joseph T. McCann [McCann, Joseph T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, General, Political Science, Law Enforcement, Terrorism
ISBN: 9781591810490
Google: a2p6mqd7xRMC
Publisher: Sentient Publications
Published: 2006-01-15T03:17:12+00:00

Although Kikumura would later claim that the officer’s attention and suspicions were improper and merely used as a pretext to search his vehicle, Cieplenski kept observing Kikumura’s behavior. After walking around without clear purpose and glancing occasionally at the officer, Kikumura got into his car and left at high speed. At that moment, Cieplenski pulled Kikumura over for driving in an unsafe manner and asked for identification.

Kikumura produced an international driver’s license, as well as temporary registration and insurance certificates for the car, all issued in the name of Masatoshi Kishizono. As Cieplenski was reviewing Kikumura’s documents, he noticed a number of cardboard boxes in the rear seat of Kikumura’s vehicle that contained gunpowder and metal shot. The amount of material in Kikumura’s possession led Cieplenski to suspect the materials were not for personal use, so the officer conducted a more thorough search and found a number of cylindrical objects made out of fire extinguishers that appeared to be bombs. Kikumura was arrested and charged in a twelve-count federal indictment with interstate transport of explosives, intent to destroy property and harm people, unlawful possession of unregistered explosives, and violations of various immigration laws.10

A subsequent investigation of Kikumura’s background and behavior since entering the United States revealed that he was a member of the Japanese Red Army (JRA). The JRA is a terrorist organization founded on a combination of leftist political philosophy and Japanese nationalism.11 Like other left-wing terrorist groups, the JRA strongly opposes the control of economic resources by corporations. The origins of the group can be traced back to the 1950s during a period of increasing social unrest in Japan that was due, in large measure, to the economic pressures and cultural problems that emerged in the wake of Japan’s defeat in World War II. During the 1960s, the wide protest movements on university campuses in the United States was mirrored by students in Japan who opposed the Vietnam War and U.S. military presence in Japan. The JRA emerged from a group of Japanese university students who committed their first terrorist act in 1970 by hijacking an airplane to North Korea.12

Throughout the 1970s, the JRA forged strong ties with other terrorist organizations, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and attacked Israeli targets to show its commitment to fighting what it perceived to be imperialism and capitalism. Although the JRA was a relatively small terrorist organization, it had an international presence and members often operated as “mercenary terrorists” by making contacts with other radical groups and carrying out attacks on targets that were meaningful to these other groups.13

However, the JRA leadership in Japan was considered unstable, so one of its prominent leaders, Fusako Shigenobou, established a permanent JRA presence in the Middle East. The Federal Bureau of Investigation had a confidential informant placed inside a terrorist training camp located in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon.14 Although the terrorist camp was located in the Middle East and provided training to members of terrorist organizations devoted to attacking Israel, other terrorists from around the world also received training in the camp.

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