Why did the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the ones before happen? Name Course number Instructor’s name Date Terrorism has been defined as the carefully planned use of force in a violent and intimidating way against masses of people. Terrorism coerces governments to concede to political and ideological demands. It attracts publicity and media attention, destabilizes polity and causes serious damages to the economy (Krieger and Meieerricks 4).Terrorists targeted the US on September 11, 2001, the Khobar towers complex near a US military base in Saudi Arabia1996 bombing of, Kenya and Tanzania’s US embassies in 1998 by Alqaeda terrorists and USS Cole in the Persian Gulf in 2000 by Alqaeda (Kondrasuk and Pamplin 645).