Wednesday, May 06, 2009

The Rise of Islamic Terrorism

Searching in the New York Times archives for the term "Islamic terrorism", the following is found:

1851-1980 - 0 results
1981 - 0 results
1982 - 0 results
1983 - 0 results
1984 - 1 result
DIRE STRAIT; IRAN AND IRAQ TURN UP THE HEAT IN THE GULF

...But Riyadh also fears that a visible American embrace or presence could open the door to Soviet intervention or to Islamic terrorism. So, Washington's overtures toward sending military help are resisted. The Saudis spent the week in full diplomatic...View free preview

May 27, 1984 - By LESLIE H. GELB - Week in Review - 1120 words

1985 - 0 results
1986 - 1 result
BOOKS OF THE TIMES

...In a discussion entitled ''Islamic Terrorism?,'' the scholar Bernard {Lewis} ...character than other religions, Islamic terrorism as practiced today is essentially...about the Western roots of Islamic terrorism, while analyzing some of the...

April 25, 1986 - By John Gross - Arts - 1000 words

1987 - 2 results (One refers to Amir Taheri's book, Holy Terror - Inside the World of Islamic Terrorism)
1988 - 0 results
1989 - 1 result (a reference to Amir Taheri's book, thusly
MINDS THAT NEVER MET

...client ties or Western-Muslim relations. Mr. Taheri, the author of ''Holy Terror: Inside the World of Islamic Terrorism,'' prefers to view the story as more akin to a psychological study of the principals, using the relationship...

April 9, 1989 - By LISA ANDERSON; Lisa Anderson is an associate professor of Middle East politics at Columbia University. - Arts - 973 words

1990 - 0 results
1991 - 0 results
1992 - 1 result, appears as follows:
About the B.C.C.I. Agenda

...nothing "Islamic," about B.C.C.I. Radical Islam opposes banks in general as they are ipso facto "un-Islamic." Terrorism, money-laundering, influence peddling, etc., are political, not religious tactics. As for banking, most...

August 16, 1992 - Business - 202 words

1993 - 5 results (only! despite Feb 26, 1993 WTC bombing)
1994 - 1 result (story about Algeria)
1995 - 4 result (three stories related to Israel, one to Bosnia)
1996 - 4 results
1997 - 1 results
1998 - 4 results
1999 - 3 results
2000 - 8 results
2001 - 40 results
2002 - 26 results
2003 - 24 results
2004 - 56 results
2005 - 36 results
2006 - 42 results
2007 - 40 results
2008 - 21 results

I know I should search for other variations, such as "Islamic terrorist(s)", and so on, but my guess is that it would be borne out that it took two attacks on its hometown for the New York Times to report news through the lens of Islamic terrorism.