Page 112 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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86———Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms

armed standoff with Branch Davidians at Waco, 160 bombings worldwide during the 1970s. One of
Texas, in 1993, the bureau’s image has improved the terrorists, Mourad Topalian, was sentenced to
in recent years, largely due to its counterterrorism 37 months in prison.
activities. Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty
The ATF has four National Response Teams Act of 1996, the ATF established the Explosives Study
(NRTs) that can be deployed within 24 hours to major Group (ESG). The ESG conducts research in the
explosion and arson sites; this occurred, for example, possible use and exploitation of new prevention tech-
during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center nologies in the area of explosives and develops strate-
and Pentagon in 2001. In cooperation with other agen- gies for improvements in public safety. After the
cies such as the FBI, the NRT investigates the crime Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, ESG started the
scene, identifies the origin of the explosion, conducts campaign “Be Aware for America” with the aim of
interviews, sifts through debris for evidence, and preventing the improper sale and use of ammonium
develops a plan for further actions. For example, an nitrate fertilizer.
ATF agent identified the serial number of a truck axle, The ATF partners with many local, state, and federal
which led to the conviction of the terrorists in the law enforcement agencies in joint counterterrorism task
World Trade Center bombing in 1993. Since 1990, forces. A recent ATF-FBI investigation, for example,
ATF’s canine center in Front Royal, Virginia, has led to the arrest of illegal immigrants involved with
trained 272 dogs for 31 states and 13 countries that a cigarette smuggling operation that funded the terror-
can detect both commercially available and home- ist Hezbollah organization.
concocted chemical compounds. Dogs have worked at
See also COUNTERTERRORISM; FEDERAL BUREAU OF
the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and at national politi-
INVESTIGATION; WACO; WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMBING
cal conventions and helped secure the Pentagon after
(1993)
the September 11 attacks.
The ATF Arson and Explosives Incidents System Further Reading
(AEXIS) is part of the National Repository of infor-
mation. The AEXIS database includes commercially Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Web page.
http://www.atf.treas.gov.
made explosives in the United States and abroad,
Burgess, William J. Piercing the Shield’s Justice: Inside the
showing patterns and trends of the usage of explosive
ATF. Lawrenceville, VA: Brunswick, 1996.
devices in a given area or state and throughout the
Miller, Wilbur R. Revenuers & Moonshiners: Enforcing
nation. In 1997, the ATF started an investigation of a
Federal Liquor Law in the Mountain South, 1865-1900.
recovered cache of explosives at a self-storage facil- Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991.
ity in Bedford, Cleveland, and four years later was Vizzard, William J. In the Cross Fire: A Political History of
able to trace it to an Armenian terrorist group that had the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Boulder,
assassinated 22 Turkish diplomats and perpetrated CO: Lynne Rienner, 1997.