Ted Kaczynski's critique of technology and domestic terrorism campaign

¶ … UNIBOMBER: Ted Kaczynski

Kaczynski as the UNABOMBER

Ted Kaczynski, also known as the UNABOMBER grew up a child prodigy in the Chicago area. He became an assistant professor at UC Berkeley at the age of 25 and held that position until his resignation two years later due to on the job frustrations and stresses. Ted moved into the woods around a small Montana town and began learn survival skills in order to become completely self-sufficient and live off of the land. As time went by he became more and more frustrated by the encroaching development around him and by the way that American society was "eroding human freedom in exchange for technological development and organization" (Kaczynski, 2005). As a result of his frustration he decided to carry out a campaign of mail bombings that eventually left 3 people dead and more than 20 injured. He would send bombs wrapped as packages to universities and airlines, all the while writing a manifesto and claiming that his extreme actions were necessary to help society understand that they were losing their personal freedoms.

The FBI spent nearly 17 years trying to track down the UNABOMER, who was given this name after the FBI code word for the case "University and Airline Bomber." The FBI was sent on a wild goose chase but had an extremely difficult time tracking or identifying the UNABOMBER. This person, or group was officially labeled a domestic terrorist organization and one of the most expensive manhunts in U.S. history was underway for the person or people responsible. Ted was eventually caught after he submitted a letter to the Washington Post newspaper telling them that he would stop the bombings if they published his manifesto. Upon the reporting of this request by other news agencies, Ted's own brother recognized the writing style of the "Unabomber" and the grievances that were mentioned in the manifesto. He was able to tip the FBI off and they raided Ted's cabin, which had no electricity or running water, in 1995.

Ted faced the death penalty, but instead of being sentenced to death, he made a plea agreement, which sent him to prison for life without the possibility of parole (Comey, 2009). Kaczynski is still in Federal prison for his crimes but continues to write and in an attempt to educate those around him about the issues that he feels strongly about. Many social scientists, scholars, and psychologists were also interested in examining and the UNIBOMBER case for years to come, and were quite happy to see that he would not be receiving the death penalty (Chase, 2000).

The FBI Manhunt

The FBI eventually offered a $1 million dollar reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of the UNIBOMBER. Before their reward, the organization had been slowly tracking down Kaczynski through the clues he had unintentionally left behind in his writings, specifically this manifesto. Kaczynski had written letters containing similar arguments about social injustice and his hatred for technology and industrialization years before, and the newspapers that were asked by Kaczynski to publish his work were summoned to give the FBI help in tracking him down. The earlier letters and the manifesto were so similar in argument and writing style that the FBI believed that they were indeed written by the same person. Once the FBI began connecting the dots in the writing style and clues, they were certain that the person who was conducting the bombings, also referred to as the UNIBOMBER, was from the Chicago area and had connections or ties to the San Francisco area (Comey, 2009). This description fit Kaczynski's own life all too well, and began raise some serious red flags in his own family.

During the time that the FBI was working on the case, Kaczynski wrote a letter to the Washington Post requesting that they publish his manifesto. He offered to stop his bombings if they would comply. At the request of his wife, Kaczynski's own brother, David, contacted the FBI when she felt as though the letter to the Washington Post and the known beliefs of David's estranged brother were too similar to be coincidental. Upon receiving this tip, the FBI worked closely to help track down Ted Kaczynski, eventually leading to his arrest in 1995. The manhunt for the UNIBOMBER was one of the most expensive ever, costing the U.S. government millions of dollars and taking over a decade and a half.

Kaczynski in Prison

Kaczynski continues to write in prison, and has had over 400 correspondences since his incarceration. Each of these letters is copied on a carbon copy form and the names of the letter writers are placed in a sealed chamber for review in 2049 (Chase, 2000). They are deemed socially valuable items and many are currently on display at the Newseum (Interview, 1999 and Comey, 2009). Even Kaczynski's cabin is on display at the museum, regardless of the objections that Kaczynski himself had of the idea to display the historical structure. Ted has written letters to many of the universities he targeted as the UNABOMBER offering to donate rare books to their libraries as peace offerings. All of the universities who were approached by Kaczynski refused to accept the books.

In a 2009 U.S. Court of Appeals Decision, many of Kaczynski's writings will be put on the auction block to help pay for damages caused by his bombing campaign and for restitution payments to many of the victims' families (Comey, 2009). Kaczynski objected to the sale of his writings, arguing that the Federal Government's wishes to sell his writings constituted a violation of his freedom of speech rights. Unfortunately for Kaczynski, he lost his court battle in 2009. It will be interesting to see exactly how much money will be raised by the auction of Kaczynski's writings, but it is certainly a representation of the fact that the public fascination with him, and domestic terrorism in general, is alive and well. Perhaps Kaczynski is more of a novelty personality, but his attacks are still remembered today, more than a decade and a half after his arrest.

Kaczynski as Domestic Terrorist

Domestic terrorism is one of the most terrifying forms of attack. Since the terrorist is from the U.S., they likely have the ability and resources to remain more anonymous than an international terrorist. Since Kaczynski had a motive, or manifesto that he wanted to promote, it is interesting to note that he was so successful at not being caught. Often time domestic terrorists are quite bold, and willing to get caught as long as their message is delivered to a large amount of people. Most often domestic terrorists hold right-leaning beliefs, and Kaczynski is no exception (Chase, 2000). His thoughts and anger toward the leftists helped propel him through the UNIBOMBER campaign, and gave him the fuel to both write a manifesto as well as carry out attacks against other U.S. citizens. The familiarity with other citizens also makes the UNIBOMBER case quite chilling, since it is tough for many people to consider the fact that another American is bombing his own countrymen.

Domestic terrorism is often overlooked as one of the most common forms of terror inflicted on U.S. soil. Today, most people consider terrorists to be of international origin, and often have stereotypes about their ethnicity, age, and social background. Many people have the idealize picture of a terrorist in their head when the topic of domestic terrorism is brought up. Terrorists do not only exist in foreign countries, and are not often as easily identifiable or definable as they have been in recent years, with the War on Terror and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. It is important to remember that domestic terrorists often represent more of a danger to society because they can often inflict heavy casualties without raising too much suspicion. They also do not have to worry about things that international terrorists often do like getting into the country and gaining access to a target as well as the language and cultural barriers that might prevent them from successfully carrying out an attack.

Domestic terrorists will likely always be a part of the social fabric of every country. The only way to fight against them is through education and understanding. Kaczynski was very well educated, but he lacked the critical understanding and mental aptitude to understand his own illness. Those around him, including his brother David, were reluctant to raise their voice and notify even the FBI that their brother was likely suffering from some form of derangement or mental illness, and that he had the motive and the means to carry out such attacks. Proper medical treatment can also go a long way in helping people who may be prone to carrying out acts of domestic terrorism. But in the end, just as with international terrorism, there is no true way to predict or prevent these types of attack (Comey, 2009). They come as part of life in a very large society like that found in the U.S.

Kaczynski is regarded as one of the most infamous domestic terrorists ever. The FBI manhunt, combined with the fact that Kaczynski himself was so successful at both carrying out his attacks as well as remaining hidden, helped to create a national fervor over the UNIBOMBER case. The psychological terror that Kaczynski inflicted upon the nation will likely not be soon forgot. The idea that a bomb could be sent via mail, completely anonymously, triggered bouts of national hysteria and discomfort during the later years of the FBI manhunt. People were afraid they would become the next targets of the UNIBOMBER, since many of the victims felt they were relatively anonymous.