Terrorism is a monster the United States, along with the rest of the world, has been battling for decades. The United States declared its “War on Terror” in 2001, with the government investing heavily in counterterrorism programs. To this day, in multiple places around the world, the aches and scars of terrorism continue to linger. While this is a heavy topic, it is essential to understand terrorism and how it proliferates. From here, we will establish an understanding of terrorism, what drives people to align themselves with extremist and terrorist groups, a terrorist target audience, and what message they want to send.