Terrorist groups respond to verbal attacks and slights by governments with more violence against civilians

Yazidi women in Iraq mourn the victims of Islamic State group attacks. Ismael Adnan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

After an Islamic State group-inspired attack in New Orleans killed 14 people on New Year’s Day 2025, President Joe Biden warned that terrorists would find “no safe harbor” in the U.S.

Governments often condemn terrorist groups in this way, as well as making threats and engaging in what we call “verbal attacks.”