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Terrorism
(Continued from page 33)
T he I rish communi ty in the
United States also acts as a rear
base for the Irish terrorists, provid–
ing money through NORA ID ,
which buys arms in sporting goods
shops and smuggles them across
the Atlantic, as well as provid ing
protection for terrorists on the run
and a center for propaganda.
Does the Soviet Union play a
major role in supporting terrorist
groups?
The Soviet Union has t r ied most
successfu lly to present a pure
image to the world over its support
of terror ism. A pamphlet published
by the Jonathan 1nstitute in J erusa–
lem has exposed this facade. The
Russians pick likely recruits from
among T hird World students and
t rain them at Lumumba University
as terrorist leaders. There are ter–
ror ist training camps maintained in
East G ermany a nd Czechoslo–
vakia.
A number of Arab terrorists who
have been capt ured by the Israelis
and have told thei r stor ies reveal
the extent of Soviet involvement.
Most ter rorist weapons are Soviet
designed but made in and supplied
from Czechoslovakia. Terrorists are
also allowed to use the satellite
countries as havens after carrying
out operations in Europe. I t is sig–
nificant that not a single act of ter–
rorism has been car ried out against
the Soviet Union by these terror ist
groups.
Thei r [Soviet] sensitivity about
being blamed for sponsoring terror–
ism is illustrated by their intense
react ion to accusations that the
Bulgarian secret service was behind
the attempted assassination of the
Pope by the Turkish gunman Ali
Agca.
Would the financia! support the
IRA receives from lrlsh-Americans
compare with the backing such
nations as Cuba and Libya give the
PLO?
No. T hese are two d ifferent phe–
nomena. T he I rish-Americans give
money and political support out of
love for an ancient cause. Many of
them feel guilty that they are lead–
ing a soft life in America while
38
their cousins are fighting and dying
in the old country. T his type of
emotionalism obscures the truths of
the situation in lreland and hides
the fact that the men tbey are sup–
porting tend lo be ruthless thugs.
T he support given by Cuba and
especially Libya is of a ditferent
quality. These countries provide
training camps, weapons, finances,
logistic support through the "diplo–
matic bag" and, in fact, behave like
countries al war.
How sophistlcated is the weap–
onry of these groups, and just how
well organized and capable of pull–
ing off major coups are they?
Weaponry is growing increasing–
ly sophisticated . T he Irish in par–
ticular have become expert in bomb
making, using mercu ry trembler
fuses and remate controlled bombs
tr iggered by radio devices similar
to those used in controlling the
flight of model aircraft.
T here are about
1O
groups who
are organized enough to pu ll off
major coups. But such coups have
become more difficult with the for–
mation and success of specialized
antiter rorist groups such as the
British SAS and the German
GSG9. H ijacking seems to have
gone ou t of fashion because of the
Mogad ishu and Entebbe incidents,
when hijackers were dealt wilh
ruthlessly by German and Israelí
commando raiders and it was made
clear to the ter rorists that the world
was prepared to fight against aerial
hijacking, even al the price of sorne
innocent lives. Once that fact was
establ ished the ter rorists realized
that their blackmail would no lon–
ger pay off.
Do the Arab terrorist groups
have as an ultlmate ideal a resur–
gent lslamic empire uniting all Arab
states?
Most terrorist groups which have
been operaling th roughou t the
wor ld in the Palestinian cause are
not religious. In fact, the most
ruthless of the groups was founded
and controlled by two Christian
Arabs.
It is the aim of most of these
groups first to reoccupy Palestine
and then to spread a leftist move–
ment of var ious degrees throughout
Arabia. The overthrow of the Shah
by the Shia Moslems has, however,
introduced a new factor, because
this movement and the general
resurgence of Islam must sooner or
later clash with the secular aims of
the terrorists. Islam can never live
with communism.
Would you say that urban terror–
ists are lnltially dedicated to
anarchy to bring about their
aims?
Most of the urban groups in
Europe see anarchy as a prerequi–
site to the overthrow of the present
system of government and the
emergence of their new utopía. T he
formula is well known. Cause
chaos. The government wi ll be
forced to in troduce repressive mea–
su res. T he popu lace will r ise.
Anarchy will ensue. The system
will collapse. Paradise will be
created out of the ruins.
T his has so far not worked
because the ordinary people have
come to bate terrorism so much
they are prepared to put up with
repressive measures in order to get
rid of the ter rorists.
The danger líes in the fact that
unless these repressive measures
are removed from the statute
books, once the terrorists have been
destroyed, they could provide a
framewo rk for a dictatorship--so
the terrorists will have succeeded
only in creating what they hate the
m
os
t.
Are most terrorists perfectly
willing to sacrifice their lives for
the cause?
A great number of terrorists are
perfectly willing to die for the
cause, principally because once
having become a terrorist there can
be no going back. They must either
triumph or die. Death becomes
commonplace. This is what makes
them so dangerous. T hey will kili
because they are prepared to die.
Which terrorist group has the
most military clout today?
1doubt if a European urban group
has any real pol itical power now. The
only ones that have are the var ious
Arab groups. And their threat lies in
their position as a fuse to the powder
keg of the Middle East and the oil
fields on which the Western world
relies for its survival.
o
The PLAIN TRUTH