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TERRORISM
the
Worst Is Yet to Come!
by Dan C. Taylor
Suicide bombers threaten mayhem in the Middle East. And
experts now warn about "state-supported terrorism." Where is it all headed?
A
NEW WAVE
of violence
is sweeping over the
world. In its wake are
death and destruction on an
unprecedented scale.
J
ust loo
k
at what has hap–
pened.
Suicide bombings of U.S. and
French peacekeeping forces in late
1983 left nearly 300 dead in Beirut,
Lebanon. Not long afterward, six
explosives rocked tiny Kuwait
within minutes, in an ominous
spread of disorder to the vital oil–
rich Gulf region.
In Asia a bomb in Rangoon ,
The shattered U.S. Embassy in Kuwait
In Britain the Irish Republican
Army (IRA) continued its holiday–
season policy of increased public
terrorism with its Christmas car–
bombing outside the world-famous
Harrod's department store. Ten
people died and 74 were wounded.
The IRA also launched an unprece–
dented attack on a church service
in Northern
lr~land.
All of these
links in a rapid chain of terrorist
attacks have stunned governments
around the world.
A Losing Battle?
In recent years there had been
sorne bright spots in the battle
against terrorism. Through the use
of conditional pardons,
better intelligence net–
works, tougher policies in
hostage situations and
greater international co–
operation , governments
have been able to make
considerable progress
against the more tradi–
tional terrorist organiza–
tions such as ltaly's noto–
rious Red Brigades.
Despite these govern–
ment successes, however,
international terrorism is
alive and now more dead–
ly than ever.
In the first n ine
City: terrorism spreads to the crucial Gulf region.
months of 1983, nearly
7,300 died in terrorist attacks–
more than twice those killed in the
eight years between 1972 and
1980. The ensuing climate of fear
and notoriety has forced many
Burma, took the lives of 17 South
Korean officials, including four
cabinet members- and narrowly
missed South Korean President
Chun Doo Hwan.
42
nations to introduce a wide range of
security measures for public offi–
cials and buildings.
Barricades now block access to
public buildings in Washington,
D.C. , for fear of what sorne have
called the terrorist weapon of the
l980s: the Beirut-style suicide
truck bomb.
And with the XXIII Olympic
Games only a few months away,
offi.cials in Los Angeles, recalling
the 1972 tragedy in Munich-at
which 11 Israelí athletes were
killed by Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO) commandos–
are hoping for the best but prepar–
ing for the worst.
The U .S. Olympic Organizing
Committee has arranged for more
than 17,000 security personnel,
backed by a 42-man FBI antiterror–
ist team, to ensure the safety of
both the athletes and the public at
large.
These precautions may save
many Iives. Yet they've contributed
to an atmosphere of governments
under siege--precisely the climate
terrorists hope to create.
State-supported Terrorism
Terrorist groups survive despite
governmental pressures in much
the same way as a troubled business
survives in spite of economic diffi–
culties.
To "stay in business," terrorist
groups have, in the past, robbed
banks, kidnapped, extorted, even
dealt in drugs or other contraband
materials. But "local fund-raising"
The PLAIN TRUTH