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There is little change in this sit u–
a tion.
NELSON:
T errorism does, of
course, attract thugs, but most
le ft-wing terrorists a re demon–
strably well-educated a nd intelli–
gent. The thugs are the second
battalions, using the terror for
their own purposes. An example
is Ulster, where crime and non–
political murders occur under the
convenient cloak of political ter–
rorism. T he biggest change is
that right-wing extremists (espe–
cially in West Germany) have
turned to armed terror, imitating
lhe left. lntereslingly, the right–
wing terror ists and ext remists a re
generally working-class and poor–
ly educated, while the Jeft-wing
exl remists are mainly university
students or graduales, and intel–
lectuals.
Q.
Are most terrorists perfect–
ly willing lo sacrifice their lives
for the cause?
NELSON:
The more intelli–
genl the terrorist, the more
ready he is to sacrifice his life in
the service of his cause, even if
this involves suicide. Surrender
and turning state's evidence are
lhe province of the opportunist
followers in terrorist g roups.
DOBSON:
A great number of
terrorists are perfectly willing to
die fo r the cause, principall y
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 dan–
gerous. They will kili because they
are prepared to die. There have
been sorne notable exceptions,
however. Klein, the German ter–
rorist who was wounded during the
Carlos group's attack on OPEC
headquarters, later turned away
from terrorism and made a full
confession of his act ivities and
his repentance. There are also a
number of revolutionary philoso–
phers who, while encouraging
you ng men and women to go out
and be kill ed , would never
dream of being shot at them–
selves. They would rather enjoy
the good restaurants of the Left
Bank in París than actually tak–
ing part in terrorism.
August 1980
Q .
Which terrorist g roup has
the most military clout today?
NELSON:
In terms of sheer
military clout, the PLO stands
head and s houlde rs above a ll
other terrorist organizations.
lt
now even has Soviet tanks. Both
directly and indirectly it is the
g reatest threat to world security.
But one is tempted to add a
footnote: the one revolutionary
orga n iza tion whi ch has the
g reatest political a nd military
c lout is the Soviet regime. And it ,
of course, encourages ter rorism
everywhere outside its borders.
DOBSON: 1
doubt if a Euro–
pean urban group has any real
political power now. The on ly
groups which could cause a threat
to world security are the various
Arab groups. And their threat
lies in their position as a fuse to
the powder-keg of the Middle
East and the oi l fields on which
thc Western world relies for its
survival.
There is one other considera–
tion: surely the group that poses
the greatest threat to the world's
secur ity is the first group to get
hold of a nuclear weapon.
o
EUROPE
(Continued from page 4)
Newsweek
(European edi tion):
"No matter how much we Euro–
peans criticized American leader–
ship in the past, we never ceased
relying on it. So now that the
United States appears to be fai l–
ing in its mission as leader and
champion of the European al–
liance, we are suddenly aware of
our weaknesses vis-a-vis the So–
viet Union. ...
" In Europe, the prospects of a
new relationship with the Soviet
Union take several forms. They
are aJI , however, underlined by
the fear of a weak Europe com–
pared to an increasingly strong.
arrogant and self-assured Soviet
Union....
In recent talks with
French diplomats, Soviet leaders
didn't bother to conceal their ncw
ar rogance. Yes, they said. ... We
moved into Afg han ist an. So
what? lt's no concern of yours
what we do there.
"The Soviets use the same tac–
tics over the question of nuclear
weapons in Europe," said editor
lmbert. "Never mind about ou r
SS20s [huge Soviet missiles tar–
geted on West Europe's cities],
the Kremlin says now. They are
not your concern . Just don't pul
Pershings [U.S. missiles] in Eu–
rope.. .. This behavior is the pre–
lude to a bid for the neutraliza–
tion of Europe, a Iong-term So–
viet goal."
Too many Europeans, asserts
Mr. Imbert, are being lulled by
the idea that "Fin landizat ion"
may not be so bad after aJI. He
appeals to fellow Europeans to
"take stock of ourselves before
it's too late....
In view of America's dec line
and Russia's burgeoning power,
Europe, concluded Mr. lmbert,
" is only now becoming conscious
of
how alone
it
is.
A stretc h of
solitude is always beneficia! if it is
used to reflect on ultimate goals
and aims- especially if they in–
volve an
ultimate spiritual sur–
viva/."
Strauss Lashes Out
Europe's aimless drift toward
pro-Moscow neut rality is the is–
sue Franz Josef Strauss is st ress–
ing most in his uphill battle to
unseat Helmut Schmidt in the
Wes t German national elect ions
October 5.
Mr. Strauss, discarding his
"sophisticated statesman" image,
has been lashing out like the
Strauss of old at the left-wing in
Mr. Schmidt's Social Democratic
Party. These men, he claims, are
leading West Germany down the
dangerous path of neutraJization.
For Mr. Strauss the opt ion of a
" Finlandi zed Europe" subser–
vient to Moscow is not acceptable
at all. Europe, he says, must show
sympathy and support for the
United States. Yet, at the same
time, he claims in an article in the
spring, 1980, issue of
Policy
Review.
"the European partners
should be ready to take
global
joint responsibility
instead of
passing the role of the policeman
of the world to America."
Mr. Strauss comes down sharply
on the side of the "second
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