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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, DECEMBER 23, 1983
not solely by private terrorist groups but also by sovereign
nations--by Syria and Iran, and that the list of suspects doesn't
stop there. In any event we have no hope of containing inter
national terrorism unless we hold nations responsible for ter
rorists operating openly from their territory.... The increas
ingly obvious truth is that a lack of will now in dealing with
terrorism is only going to set us up for more bloody incidents
involving American installations over the corning months•...
But all these are minor causes of denial compared with the awful
possibility that triggers all our neurotic defenses. Secretary
Shultz hinted at it when he illustrated state-supported terrorism
with the example of the Rangoon bombing.
Four South Korean
cabinet members died in the October blast, and only a lucky delay
saved South Korean President Chun Doc Hwan.
This curiously
underplayed incident was, said Secretary Shultz, apparently "an
act of the North Korean government." There may be�link between
Rangoon, Beirut and Kuwait, running through Moscow. But this
thought is not supposed to be mentioned in polite company....
Americans everywhere will be open targets if sovereign states are
allowed to believe that terrorism is a way to achieve political
ends with impunity.
The December 13, 1983 NEW YORK TIMES investigated the growing fear of an
Iranian-directed "master plan for the Middle East." The recent multiple
bombings in Kuwait, in particular, are an ominous portent of the future.
Officials and Arab analysts here said the multiple bomb attacks
in Kuwait today appeared to be part of a regional campaign .Q.Y
Iranian-sponsored groups to strike at American interests, disrupt
moderate Arab regimes and�reate�--rertile ground for the spread
of the Islamic revolution that began in Iran••••
Kuwait was a natural alternative to Beirut--its Sunni Moslem
Government has long been a target for overthrow by the Iranians,
some 10 percent of its population is Shiite and it is a key finan
cial backer of Iraq in its war with Iran. Also, like Lebanon,
Kuwait's long, sandy border and coastline make the smuggling of
explosives and men easy.
The analysts say they believe that a whole new form of terrorism
seems to be developing in the Middle-East•••-:-,rhe implications of
the Kuwait bombings for the West are equally serious, since
Kuwait and its Arab neighbors are some of the world's largest
exporters of oil. The wave of bombs in Lebanon, while tragic,
barely touch the United States' vital strategic interests, which
are almost nonexistent in Lebanon. The situation in the Gulf is
quite different, given the crude oil buried under it••••
Given the fact that American, French and Kuwaiti sites were hit
today, it appears that the attackers intended both to deal a blow
to the two Western powers and at the same time undercut and dis
credit the Sabah ruling family in Kuwait. The bombings not only
make them all look ineffectual, but also shake two of the most
important Western pillars upon which the Kuwaiti regime has
always counted for its security.