William R. Kintner

“ From everything we know about their thinking, there is reason to be concerned that the terrorist elements in our society will find the Bicentennial an irresistible attraction — not only because the eyes of the world will be focused on the Bicentennial festivities, but also be- cause they regard the celebration itself with consuming hostility, since it stands for everything they are opposed to. ”

“ For the Weather Underground leaders, the most important result of terrorist actions in the initial stages of the operation was media coverage. They wanted to show people both in the United States and around the world that there was a network of revolutionaries willing to take personal responsibility, to carry out terrorist acts "within the belly of the master" and in solidarity with revolutionary movements throughout the world. ”

“ And to me it seems clear that the first purpose of the law in any free society must be the protection of the community against violent and subver- sive minorities that seek to terrorize, intimidate, and slowly destroy the capacity of the Government to govern. ”

“ Dissident Marxist-Leninist organizations also support or engage in terrorism. The major American Trotskyite organization, the Socialist "Workers Party for example, is part of the terrorist Fourth International, While they do not advocate terrorism in the United States right now, they do not rule it out as a future tactic.
The mass demonstrations that are being planned for July 4th could provide dramatic platforms for Marxist-Leninist terrorists. Marxist- Leninist theory condemns individual acts of terrorism if they are not linked to a mass movement. ”

“ CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN TERRORISM Over the past decade, political terrorism on an international scale has become one of the ugliest and most pressing problems confronting the community of free nations. ”

“ Basic communism will be studied. The basic works of Lenin, Stalin, and Mao, State and Revolution, What Is to Be Done, and then there is another publication put out by Politics in Command on the question of armed struggle by the Weather Underground organization.
Here is where they state: "Our goal is to build Communist organizations toward the stage where armed struggle becomes a mass phenomena led by a Marxist-Leninist party." ”

“ Now let's take a look at the Bicentennial celebrations planned for "Washington and for Philadelphia. Any event which is going to enjoy major international media coverage is an ideal terrorist event because it provides opportunities for the terrorists to make their presence known through the media to the world and to spread terror and un- certainty among free men and nations. ”

“ There is every reason for fearing that the situation in the United States will become much worse before it becomes much better, and that we may yet experience terrorist kidnapings and assassinations on the Latin American model.
Totalitarian societies find it relatively easy to cope with the problem of terrorism — indeed, there is no serious problem of terrorism in totali- tarian societies — because they are inhibited by few humanitarian or legal scruples. ”

“ While it is the dutv of the reporter to report the facts where acts of terrorism are involved, the selection of these facts to emphasize sensational brutality serves the terrorists and not the newspaper reader or the TV viewer. ”

“ At the same time, the deeper the struggles in the heart of this society, the bigger will be the possibilities of victory for the Third World.
The same article bore a photograph of the damage done by a bomb set by Puerto Rican terrorists in New York City. The caption stated : "Puerto Rico must be the spearhead to bring the anti-imperialist war to the very heart of the American society."
The most significant of the Puerto Rican terrorist gi'oups is the Puerto Rican Armed Forces for National Liberation (FALN) . The first publicly aclaiowledged bombings claimed by the FALN were in October 1974. ”

“ I think there are some seriously interested in them but they use them as they do most of their activities as a proselytizing slogan, as a mode of recruitment trying to arouse emotional passion among people that they will then try to bring into their movement. ”

“ By reacting with excessive force borne of horror, outrage and frus- tration, a society may play into the terrorist's hands. Excessive force, indiscriminately applied, breeds its own fear and erodes the fabric of civic stability. ”

“ In the old days, whenever there was a demonstration in Washington or some other city that brought together extremist elements from all over the country, the police department in the target city would be able to build some kind of intelligence mosaic from the reports it received from other police departments around the country. This gave it some idea of how many people to expect, what organizations w^ould be participating, who the leaders were, what elements had to be considered particulary dangerous, and what plans there were, if any, for violence. ”

“ It seems to me we witnessed at the beginning of this session a classic technique, namely to use the general revolutionary symbols of our past to create psychological sympathy for a counterrevolution can be imposed upon the majority of the people. ”

“ The organizations planning to disrupt the Bicentennial come from both the so-called Old Left and Xew Left, and despite some very real differences, almost all of them consider themselves Marxist-Leninist.
All groups that consider themselves Marxist-Leninist defend the use of terrorism at some stage of the revolutionary process. ”

“ The use of force to achieve political objectives is not new. That is what every war is all about. But modern warfare among civilized nations is conducted with some respect to the difference between com- batant and non-combatant. The modern terrorists prefer to not limit themselves by any moral restrictions as to their actions. ”

“ Unless the reporting of an event is censored and the affairs of a single state can be hidden from the view of the rest of the world, a politically motivated terror attack automatically engenders international consequences. Furthermore, the terrorists rely heavily on access to foreign training, arms, and sanc- tuaries; their effect upon international "public opinion" is critical to their success. A world where political disputation is rife, general war is too dangerous, and a common consensus on minimal political values is lacking, provides an ideal breeding gi'ound for terrorism. ”

“ It is interesting to observe the generally increased interest in the Palestinian terrorists by the American terrorist movement and sup- port groups. In March 1975, the Associated Press reported a threat by the Palestine Liberation Organization to carry out terrorist acts in the United States. The AP quoted Zouheir Mohsen, leader of the military section of PLO, as saying in an interview in Damascus, "We will strike at any Israeli strategic target wherever we can reach it, in Israel or in Japan or in the United States."' (Chicago Sun-Times, March 1?>, 1975) . ”

“ To put things in balance, however, it must be noted that right-wing terrorism is a much more limited phenomenon than left-wing terror- ism, less cohesive, less ideological, and national rather than interna- tional in its outlook. To the extent that there is some kind of loose terrorist "international" today, it is a Marxist-Leninist terrorist international. ”

“ My first suggestion is, therefore, that the American people and their elected representatives must do some serious rethinking on the matter of law enforcement intelligence. Adequate intelligence is reqidrement number one in coping with the problem of terrorism — and in the ab- sence of such intelligence the most dedicated police force in the world would not be able to effectively protect its community. ”

“ In Los Angeles, New York and other major cities, the controlling criterion governing law enforcement intelligence is that no entry may be made about any person simply on the basis of membership in the Communist Party or the Trotskyist or Maoist organizations or even in .violence-prone groups such as the Black Panthers, the Jewish De- tense- League, and the Palestine Liberation Organization-.. ”

“ Tlie Weather Underground is not a legal organization for the simple reason that all of its leaders are on the FBI's most wanted list. But by 1974, the support network felt strong enough to organize a public above-ground apparatus. ”

“ It does not take great imagination to conceive of the possible conse- quences abroad if scenes of mass disorders and maj-hem in Philadel- phia and Washington seem to confirm recent impressions that the United States is an irresolute society paralyzed by domestic dissension. ”

“ Intelligence includes not only pre- cise information but also an analytical capability which yields criti- cal clues about the ideology, motivation, and likely action patterns of the terrorists and about the changing patterns of interlocks between the terrorist groups, nationally and internationally. The possession of facts alone still does not solve the problem, but without the facts, the authorities are condemned to act in a blind and sometimes arbi- trary or indiscriminate fashion, doing the terrorist's work for him. ”

“ Furthermore, since terrorism frequently crosses natural fron- tiers, the intelligence capabilities of both the CIA and the FBI will have to be reinforced. I agree that there is a need for guidelines. But the existence of guidelines does not require the kind of near total wipeout that now exists.
Second, there must be timely arrest and punishment of the terrorist. Unfortunately, the international nature of modern terrorism has en- feebled this essential deterrent. Too many governments abroad give sanction and support to terrorists. ”

“ Most of the organizations involved internationally belong to the far left. A few of these organizations consider themselves anarchist or would have to be considered an- archist. By far the majority of the left-wing terrorist organizations, however, regard INIarx and Lenin as their principal patron saints, even though they may divide in their worship of auxiliary saints like Mao. ”

“ Thus, it is no surprise that a distinctive characteristic of modern terror is the "slaughter of inno- cents,'* for there are many more innocents accessible to terrorists than there were before and the tarj^et of the terrorists — often in a different part of the world than the victim — is more easily frightened through the media. The impression produced by the crime is the link between the terrorist, victim, and target. ”

“ With slogans such as "Bring the War Home" and "We're going to burn the city down," the Weathermen broke windows and attacked the Chicago Police Department and passers-by on the streets. A Weathennan leaflet distributed in New York City high schools after the Chicago action said, "In Chicago, we attacked the homes and businesses of the rich bastards who profit oft' war and op- pression. We did a million dollars' worth of damage and sent 60 pigs to the hospital, including Richard Elrod, Corporation Counsel for Chicago * * *." ”

“ There is no substitute for public alert- ness in making it difficult for terrorists to function. This includes information for both the media and schools.
Fifth, the United States must do what it can to prevent explosives and dangerous weapons from falling to the hands of terrorists. ”

“ In their assault on the authority of government, they seek essentially to create an image of a government unable to protect its people or its society. And by destabilizing the government in these ways, the num- erous IMarxist terrorist groups at large in the free world hope to pave the way for a Marxist takeover, while in certain countries right-wing terrorist groups may be thinking in terms of a rightist dictatorship. ”

“ In the conduct of war, an effort has been made by civilized nations, particularly in re- cent centuries, to limit the horror by distinguishing between com- batants and noncombatants, by recognizing the deliberate killing of noncombatants as "war crimes," and by entering into conventions governing the mutual protection of prisoners of war. ”

“ THE OLD LEFT, THE NEW LEFT, AND TERRORISM Terrorist actions by revolutionai'v groups have taken place in the United States sporadically since 1968 but they increased dramatically during the past few years. In 1973. there were 24 bombings attribut- able to terrorists; this increased to 45 in 1974 and 89 in 1975. Violence- prone revolutionaries have boasted publicly that they intend to expand their violence during the 1976 Bicentennial celebration, beginning in 1976 and nmning through 1980. ”

“ A democracy which abridges basic liberties and abandons its con- stitution in order to pursue terrorists does their work for them. On the other liand, the danger is also increased when a government charged with the protection of its citizens is unable to guard against terrorism either capitulates to terrorist demands or fails to take ef- fective measures against them.
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The first requirement of an effective antiterrorist program is. ”