William R. Kintner

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ For the Weather Underground leaders, the most important results 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 monster" and in solidarity with revolutionary movements throughout the world. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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) . ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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-.. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The Puerto Rican Socialist Party is not a reformist organization like the European Social Democratic parties. It is a Castro Communist party — and the use of the name "Puerto Rican Socialist Party"' was simply intended to give their organizing greater acceptability, na- tionallv and internationally. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A free society cannot behave like a totalitarian society, even in deal- ing with a problem as grave as the growing epidemic of terrorism. It will, therefore, take all of our ingenuity and all of our determination over the coming period to devise a strategy that simultaneously respects the rights guaranteed under our constitution and places more effective restraints on the terrorist elements in our countr}'. ”

“ 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 * * *." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 in- discriminate and merciless nature of the force applied by modern terrorists in pursuit of their political objectives is something which flies in the face of all civilization.
Terrorism opei-ates at two dili'erent levels. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Let us recall that the fundamental purpose of the terrorist is to frighten his adversary. He needs innocent victims and he needs pub- licity. But, on top of this, the act itself is intended either to provoke the government into excessive reactions or to force its acceptance of teri*or- ist demands or to reduce the government to a state of paralysis. ”

“ All the groups whose publications you see there on the display board identify themselves with either Vietnam, Castro's Cuba, or the PLO. They have a common sympathy wath what they are trying to achieve — the overthrow of the American system. ”

“ On the other hand they may force the government to capitulate to their demands.
The terrorist depends on four major features of the modern world to advance his work. First is the intrinsic vulnerability of modern industrial democracies. ”

“ The propagandists must supply each group with brief and simple recipes for making bombs, give them an elementary explanation of the type of work, and then leave it all to them. Squads must at once begin military training by launch- ing operations immediately, at once. ”

“ America has not achieved perfection, and vSome of our imperfections are all too obvious. But we have presen-ed the democratic process which allovA's for the expression of the majority will while protecting the minority's rights. ”

“ Whether they attack physical objectives or people, the terrorists have one primary aim, namely to exploit the media in order to make what they call armed propaganda and in this way to give the im- j^ression that their movement has greater support than it has in reality. ”

“ The Central Committee of the Weather Underground Organization has announced that "* * * we dedicate ourselves to solidarity with the Jidy 4th mobilization in Pliiladolphia Avhich will raise the Jbanner of independence for Puerto Rico and unite this struggle with that of the workers and oppressed people of the United States. ”