Editing 78-13-A4 (section)

= Terrorism =

<TABLE BORDER="0"><TR><TD WIDTH="60%" ROWSPAN="2">
=== Transcript ===
International terrorism is on the increase and it's not nearly
as random as it might seem from watching the evening news or reading
the daily headlines.

Let me quote you a few sentences from a sobering new book just
published by the American Council for World Freedom. It's titled
"International Terrorism: The Communist Connection" and it was written
by Dr. Stefan Possony of the Hoover Institution at Stanford; and Francis
L. Bouchey, executive director of the Council for Inter-American Security.
Here's how their study begins: "There is virtually no terrorist operation
or guerrilla movement anywhere in the world today, whether
communist, semi-communist, or non-communist--from the Irish Republican
Army to the Palestine Liberation Organization to our own Weather
Underground--with which communists of one sort of another have not
been involved, This includes non-communist operations and movements,
for communist parties and governments always stand ready to exploit
disorder in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and elsewhere,
however and by whomever it is fomented.

They then set out, in 172 pages, to document their claim. They
caution against jumping to the conclusion that all terrorism is centrally
planned and controlled. Instead, the authors say, it is more a matter
of cooperation between diverse terrorist groups, all of whom have one
thing in common--the overthrow of organized society in favor of chaos
and disorder.

Their case study of the late and notorious German terrorist Ulrike
Meinhof is a case in point. They also have chapters on "Moscow's
Support of International Terrorism", "The Ideology of Terrorism", and
"The Psychology of Terrorism" among others.

Authors Possony and Bouchey cover the alphabet of terrorist
organizations, not quite from A-to-Z, but at least from Al Fatah to
the Weather Underground.

As for terrorist groups in the United States, they make the point
that most have foreign contacts and most of these are left-wing. The
Weather Underground, for example, which has claimed credit for many
bombings over the last dozen years, has an "above-ground" support
apparatus called the Prairie Fire Organization committee, which has
developed "close personal and political ties with the Puerto Rican
Socialist Party", a Castroite Communist group.

What can be done about terrorism? Noting that "Congress has
become even more negative on internal security", the authors also
cite resulting deficiencies that exist in the area of police work,
pointing out that "even if one accepts criticism of past FBI practice,
the fact that there have been no arrests for scores of bombing
incidents in the San Francisco Bay area alone, argues for better, more
scientific surveillance, not less." They also call for closer
international cooperation, including more aggressive efforts to ferret
out false passports. "International Terrorism" isn't easy bedside
reading, but it should be must - reading for our lawmakers. 

This is Ronald Reagan.

Thanks for listening.
</TD>
<TD WIDTH="10%" ROWSPAN="2">&nbsp;</TD>
<TD VALIGN="TOP" HEIGHT="250">
=== Details ===
<TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH="80%">
<TR><TD WIDTH="150">Batch Number</TD><TD WIDTH="150">{{PAGENAME}}</TD></TR>
<TD>Production Date</TD><TD>09/19/[[Radio1978|1978]]</TD></TR>
<TD>Book/Page</TD><TD>[https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/2024-07/40-656-7386263-014-011-2024.pdf#PAGE=6 Online PDF]</TD></TR>
<TD>Audio</TD><TD></TD></TR>
<TD>Youtube?</TD><TD>No</TD></TR>
</TABLE>
</TD></TR>
<TR><TD VALIGN="TOP">
===Added Notes===

</TD></TR>
</TABLE>