78-13-A4
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Terrorism[edit]
Transcript[edit]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. |
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