Here is my view on the present crisis and why it is not unique.
Terrorism-What Is Behind It and Why?
"LONDON, April 17-Machine-gun fire from the Libyan Embassy raked a crowd today during a protest against the Government of Muammar el-Qaddafi, killing a police officer and wounding 10 people."-The New York Times.
"In plain view, the gunmen inside fired from an open window, riddling the demonstrators with automatic gunfire . . . The unarmed policewoman was shot in the back. . . . Ten days after this barbaric incident, the British government provided the killers, along with their murder weapons, with safe passage out of the country."-Terrorism-How the West Can Win.
As embassy staff, the gunmen were granted diplomatic immunity.
WHY do people and groups resort to terrorism? Who are the main targets? What does terrorism accomplish?
One point of view is that terrorism is a symptom that can indicate a variety of racial, social, and political injustices. Catholic priest and theologian James T. Burtchaell stated: "Some terrorism is perpetrated by an ethnic and/or religious (and usually economic) minority that demands self-governance: Basques in Spain, Catholics in Ulster, Huks in the Philippines. . . . Some is undertaken by governments threatened by majority dissent . . . Some is the venture of a national minority that aspires to control the government."
But is it just minority groups that resort to terrorism? Burtchaell continues: "Some terrorism is sponsored by governments to discredit, destabilize, and displace the government of another, uncooperative nation."-Fighting Back.
According to other commentators, the motives behind terrorism can be interpreted differently, depending on the observer's political sympathies. Some argue that when injustices are committed and the people have no legal redress, terror becomes their only answer. Others see in terrorism a strategy against Western democracies, inspired and manipulated by the opposing political ideology. Let us examine some of the facts and opinions about this complex problem.
Why the Terror in Northern Ireland?
According to the writers of Northern Ireland-The Divided Province, British Protestants, many from Scotland, were transplanted onto Irish Catholic soil over 350 years ago, which created a clash of cultures and later led to competition for jobs. That book states: "The Protestants of Northern Ireland mostly arrived during the 17th century in a process begun in 1607 and known as the 'plantation' of Ulster. This at last established firm English rule upon the whole island of Ireland." This English rule has been the basis for bitterness and violence for centuries.
The Catholic Irish Free State (Eire) was formed in 1921, and the six mainly Protestant counties in the northeast were left as a separate entity, forming Northern Ireland. From the Irish nationalist viewpoint, this act dismembered Ireland. Ever since then, the illegal IRA (Irish Republican Army) has continued its fight to reunite Ireland-which the Protestants strongly resist. Why? Because they refuse to come under what they perceive to be 'Catholic Papist rule' in Dublin.
The Protestant viewpoint is summed up in the words of The New York Times regarding the recent vote in Ireland to keep a ban on divorce, which was upheld by a 3 to 2 margin: "Politicians in Northern Ireland who oppose any ties with the republic were among the first to denounce the vote as a measure of the 'stranglehold' of the Roman Catholic Church on the Irish Republic."
The IRA is presently divided into two factions-the Officials and the Provisionals (Provos). According to professor of history Thomas E. Hachey, "the IRA Officials are committed to an all-Ireland, thirty-two-county socialist republic. . . . The Provos advocate a federal solution and a federal constitution for Ireland." (The Rationalization of Terrorism) How seriously the latter feel about their aims was illustrated in 1984 when the Provos left a time bomb in a Brighton hotel, nearly killing British Prime Minister Thatcher and her cabinet.
In spite of religious, political, and ethnic factors, some questions remain: Are there any deeper motives behind terrorism? To what extent are the great powers involved?
The Motives Behind Terrorism
Most of the Arab terrorist groups justify their actions by pointing to the plight of the Palestinian refugees who lost their homeland, Palestine, when the nation of Israel was formed in 1948. Over the decades, feelings have run so high that now the Arab terrorists' aim is not just a separate homeland but something more sinister to Jews-the annihilation of Israel. How is this known?
The following quotation is taken from the "Open Letter" of Hizballah ("Party of God"), a Shi'ite group operating in the Middle East.
"Our sons are now in a state of ever-escalating confrontation against these enemies [Israel, United States, France, and the (Lebanese) Phalange] until the following objectives are achieved:
"Israel's final departure from Lebanon as a prelude to its final obliteration from existence and the liberation of venerable Jerusalem from the talons of occupation."-Hydra of Carnage.
On the other hand, many terrorist acts have been perpetrated by "martyrs" under the influence of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini and his philosophy, expressed in these words quoted from the book Sacred Rage: "The governments of the world should know that Islam cannot be defeated. Islam will be victorious in all the countries of the world, and Islam and the teachings of the Koran will prevail all over the world."
This perspective leads to his further conclusion: "We have in reality, then, no choice but to destroy those systems of government that are corrupt in themselves . . . and to overthrow all treacherous, corrupt, oppressive and criminal regimes. This is the duty that all Muslims must fulfill."
The driving force behind other terrorists is revolutionary socialism and the overthrow of capitalism. Writer Jan Schreiber states in his book The Ultimate Weapon-Terrorists and World Order: "In general the capacity to exploit is equated with capitalism, and capitalism, whether or not tempered by democracy, is equated with fascism." As a Japanese supporter of terrorism expressed it: "What we will never accept in this world is the fact, brought about by capitalism, of people exploiting other people. And this is our motive for being willing to fight."
However, others see terrorists in a different light. Israeli ambassador Benjamin Netanyahu writes: "Terrorism is not an automatic result of anything. It is a choice, an evil choice." He reasons: "The root cause of terrorism lies not in grievances but in a disposition toward unbridled violence. This can be traced to a world view which asserts that certain ideological and religious goals justify, indeed demand, the shedding of all moral inhibitions."-Terrorism-How the West Can Win.
But why has our modern society suddenly become the victim of terrorism?
A Vulnerable Society
Neil Livingstone, a U.S. expert on terrorism, writes: "As our world has become ever more urban and complex, we have correspondingly become ever more vulnerable to the designs of small groups, or even single individuals, bent on disrupting the lives of or inflicting their will on, the majority." Why is our society so vulnerable to terrorist activity? "Our slender lifelines of water, energy, transportation, communication, and sanitation are all at the mercy of sophisticated terrorists and saboteurs."-Hydra of Carnage.
Because of the fragility of our life-support systems, one terrorist can exercise the power of an army of ancient times. Livingstone adds: "As a result of technological advances . . . one man can command more killing technology than ever before. One individual in the age of technology is potentially the equal of an army [of the age] when the chief weapons of war were the sword, the bow, and the spear. This is one of the chief reasons why terrorists represent such a threat to the contemporary world."
Another vulnerable point in modern society is the instant impact of news events. Television multiplies the power of terrorism. The terrorist wants international publicity for his cause-and thanks to the media, he gets it!
Only about a century ago, it took days for news to travel around the world. Now news is instantaneous. In some cases the terrorist can actually see himself enacting his role on TV. Often he knows what the other side is doing while he continues to play his cards close to his chest. Jan Schreiber goes so far as to say that "the drive to seize public attention" has been "the most consistently successful terrorist ploy."
But are there any other reasons why terrorism continues to prosper?
Terrorism and Two Opposing Ideologies
Offering no hope for the future, two consultants on terrorism write: "Terrorism will not disappear. Small, weak states have discovered that it can greatly increase their political clout, and plagued as they are by resource shortages, they are not likely to abandon terrorism as a political and military tool." At the same time, they add, some major powers see advantages in waging surrogate warfare through terrorism. "Larger, stronger states, by contrast, have discovered that terrorist proxies can help them achieve their national objectives without the risk attendant to other forms of warfare."-Fighting Back.
If the stronger states have discovered that terrorism can help them achieve their aims, could this account for some, or a major part, of world terrorism? Jan Schreiber writes: "Disclosures in the mid-seventies confirmed what dispassionate observers had long known without proof; that the two dominant ideologies of the world had employed, and would likely continue to employ, all means, fair and foul, to confound their enemies and gain, or retain, supremacy."
This clash of ideologies is implicit in a speech by Soviet leader Gorbachev when he said: "It must be crystal clear that international relations can be channeled toward normal cooperation only if the imperialists abandon their attempts to solve the historical argument between the two social systems by military means."-A Time for Peace.
Others also recognize this international "chess game" between the two major powers. For example, Robin Wright states in her book Sacred Rage: "Muslim militants also feel the United States has looked at the Middle East primarily as an area for rivalry with the Soviet Union, virtually ignoring the powerful local forces at play. In a bipolar world, the U.S. has not been sensitive to the frustrated calls for recognition of the emerging Third World." Apparently, some smaller nations see themselves being used as pawns in the clash of ideologies.
Western experts view much of terrorism as another weapon being used to destabilize the capitalist system. Ambassador Robert B. Oakley, a U.S. expert on counterterrorism, stated: "Left unchallenged, the rise of terrorism will undermine the system of political, economic, and military relationships which the United States and its allies have come to rely upon to preserve, protect, and promote their national and mutual interests . . . During the years ahead, we must be prepared for continued serious threats from international terrorism . . . much of it supported or encouraged by a handful of ruthless governments."
U.S. ambassador Robert M. Sayre expressed his opinion more directly: "Terrorism is politically motivated and is planned and organized. . . . Most of it is carried out by states and groups of Marxist-Leninist persuasion, and the Soviet Union and its Eastern-bloc partners lend support and comfort to them."-Department of State Bulletin.
Terrorism and Bible Prophecy
Why is the clash between the two great powers, with terrorism as a tool, of special interest to Bible students? Because of a significant prophecy found in the Bible book of Daniel, chapter 11. This prophecy describes an ongoing conflict between two great powers, "the king of the north" and "the king of the south." "The king of the north" is identified as being atheistic, having rejected "the God of his fathers." (Daniel 11:37) He magnifies himself and gives glory to the god of fortresses, or armaments. He acts effectively against fortified strongholds and establishes his world position. (Daniel 11:38, 39) Does "the king of the south" stand idle while his opponent expands?
The ominous prophecy states: "And in the time of the end the king of the south will engage with him in a pushing, and against him the king of the north will storm with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships; and he will certainly enter into the lands and flood over and pass through." (Daniel 11:40) Logically, terrorism under its different guises is now being used by both kings in their struggle for world dominance. Daniel's words indicate that there will be competitive coexistence between the two leading world powers until God brings an end to their rivalry at his war of Armageddon.-Revelation 16:14-16.
The questions remain: Can man alone end the scourge of terrorism? If so, how and when? If not, why not?
