The Achilles Heel:ENDING INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM

By Richard B. Beal, Jr.

The Baltimore Sun: April 15, 1988

We are just now coming to realize that the United States is now caught up in the tendrils of international terrorism of the kind that the Europeans have tried unsuccessfully to cope with for a number of years. As yet, however, we have not come to fully appreciate the apprehension the Parisian feels every time he boards the Metro. Nor do we cringe when we enter a department store as does the Londoner. Nor do we have to stuff trash in our pockets and purses because all trash cans in cities have been removed so terrorists can't put bombs in them.

The Europeans have tried to deal with international terrorism with preventive measures, all of which have restricted their movements and anguished them. And the terrorism goes on. We are about to fall into the same trap.

A case in point is the federal government's new rule that any item weighing more that sixteen ounces must be hand-delivered to the post office for mailing. The two government agencies involved in this ruling, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Postal Service, know that the Lockerbie bomb that brought down PanAm 103 weighed only eight ounces. Nevertheless, we are going to require everybody to take parcels weighing more than twice that to the post office for mailing. There, before the eyes of highly trained demolition experts cleverly disguised as bored mail clerks, millions of citizens, and, we assume, an occasional terrorist will fill out a Custom's declaration stating that their parcels contain chocolates for nieces. Even the native-born wacko terrorist can get by that one. And the trained professional? Well, really! Most irritating about all this nonsense is that it gives credence and substance to the aims and purposes of the terrorists.

If we should decide to be sensible about the problem of terrorism, that is, if we should decide to eliminate terrorism as a clear and present danger to American life and property, then we must use something other than passive means. Instead, we will have to take positive and decisive action against this enemy.

And, "enemy" is the word. The international terrorism plaguing Europe is as organized and calculated as any other military operation against a clearly identified enemy. And, we, the West, the United States in particular, are the enemy, like it or not, understand it or not.

It is common knowledge that the sophisticated techniques and materiel used in international terrorism today require the kind of support that only a national state can provide. For example, terrorists need extensive and secure training sites, like a military base. Terrorists need a government to backstop and front for the procurement of advanced explosives and detonators. Wherever they are operating, terrorists always need quick access to untraceable cash in various currencies and denominations, e.g., an embassy. At least some of the terrorists must have diplomatic cover or false passports to ease their own movements. They need the diplomatic pouch to securely transfer their sophisticated explosives and related gear across international boundaries. And, yet to make its debut in this milieu: Nuclear devices. Passive restraints and preventive measures do little or nothing to counter or eliminate these vital terrorist support activities. Therefore, so limited, we cannot stop terrorism. So, if the West is unable to stop terrorism, who can? The answer, paradoxically, is the very same clique of barbarian states that sponsor international terrorism because they can shut down the terrorists' support mechanisms. And how do we persuade them to do that? Well, there are such things as trade sanctions, public denunciation, and a variety of other diplomatic maneuvers. All these have been tried repeatedly over the past several decades. All have failed. There is, however, a solution within the bounds of international law that has not been used, and that is a declaration of war against the barbarian states. Then, when any one of them offends us with an act of terrorism, America's superb air and sea power can systemically and progressively raise the pain level until the offender becomes the world's most enthusiastic aborter of international terrorism.

Meanwhile, back on the farm, we must, of course, be prudent and protect ourselves by reasonable preventive measures as much as possible. But, to wipe out organized terrorism we must go to its core, the barbarian states, directly and with force.