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July 26, 2005
- It was discovered in Munich, during the 1972 Olympic
Games, that terrorists could not be dissuaded from carrying out heinous acts
of cold blood against innocents when motivated by ethnic hatred or religious
fanaticism. It also became apparent that the rest of the world could and
would carry on as though the fedayeen's (men of sacrifice) acts of barbarism
were of no particular cause for concern. To emphasize this, The Olympic
Games continued with full media coverage after the murder of 11 members of
the Israeli team by PLO affiliates referred to as "Black September".
Although Israel absolutely refused to
negotiate with terrorists, they were willing to send Israeli commandos, or 'sayeret,'
to conduct the hostage rescue. "The sayeret are elite trained reconnaissance
forces drawn from the ranks of the Israeli Special Forces and experienced in
hostage rescue techniques." 1 Germany refused their offer and
instead sent out an inexperienced team of snipers who were ill equipped,
small in number and pathetically unprepared to take part in a mission
against the specially trained hostage takers. They botched the rescue which
led to the deaths of all the Israeli athletes.
During the incident, Israel was
portrayed as unyielding but the reality was that they determined no Israeli
anywhere in the world would be safe if they were to negotiate with the
terrorists. Yet, instead of focusing on the unreasonable demands of these
terrorists who in that particular instance demanded the release of 234
jailed Palestinians in Israel, Israel was condemned by the UN Security
Counsel for retaliating against PLO bases in Syria and Lebanon. To rub salt
in the wound, Germany negotiated the release of three of the hostage takers
that survived.
To make a stand, the Israeli Mossad
implemented an antiterrorist campaign to assassinate anyone associated with
the Black September massacre. "Golda Meir wanted to send the message that
Israel would not let terrorist acts against Israeli citizens go unanswered
or unpunished. There would be a price to pay for any attack on Israeli
citizens anywhere in the world." 2
Instead of learning from Israel's
experience with terrorism, each new act of violence since then has been
rationalized by pacifists as deserved retaliation for some catalyst or
another. Instead of determining to beat them at their own game, guerillas
are given more and more recognition; legitimized if you will. They have
been given roles in the United Nations, representation at the Olympics, and
invitations to meet with world leaders who hope to appease their unmitigated
demands. Arafat was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
As John Howard, Australia's Prime
Minister stated after the recent London bombings, "Those who think terrorism
is incident specific don't understand the terrorist mind." This is because
ideological terrorism won't stop until its enemies are brought to their
knees. There is no respect for human dignity, infrastructure which helps
sustain our existence, or for freedom. And each time fault is pinned on the
subjects of attack or a rationale is used to justify an act of terror,
terrorists are given a stronger platform from which to base their
aggression.
The killing of innocents does not
recognize boundaries or individuality. As Vladimir Putin said, "Terrorism
has once again shown it is prepared deliberately to stop at nothing in
creating human victims. An end must be put to this. As never before, it is
vital to unite forces of the entire world community against terror."
Like it or not, the United States has
been thrust into a war against radical Islamist terrorism. This form of
terrorism is not aimed at any one country or any one set of people. It is a
religious mindset which dictates all life is expendable when the goal is to
eliminate the infidels, or those who tolerate those who do not submit to
Allah. Although there are many in this country who don't want to see the
body count rise in any particular theater, what needs to be understood is
that there is no alternative. Israel has known this for decades.
Instead of vilifying those who determine
that a stand must be taken and that we must fight for our continued right to
self determination, we need to keep in mind the words of Paul Wolfowitz who
remarked, "I think one has to say it's not just simply a matter of capturing
people and holding them accountable, but removing the sanctuaries, removing
the support systems, ending states who sponsor terrorism. And that's why it
has to be a broad and sustained campaign."
One only needs to experience religious
or political oppression to understand that freedom is more valuable than
life itself. Ask immigrants who have personally taken part in fighting
tremendous odds to escape dictatorships, theocracies or communism. Rather
than condemning a way of life that allows imagination and hard work to
prosper, our country's imperfections are seen as small obstacles to the
pursuit the American Dream.
1, 2
COUNTERING TERRORISM
http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/calahan.htm
One Day in September
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