What Warning Are We ignoring Now?

Welcome to the Front Porch! Today we're reminiscing about the would'ves, should'ves and could'ves we've all had. Here's a BIG one. I'm not making this up:

...from the April, 1973 (!) READER'S DIGEST.

"Time to Get Tough With Terrorists"

Interview with Brian Crozier by James Atwater...

Brian Crozier is an author of military textbooks and expert on 'outbreaks of violence and revolution throughout the world.' At the time of the interview, 1973(!), he was director of the 'London-based Institute for the Study of Conflict.' Here 'he focuses ...on the sophisticated and ruthless tactics terrorists now employ almost everywhere.'

"Q. Mr. Crozier, how serious is the threat of terrorism today?

"A. Very serious indeed. Terrorism---of a quite different sort from anything we've experienced in the past---has become a blight on modern society. It is 'transnational' in scope---that is, there is a kind of global brotherhood of terrorists who share basic beliefs and techniques, and often give one another support in arms and training. They are usually well-educated men and women from middle class families...

"Our Institute has a record of attacks, week after week, in countries as far apart as Indonesia, Argentina, Chad and the Philippines, to take some random examples...

"But the most disturbing thing about the new terrorism is that it is directed against liberal, Western and Western-style democracies, in stark contrast to the past when revolutionaries attacked repressive societies such as Czarist Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the France's'ancien regime'...

"...West Germany...Italy...England, Japan, India and Sweden have all experienced terrorism. In the United States, the Weathermen were put out of action after being linked to 4330 incendiary bombings of banks, offices and schools."

(My note: now, 37 years later, the "Weathermen" teach our kids at universities, advise the President, and become Czars in his Shadow Cabinet as well as being exalted by the State 'News 'Media')

"Q. What do these terrorists hope to gain by attacking democracies?"

"A. They try to provoke a breakdown of society and governmment so they can take power...They murder, rob, kidnap and dynamite until authorities are forced to curtail civil freedoms and suppress the attacks" The terrorists hope, "...by these measures, the authorities alienate ordinary citizens, who then turn against the government..."

"Q. How successful do you think terrorism has been?"

"A. ...Their methods are becoming more technically sophisticated. Their hijacking has exploited the vulnerability of modern aircraft. They've perfected the letter bomb. And now scientitsts are warning us that, as the supply of fissionable materials becomes more readily available, it will become technically possible for a group of terrorists to assemble their own crude, but effective A-bomb---or adapt to their own needs techniques of bacteriological warfare."

"Q. Can we do anything to combat terrorism?"

"A. We can---and MUST---do a number of things.

"First...each threatened country needs to create a department of special defense...experts in intelligence, explosives, commando tactics, languages, psychological warfare, communications---and train anti-terrorist squads to be instantly ready for action...

"Second..we must tighten security at airports...despite delay and inconvenience.

"Third...UN member countries should agree to punish...any terrorist who hurts, kidnaps or kills any innocent civilian...

"Finally, I believe that a part of the Western intellectual establishment, through biased or negative criticisms of our institutions and society, bears a heavy responsibility for fostering an atmosphere that is favorable to the terrorists. Certain Western countires have a tendency to give hospitality in the media---particularly television---to extreme views, and to grant terrorists a platform, while refusing time or space to moderates who want to offer rebuttals.

"To sum up, I don't believe that most Western governments yet realize the special nature of the threat that terrorism poses for modern democratic societies. WE'RE ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE TO THE DARING AND FANATICISM OF THE MAN WHO IS WILLING TO DIE TO GET WHAT HE WANTS. WE MUST LEARN TO RECOGNIZE THIS TERRORIST THREAT, OR ITS SPECTER WILL HAUNT US MORE AND MORE IN YEARS TO COME." (Increased emphasis mine)

Since "Reader's Digest wasn't "cool" in '73, we were too busy watching 'Three's Company.' So much for trusting elite intelligentsia, corrupt policians, or a sycopahntic news media with our fates. Right? RIGHT!?

Your thoughts and suggestions below---don't keep 'em to yourself!