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 anti-terrorist 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.
Nancy Salvato is the President of The Basics Project, (www.Basicsproject.org) a non-profit, non-partisan research and educational project whose mission is to promote the education of the american public on the basic elements of relevant political, legal and social issues important to our country. She is an experienced educator and an independent contractor with Prism Educational Consulting. She serves as Educational Liaison for Illinois Senator Carole Pankau. She works nationally and locally furthering the cause of Education Reform. Her writing is widely published on the internet and occasionally in print venues such as the Washington Times. Her opinions have been heard on select radio programs across the nation. additionally, her writing has been recognized by the US Secretary of Education.
Pursuant to Title 17 U.S.C. 107, other copyrighted work is provided for educational purposes, research, critical comment, or debate without profit or payment. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for your own purposes beyond the 'fair use' exception, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Views are those of authors and not necessarily those of Canada Free Press. Content is Copyright 1997-2018 the individual authors. Site Copyright 1997-2018 Canada Free Press.Com Privacy Statement