Page 381 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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362———Terrorism, Definition and History of

injuring many more. The act itself was so egregious radical Middle Eastern terrorist groups eventually
that it caused a significant shakeout within the right- caused the Soviets to become less enthusiastic about
wing extremist movement that till this date has yet to the potential destabilizing benefits of low-intensity
recover. Meanwhile, the attacks of single-issue terror- warfare. Nearly three decades after the Soviet Union
ists, such as antiabortion and environmental groups, trained its first batch of Palestinian terrorists, the
have continued—although in a post-September 11 era, Soviets themselves began to sense their own vulnera-
many are finding they have lost a significant amount bility to terrorism; indeed, the Russians are now them-
of the public sympathy they previously had. selves faced with an ongoing threat of terrorism in
Chechnya.

MODERN TERRORISM:
EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST TURNING POINTS: THE IRANIAN
REVOLUTION, AFGHANISTAN,
Throughout the 1960s and the 1970s, many Middle AND THE PERSIAN GULF WAR
Eastern terrorist groups sent their recruits to the
Soviet Union for training in low-intensity warfare, A significant turning point in the history of terrorism
which is a benign-sounding name for terrorism. The was the Iranian Revolution of 1979, when Ayatollah
Soviets viewed terrorism as compatible with their Ruhollah Khomeini influenced the creation of
efforts to support wars of national liberation, even Hezbollah (Party of God) in Lebanon in 1982. The
though violence against civilian populations is incon- recruits of Hezbollah, drawn from the poorest segments
sistent with traditional Marxist-Leninist thinking of society, were not only interested in carrying out
on class struggle. The Soviets also hoped that their the goals of the revolution but also concerned with the
support of Palestinian terrorism against Israel would social conditions of their fellow Shiites throughout the
enhance their position within the Arab world. Middle East. Hezbollah’s outreach in Lebanon during
Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow was where the 1980s solidified Lebanese Shiite support and helped
Palestinians would go to learn terrorist tactics. Their spawn smaller terrorist groups, the most recognizable
curriculum included liberal doses of Marxist ideology of which was the Islamic Jihad (jihad is commonly
interspersed with demonstrations on how to handle translated as “holy war”).
Kalashnikov assault rifles and make bombs. Lumumba Nearly a decade after the Iranian revolution, a
graduates would often return home to assume leader- military coup destroyed Sudan’s inept democracy. The
ship roles in many of the Palestinian terrorist groups mastermind behind Sudan’s Islamic counterreforma-
that sponsored their stay at the university, most tion was Sheik Hassan Abdallah al-Turabi. In 1991,
notably, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). the sheik took the first giant step toward realizing the
Soon, Palestinian terrorist groups such as the PLO goal of Islamic reconciliation by hosting a major
were running their own terror academies. conference of Islamic politicians and intellectuals, as
Sources close to the Palestinians reported that well as known terrorists, in the Sudanese capital of
in the early 1980s there were more than 40 terrorist Khartoum. The group ultimately endorsed a six-point
organizations taking advantage of the PLO schooling. manifesto for advancing extremist Islamic regimes
Among the biggest customers were the Turks. Turkey throughout the Muslim world.
itself was no stranger to the hand of the terrorist, expe- The 1991 Persian Gulf War saw a dramatic short-
riencing nearly 2,500 political murders in 1978–1979 term increase in the number of international terrorist
alone. Other groups trained by Palestinians include incidents. Yet it took only one year for the U.S. State
the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Basque Department to record one of the largest one-year
Fatherland and Liberty (ETA). decreases in these occurrences since the United States
For nearly a decade, Soviet-trained and -supported began keeping such records. The disintegration of the
terrorism operated with impunity in the Middle East Soviet Union, also in 1991, may have played a role,
and, to a lesser extent, in Europe. As, however, events depriving terrorist groups of a significant source of
in the Middle East or Europe would threaten to affect money, weapons, and safe havens. Aid from training
public opinion—or more significantly, threaten to camps inside other Soviet bloc countries also dried up
inspire U.S. intervention—Soviet leaders would rein with the collapse of the Soviet-sponsored Warsaw
in their client terrorists. Some actions of the more Pact.