Tuesday, February 10, 1998
United States should terrorize terrorists
TERRORISM Superiority of firepower affords U.S. many retaliatory
options
Two thousand years ago, robbers ambushed a traveler. He took out
a Roman passport (or whatever they used in those days) and said,
"Civis Romana sum!" ("I am a Roman citizen!") The attackers let him
go immediately.
Today, some Americans carry fake foreign passports when
traveling overseas. Terrorists who hijack ships or airplanes often
demand the travelers’ passports and select the Americans for
kidnapping or execution.
Why is modern America more vulnerable to terrorism than ancient
Rome? We have weapons that can level cities, spy satellites that
can read license plates, computers with fingerprint files and
forensic DNA analysis. The Romans had swords, spears and eyewitness
evidence. The Romans, however, had the right mindset. Their policy
toward bandits, robbers and the like was, "Oderint, dum metuant."
("Let them hate, as long as they fear.")
Non-Romans who murdered Romans were subject to crucifixion.
There is a story that Julius Caesar opposed this torture and
ordered his soldiers to kill the malefactors humanely. He
nonetheless hung the bodies on crosses, with placards describing
their offenses, for all to see. Had the French language existed,
Caesar might have said, "Pour encourager les autres." ("To
encourage (as an example for) the others.") Would-be killers who
saw the bodies quickly understood that it was unhealthy to murder
Roman citizens.
Now consider the Achille Lauro hijacking. Several terrorists
took over a cruise ship, killed a wheelchair-bound American
citizen, Leon Klinghoffer, and threw his body overboard. The United
States captured the terrorists by forcing their plane to land in
Italy. An Italian court tried them and gave them 15 or 20
years.
A hundred years ago, any nation’s warship could capture and
prosecute pirates. There were no long civilian trials, appeals or
lenient prison terms with chances for parole or escape. There was a
court martial, and if the verdict was "guilty," a prompt hanging
took place.
The United States can afford millions, or even billions, of
dollars to pay informers. Terrorists cannot have a training camp if
an informer might betray it to our missiles and bombers. A
satellite can verify the target, in case the informer is a double
agent who wants us to destroy an innocent village.
There is no plausible excuse for any act of terrorism on
American land or against American travelers overseas. As we are
often reminded, America is the "land of the free."
People should be free to walk this land without worrying about
random attack and be free to travel the world in a brave and noble
manner.
A terrorist leader cannot be effective if his or her closest
associates can enrich themselves by killing him or, in a nation
that has an extradition treaty with the United States, by betraying
him to the police. Thomas Moore’s "Utopia" recommended this tactic:
Since no one in the enemy organization can trust anyone else, the
organization disintegrates. This is no great ideological
secret.
Organizations, namely those involved in undercover and often
illegal activities, must exhibit trust as their primary foundation
in order to succeed. If a group’s members cannot be adequately
assured that there is utmost secrecy amongst its constituents,
their goals will never be reached.
The United Nations and some Americans criticize Israel for
invading Lebanon to attack terrorists. In 1916, Pancho Villa and
his bandits raided American cities in Texas. Woodrow Wilson, a
liberal Democrat by contemporary standards, ordered General
Pershing to pursue Villa into Mexico. Today, we’d probably ask the
United Nations for a General Assembly resolution, a peacekeeping
force and "safe areas" for Texans. And we wonder why they hijack or
blow up our airplanes and set off bombs in our cities.
Let’s talk about bombs in cities. We need to remind terrorist
governments that we can detonate bombs in their countries, wherever
and whenever we so desire. Whether the public knows it or not, the
United States’ ability to suppress terrorism is limitless. I do not
support retaliation against innocent civilians, but putting a
cruise missile or smart bomb through a dictator’s bedroom window is
another matter. As a matter of opinion, this should be an easily
attainable goal. We cannot tolerate the threat of evil and thus
must combat it swiftly as it strikes. It is often inappropriate to
wait in such untimely fashions for diplomatic solutions to such
hindrances on life. Given, our nation’s leaders must be more
assertive and enact their "harsh" words. We should send Khadafy,
Assad and the Iranians videotapes of the smart bomb going down the
ventilation shaft during Desert Storm. Saddam, no doubt, remembers
it.
Congress and the president are grandstanding as usual and
calling for anti-terrorist legislation. We don’t need new laws, we
need to enforce the old ones. We don’t need laws to make it illegal
for American citizens to give money to terrorist organizations.
Congress simply needs to treat the terrorists as foreign
paramilitary organizations and declare war on them.
It is illegal for Americans to assist enemies of the United
States. Some terrorists claim to be soldiers whom we should treat
as prisoners of war. Let’s do exactly that. International law
requires combatants to wear uniforms. Terrorists disguise
themselves as civilians, which is a capital military crime. If they
attack the United States while wearing uniforms, I agree that we
should treat any survivors, at minimum, as POWs.
We knew how to handle terrorism a long time ago, and we didn’t
have much trouble with it. The Barbary Pirates demanded tribute
from the United States and we sent Stephen Decateur after them. In
1904, a Moroccan radical named Raisuli kidnapped Pedicaris, an
American citizen. Theodore Roosevelt demanded, "Pedicaris alive or
Raisuli dead!" and got Pedicaris alive.
The United States should always seek respect, not hate or fear.
If, however, terrorists take this for weakness and irresolution,
they must learn the full meaning of "Oderint, dum metuant." The
next time they ask for passports, Americans must not be afraid to
declare, "Civis Americana sum!"Inlender is a second-year psychology
student.