Abstract

Thinking About Terrorism

Terrorism which involves First and Third World countries and has an element of government sponsorship, as exemplified by the U.S.-Libyan conflict, will be of primary concern. In the Libyan affair, the United States charged the regime of Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi with sponsoring, terrorism in a variety of ways through ideological encouragement, training and equipment, logistical support via its embassies, transmission of weapons, provision of havens for accused terrorists, assassination of exiled political opponents and even specific directives to Libyan diplomats to menace Americans abroad. Qaddafi was accused of making terrorism against Americans the central tenet of his foreign policy and ordering his agents to strike at U.S. and Israeli targets.