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Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R000100330001-5 or radiological weapons. a ‘Subtle exploitation of contentious political issues such as the anti-nuclear and environmental movements.’’ At the heart of any anti-terrorism prep- aration lies a dilemma: How do you bal- ance security needs with the need to maintain a free society? ‘What we’re doing here is a balancing act,’’ says Larry Smith, who, ironically, is sitting beneath a portrait of Andrew Jackson, the President who opened up the White House to three miles of hand- shaking visitors after his election. *‘This building must be open to the public. It's their building. They come to see their legislature at work.”’ Already there has been backlash to the security measures at the Capitol. Rep- resentative Don Edwards of California, I The conflict between security and freedom in itself represents a victory for terrorists. ——— EE lr rr chairman of the House Judiciary Sub- committee on Constitutional Rights, told his staff to refuse to provide any infor- mation other than name, employer, and Social Security number in filling out ap- plications for the new security passes. He objected to requests that staffers also reveal weight, color of hair and eyes, and home address. Smith acknowledges that there has been friction between Cap- itol police officers and Senate staffers over the regular checks for passes. ‘“We feel bad about it, angry,’’ he says, noting that some security measures have been modified as a result of the complaints. Approved For Release 2000/08/07 Says Steve Van Cleave, an Atlanta- based security consultant for multina- tional corporations, ‘‘In order to totally defend against terrorism, you’d have to hermetically seal the White House. When you deal with terror, you deal with con- centric circles of defense, alert zones, something to cause a bomb to explode in the perimeter.”’ **All the advantages lie with the at- tacker in terrorism,’’ he adds. ‘‘To de- fend against it, you’d have to form an environment that’s totally unacceptable to people in a free society.”’ The conflict between security and freedom in itself represents a victory for terrorists. Writes Ray Cline, former dep- uty director for the CIA, ‘‘The first phase in terrorism . . . tends to erect an invis- ible barrier of noncooperation between people and their government. It an- nounces to a nation and the world that war has been declared on the government by shadowy and dangerous opposing forces.”’ The media have their own role in all this. In articles like this one, the media ‘‘lend credence to a hypothetical situation.’’ savs Peter Caram, former head of the Ter- rorist Intelligence Planning Section of the Port Authority of New York. “Since terror is aimed at the media and not the victim, success is always defined in terms of media coverage,” adds political scientist Raymond Tanter of the University of Michigan. ‘‘And there is no way in the West you could not have media coverage because you're dealing in a free society.” Walter Laqueur, chairman of the In- ternational Research Council of the Cen- LN ee SPECIAL EDITION -- TERRORISM -- 26 JUNE 1984 “The media are a terrorist’s best friend. Terrorists are the super-entertainers of our time.” a ter for Strategic and International Stud- ies, offers a more succinct appraisal: “*The media are a terrorist’s best friend. Ter- rorists are the super-entertainers ; Of our time.” Critics of press speculation about ter- rorism in Washington point out that ter- rorism has historically/been cyclical. They note that the Capitdl was first bombed in 1915, that the group that claimed re- sponsibility for the recent Capitol bomb- ing linked themselves in their commu- niqué with Puerto Rican Nationalists who tried to kill President Harry Truman on November 1, 1950. And they generally agree with Chief Powell of the Capitol police, who says, “*We aren’t any more concerned today about terrorism than we were five years ago. We were always concerned, and that concern hasn't changed.”’ But the nature of terrorism has changed. And judging from the administration’s counter-terrorist strategy, our approach to it is changing, too; now it is viewed more as a form of warfare rather than as street crime with political overtones. As terrorism spreads worldwide, there is, in the words of Ray Cline, ‘‘an increasing lack of distinction between war and peace.” And, says Dr. Kupperman, there may be a greater danger. ‘Contemporary ter- rorism has become a tactic of strategic value . . . with large-scale conventional ‘or nuclear warfare the likely conse- quence of failing to cope at the molecular level of violence.”’ The freedom from terrorist attack that Americans once enjoyed is believed to be coming to an end. We need to learn more about a war in which we are tar- geted. Without information on the dan- ger, there’s no preparation. Without preparation, there’s deadly surprise. O 17 : CIA-RDP96-00788R000100330001-5