Terrorism

Terrorism, actual or threatened violence for political ends. The level of terrorism increased markedly in the 1970s as antigovernment groups throughout the world turned to violent acts such as bombing, hijacking, kidnapping, and murder. Terrorism attracted increased international attention through the stepped up activities of Palestinians and their allies, who gave up hope of defeating Israel by conventional military tactics after the rout of the Arab nations in the 1967 war. The more active terrorist groups of the period included the Provisional wing of the Irish Republican Army, the Japanese Red Army (3 of whose members killed 28 people and wounded 76 at Tel Aviv's Lod airport in 1972), the Palestinian Black September group (responsible for the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics), the Baader-Meinhof Gang in Germany, the Italian Red Brigades (who kidnapped and killed the former Italian premier, Aldo Moro, in 1978), the Tupamoros in Uruguay, and the Weathermen in the United States. While receiving much publicity—one of their aims—terrorists actually account for relatively few deaths (less than 2,000 in the 1980s) compared with other causes (nearly 10 times as many people are murdered every year by ordinary criminals in the U.S. alone). Terrorists are very hard to catch, however, because their groups are small, tightly organized, and highly mobile. As a major measure to curb the involvement of Libya in terrorism worldwide, President Ronald Reagan on January 8, 1984, issued an executive order severing virtually all U.S. economic ties to Libya.