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From: mjm@rruxo.UUCP (M Muller)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re:  State Terrorism:  Whose?
Message-ID: <339@rruxo.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 10-Oct-85 15:01:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: rruxo.339
Posted: Thu Oct 10 15:01:45 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Oct-85 18:06:07 EDT
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Piscataway N.J.
Lines: 43

Several people have been cheerfully condemning state terrorism as practiced
by their favorite "others."  I'd like to point out that there is also our
own brand of state terrorism.  I'd also like to ask that flames be
postponed until the end of this note.  (Apologies to the non-U.S.
readers of this note:  I am addressing the strongly U.S.-chauvinistic
comments which have appeared here.)

State terrorism is practiced daily by our client states, such as
El Salvador.  We supply significant portions of the military budget
which makes the terrorism possible.  State terrorism is practiced
daily by our ally Turkey.  And by many other client governments.

Some may quibble with this definition, but I would maintain that
we are also responsible for the terrorism practiced by the Nicaraguan
contras against the civilian population of that country.  How is
this state terrorism?  Our state provides funds and -- as in the
disclosures of CIA training manuals -- instructions on how to carry
out attacks against non-military, mostly-agricultural targets.
Agriculture is, of course, practiced by people, and usually by 
people who are carrying heavy loads which make poor weapons compared
with M16s (or whatever we are distributing these days).

So why am I telling you this?  To point out that our hands are not
clean.  And that U.S. citizens can have a voice in the policies that
have so far permitted our government:  to fund (and partially to direct)
these activities, and to channel government and private money into them.
The U.S. is still a democracy:  we can reject anti-democratic practices
if we set our minds to it.  If we decry those practices in others,
we should surely avoid them ourselves.

I do not minimize the evils of state terrorism as practiced by what
some readers consider the "other side."  I am not condoning Eastern
Bloc atrocities by referring to Western Bloc ones.  I would just like
to urge that we clean up our own act -- live by our own principles --
while we excoriate others for failing to live up to our lip service.
Our case will be strengthened when we no longer support that which
we oppose.

Michael Muller
Bell Communications Research
..!ihnp4!rruxo!mjm

(my opinions should not be attributed to my employer)