Published January 1975 — Download PDF of the original newspaper column
Byrd's-Eye View By U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd International Action on Terrorism Needed The United Nations continues to shy away from doing anything positive to curb the spread of international terrorism. Proposals for action against the terrorists are to be postponed for another year, making the inability of the UN to deal effectively with any real problem even more evident than it was before. The General Assembly, instead of coming out strongly on the side of law and order among nations, has actually moved in the opposite direction. It has provided the Palestine Liberation Organization and its guerrilla leader, Yasir Arafat, with a forum commanding world attention, thereby tacitly endorsing terror tactics. The United States, West Germany, Israel, and some Latin American states deplored the new delay in coming to grips with the growth of international violence. But the voices and the protests of these nations are scarcely heard nowadays in the cacophony that passes for debate at the UN. The disheartening fact is that some members of the UN apparently see terrorism as a useful and acceptable tool in international dealings. The fact that terrorism destroys fundamental freedoms and takes innocent lives-that terrorism is the antithesis of civilized action-does not seem to enter their thinking. Bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, seizure of hostages for ransom, aircraft hijackings, attacks on air travelers-all these should be beyond the pale of toleration in a civilized world, but, unhappily, all have become commonplace contemporary events. Since 1968, 50 American citizens-among them 11 government officials-have been killed by terrorists in foreign countries. Aircraft hijackings have largely been brought under control in the U.S.; but in December 1973, 32 persons were slain in a Palestinian attack on a U.S. airliner at the airport in Rome. And the year before, 140 airline passengers and crew members died in terrorist attacks. No nation is invulnerable to the depredations of the terrorists. They pose a clear and present danger to international relations, communications, transportation, and trade-a danger t h a t is increasing. Clearly, international cooperative action is called for. It is deeply disturbing that the United Nations chooses to stand idly by. Jan 1 1975