THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 9, 1996 TAG: 9604090010
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
A year after the Oklahoma City bombing, a suspect has been captured in the Unabomber case and there's a standoff with Freemen in Montana. That's a reminder that the explosion a year ago was not an isolated occurrence.
Homegrown terrorism is an unfortunate fact of contemporary American life. Groups and individuals alienated from the mainstream are all too likely to take the law into their own hands. The dissidence takes various forms, but often those involved are outsiders left behind by change, frightened of it, convinced it's a plot against them or their values.
The Unabomber appears to be a Luddite loner opposed to technological change. The Oklahoma bombers apparently subscribed to a radical libertarianism that included dollops of racist and militia mumbo-jumbo. They viewed license plates and Social Security workers as the enemy. The Freemen essentially desire to secede from the Union, to sever all ties with the U.S. government and start their own solipsistic state.
Earlier, the New York Trade Center bombers and the cult of Koresh subscribed to religious views that encouraged them to become armed and dangerous. All these characters shared a willingness to use force to pursue their private utopias. No nation can tolerate the horrors that follow from such beliefs.
There's been justified criticism of the heavy-handedness of law enforcement in regard to Koresh and events at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. The willingness to engage in a lengthy standoff with the Freemen suggests federal authorities have learned a lesson and are tempering force with patience and persuasion.
One further lesson to come out of these recent events needs to be borne in mind, as well. The episode in Waco turned into a media circus that Koresh did his best to exploit. He used his moment of fame to broadcast his views. The Unabomber managed to get his manifesto published.
Now the attention of the media is trained on the Freemen. These events are clearly news, but those who report it have to guard against being used or encouraging violence as a passport to publicity. There are plenty of malcontents willing to murder to get their loony ideas heard or to blow up their neighbors if they get to see themselves on TV.
On the other side of the equation, there are lessons dissidents would do well to learn. Terrorism isn't going to be tolerated. The Trade Center bombers were found and convicted. Suspects in the Oklahoma massacre were quickly taken into custody. Though the Unabomber played his deadly game for a long time, he too appears to have been apprehended.
The Freemen in particular have to realize that patience is finite. There's no escape route for people who paint themselves into a corner by trying to subvert justice. They will eventually have to give themselves up and face prosecution. Unless they are courting martyrdom. That's an ever-present possibility with those who believe they are locked in a titanic struggle of good and evil.
Though the Freemen and others like them may be convinced they are right, the world is not going to march to their drummer. Negotiators can negotiate with the greatest tact and forbearance, but eventually those sought for crimes have to come out with their hands up. The government can't make that negotiable or none of us is safe. The U.S. government may be flawed, but it can be improved by peaceful means. Anarchy and terror are unacceptable. by CNB