Terrorism, in the Leninist sense, is a form of left-adventurist opportunism often seen in anarchist movements. Non-Marxist leftists such the SRs supported individual terrorism and assassinations as a method of revolution.[1] Western officials use the term "terrorism" slander anti-imperialists and justify their own state violence domestically and abroad.[2]
Liberal terminology
In the 1970s, Israel tried to popularize the term "terrorism" to describe Palestinian freedom fighters. In July 1979, the Jerusalem Conference on International Terrorism declared that all "terrorists" were part of a single movement backed by the Soviet Union. In the 1980s, CIA director William Casey concluded that, while the USSR funded some movements in the Global South, it did not direct all "terrorist" entities in the world.
Mainstream use of the term decreased after 2011 before returning to prominence in 2023 with the War on Gaza.[2]
Western terrorism
Ronald Reagan supported the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet Army in the 1980s. After the fall of the Soviet Union, his successors transported the same militants into Bosnia and Kosovo to destroy Yugoslavia.[2]
The United Kingdom financed right wing Unionist terrorism against Irish Catholic civilians and Irish Republican resistance organizations during the Troubles. This included Ulster Defence Regiment soldiers who were also members of Unionist terrorist groups and conspiracies to fund the Ulster Volunteer Force materially within the British army.[3]
The CIA facilitated right wing coups in Latin America and subsequently built a network of terror called Operation Condor beginning officially in 1975, though the intelligence sharing network existed as early as 1974. The network facilitated the murder, kidnapping, torture, disappearance and arrest of leftist and other political dissidents, including those who had left their home countries. In 1978, amidst the resistance campaigns of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, the Red Brigades, the Red Army Faction, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, among others, France, the United Kingdom and West Germany planned to establish a similar network of repression.[4]
References
- ↑ Vladimir Lenin (1920). "Left-wing" Communism, an Infantile Disorder: 'The Struggle Against Which Enemies Within the Working-Class Movement Helped Bolshevism Develop, Gain Strength, and Become Steeled'.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Kit Klarenberg (2023-11-17). "Team B and the Jerusalem Conference: How Israel Helped Craft Modern-Day "Terrorism"" MintPress News. Archived from the original on 2023-11-19.
- ↑ "Documents reveal how Britain backed Loyalist terror in Northern Ireland" (2011-8-09). Socialist Worker.
- ↑ Whitney Webb (2019-04-17). "CIA DOCS SHOWS UK, FRANCE AND WEST GERMANY WANTED TO BRING “OPERATION CONDOR” TO EUROPE" Mintpress News.