European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 12, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes july 1985 columns comments David Broder air piracy straightforward terrorist policy needed speaking As a journalist who has a deeply ingrained resistance to government controls on our i am prepared to say that the reporting reflex that prompts us to convey terrorists threats and promises and hostages pleas for re lease is offensive to our professional Stan Dards and dangerous to this this View which will win me few friends among my colleagues is tempered by the realization that so Long As there is Access available to terrorists and we As journalists will do what we always we will go after the even though we know we Are playing into the terrorists this is one consideration but not the most important one that leads me to reaffirm my first uttered in the second month of the iranian hostage Situ that the United states must alter its policy towards instead of wavering while the terrorists wage psychological warfare on the Amer ican people through the hostages and the let us put the Burden of responsibility where it belongs on the nation or the neighbourhood that willingly harbours Ter our i has to be so Sim ple and straightforward that it allows no we must say that any nation which allows terrorists to hold americans hos Tage on its territory can expect Swift and severe retaliatory punishment by military we must serve notice on the world that the first Day a hostage situation is Cre the United states will cease com travel and private communication with the country harbouring the on the next Day All other americans will be ordered to leave and assisted in by armed escort if on the third or As soon thereafter As the United states decides in its solid retaliatory action will unless that nation has tried to rid itself of the terrorists or to Force them to release their Only by such a unequivocal policy can we reverse the fatal Folly of per Carl Rowan mitting any terrorists who seize Ameri cans to with the focus of the american press and to play mind games with the american Only then can the american government be saved from the paralysis of its we have to make it evident that the hostage problem is not primarily our problem it is the problem of the nation that gives the terrorists that nation has to solve it or it will face the if every nation is convinced the United states Means what it then no nation will provide the terrorists Haven allow them to land or permit them to that is what we want to give them no if any nation is so heedless of the warning As to tolerate the then that nation and its people have involved themselves in the crime and will suffer the does such a policy risk the hostages lifes of course it but let i be once the terrorists take it is the terrorists and not we who control their the longer the terrorists can string out the hostage Situa the easier Access we allow them to our cameras and the greater the Power they gain Over their hostages and Over each such even if it ends with the hostages being handed encourages More terrorism and hos let us be honest with every weekend of the on the 317 americans die in automobile accidents and thousands More Are almost All those precious human beings Are inno cent victims of a transportation system which we have tried to make but which still kills and despite that toll our mondays Are not spent immersed in broadcast and published portrayals of the grief of the victims families and the anxieties of the injured next of we have accepted the fact for a modern Industrial state relying heavily on motor Road travel involves the inevitable risk of death or the rational response is to do what we can to prevent Highway accidents and to Deal severely with the Highway that must be our approach to those who Hijack take Over Plant bombs or Kidnap americans on the Street we must take every possible pre caution to deny the terrorists but once the terrorists we must above All make certain that they and those who Harbor them it is feckless for us to assert that since we cannot establish the exact location or identity of the we cannot Reta exposing them is not our problem it is the responsibility of those in whose midst they Are living and they must rid themselves of the terrorist or require the terrorists to relieve the hos or they must suffer the Conse the Choice is if we meet our they will not feel so free to play their deadly if we do not give Clear Advance notice of a policy of certain we simply guarantee More such ordeals and humiliation for America and c the Washington Post America  base its policies on fear youre one of the 358 passengers on an Airliner in which a Hal dozen would be hijackers suddenly Are in the aisles brandishing sub machine guns and you dont notice the hostess softly tap a code on the door to the a few moments later your world grows the Pilot has pushed a Button releasing odourless Gas that puts everyone in the passenger Cabin to the he and the cockpit Crew now in Gas lands the plane at the nearest where police seize the snoozing and airline eventually help groggy passengers to walk that scenario is not the the the Only problem is that several people on that plane might have health problems so severe that they would not Wake up from the but this kind of deterrent is being talked about in serious circles of government and a prominent industrialist in Detroit spoke to me of the technology just a few Days so there is a real possibility that before in order to Board a especially for an International you not Only will have to have your checked Luggage x searched and even your hand Luggage prayed and your body but you May have to sign a statement saying that if you die during a gassing to thwart the airline is not Good this is madness you but it tells us something about How quickly people who Are temporarily fearful and angry will clip the wings and bind together the legs of the Bird of it would be deemed in any Normal for the House of representatives to vote to give the Pentagon broader Powers than the Pentagon has asked for to submit More than 4 million military and civilian employees to lie Detector but stones about the alleged Walker spy ring have provoked the House to 333 to to give the defense department what Florida Republican Young called tools to Battle the spies and the potential the traitors and Poten tial anger and fear Are dangerous bases on which to make Public but we Are sinking deeper and deeper into Laws and regulations made on that five members of the supreme court have gotten caught up in Public anger about unfair tax tax and this majority has Given the internal Revenue service a new overwhelming authority to seize joint Bank even when the delinquent taxpayer Doest really own the Money in the it Doest bother me that North Carolina and Wyoming have become the last of the 50 states to require car seats and seat belts for i  think of exposing my Beautiful granddaughters to any risk that is but now Illinois and Michigan have taken state protectionism a step further by saying that no citizen is free to be stupid and leave himself in jeopardy while driving a Laws have gone into effect and Are under consideration in the District of Columbia and other states that make it a crime to be in the front seat of a moving vehicle without wearing seat shoulder i have always favored an activist pursuing the mandate to promote the general but acting Only after serious consideration of what government had to do because individuals could not do it for i have always believed that govern ment must sheild one citizen from the mean Nesses of but i have never wanted to give government a License to protect every single american from his or her every tendency to View or do things that the bureaucrats in Power might deem harmful to that seeing our countrymen held learning of alleged spy operations that comprise americas hearing of carnage emotion Alizes us to the Point that we do things and accept solutions that Are destructive of the freedoms that made America the most marvelous society Man has leaders with credibility must convince americans that while caution is called panic could shackle us All in ways that we would regret for All our c news America Syndicate