Our European terrorists are, almost universally, motivated by one or another variety of anarchism. Their protests are directed against “repression,” “imperialism,” “the rule of monopoly capitalism”; and they regard themselves as fighters for “liberation.” They don’t stand in awe of the Soviet Union—but they do serve it, by their attempts to destroy the fabric and the inner confidence of the Western world. And though they are not aware of it, they are hastening the return of totalitarianism. Herein lies their real historical significance.
They are here to stay. The abduction of a well-known German television commentator’s children in Italy and the explosion in the Bologna railroad station, which killed more than eighty people, have dashed all hopes for a gradual diminution of terrorist activity.
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