Roots of terror.Dear editor, Archbishop Desmond Tutu Noun 1. Desmond Tutu - South African prelate and leader of the antiapartheid struggle (born in 1931) Tutu is a hero of the war against apartheid and, for that reason, many hang on his every word and it is to a statement in his address at the memorial service for Archbishop Ted Scott that I refer--not without some regret: "We cannot win the war against terrorism as long as there are conditions that make people so desperate that they are ready to commit dastardly das·tard·ly adj. Cowardly and malicious; base. das  tard·li·ness n. acts." Our former prime minister Jean Chretien also expressed this sentiment after the Sept. 11 atrocity but it is without foundation. Terrorism as we know it today had its inception with the anarchists of 19th century Russia and those terrorists were not the oppressed op·press tr.v. op·pressed, op·press·ing, op·press·es 1. To keep down by severe and unjust use of force or authority: a people who were oppressed by tyranny. 2. ; they were sons of landed gentry and the aristocracy, one of the best known having registered at the University of St. Petersburg as "the Nobleman Ulyanov;" he is better known to posterity as Lenin. Today's terrorists are not the poor, the starving, the oppressed, as Europe well knows; the Baader Meinhof gang Noun 1. Baader Meinhof Gang - a radical left-wing revolutionary terrorist group active in Germany from 1968 until 1977 Baader-Meinhof Gang act of terrorism, terrorism, terrorist act - the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against , the Red Brigade, the Basque terrorists, the Irish Republican Army Irish Republican Army (IRA), nationalist organization devoted to the integration of Ireland as a complete and independent unit. Organized by Michael Collins from remnants of rebel units dispersed after the Easter Rebellion in 1916 (see Ireland), it was composed of , the Ulster Defence Force do not give a damn Verb 1. give a damn - show no concern or interest; always used in the negative; "I don't give a hoot"; "She doesn't give a damn about her job" care a hang, give a hang, give a hoot about the poor. Bin Laden is fabulously wealthy and most of the Sept. 11 terrorists were well-heeled Saudis; nor do we hear from Al-Qaeda pleas on behalf of the poor. Of course, Christians must show concern for the wretched of the earth; but the root causes of terror lie elsewhere and pointing in the wrong direction is simply wrong-headed. Colin Proudman Toronto |
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