ONE JUST WAR
THE human cost of the Egyptian comman- do operation to liberate the hijacked EgyptAir plane at Valetta was appallingly high. Even in Washington, the death toll of 60 has caused some people to gulp and reconsider the very tough line which the Reagan administration has taken against hijacking and terrorism, with strong sup- port from the British Government. We believe they must stand firm. On the evidence available so far it appears that the hijackers were from the particularly ruth- less terrorist group of Abu Nidal. Before the plane was stormed they had already shot seven passengers. The technique of embroiling the hijackers in long negotia- tions, which has worked well in other cases, would not seem to have had much chance here. If we have learned from previous hijackings, so have the hijackers. The main reason why so many innocent people died in Valetta is that those hijack- ers were operationally prepared to throw hand-grenades among them at the first sign of an assault. The lessons to be learnt from this appalling incident are therefore, in the first place, tactical rather than strategic. At issue is not whether force should be used against terrorist violence, but exactly when and how it should be used. If the crime can be traced back beyond reasonable doubt to one particular group, such as Abu Nidal's, or one particular political leader, such as Colonel Gaddafi, then there is a very strong case for direct punitive retaliation. Tyrannicide has long been recognised as a justified and even a moral act. Tcrroricide can be too. It there is any Just War in the world today, it is the war against terrorism.
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