In Brief...World News Review: The New Terrorism
A new type of terrorism threatens the world.
In a chilling review of "the new terrorism," The Economist reported recently on the substantial efforts of the United States government to anticipate and prepare for terrorists using "weapons of mass destruction-the generic term for biological, chemical and nuclear arms." In black humor, the article is titled, "The New Terrorism, Coming Soon To a City Near You."
Contrasting the typical new terrorist with previous terrorists, the article summarizes the new as "vague about its long-term aims but utterly ruthless in its short-term intentions." New terrorists have no particular national loyalty and no particular cause other than destruction itself. According to Bruce Hoffman, an American specialist on political violence, "hallmarks of the new terror include 'amorphous religious and millenarian aims' and 'vehemently anti-government forms of populism, reflecting far-fetched conspiracy notions'" (The Economist). The likely main target for the new terrorism-the United States.
Illustrative of the mindset of the new terror is the anti-American cry from Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman: "Ruin their economies, burn their companies, destroy their benefits, sink their ships, shoot their aircraft and kill them on the ground, in the air and sea and wherever you find them. Take them, besiege them and cripple them completely. Kill all these infidels wherever you find them. You kill them and Allah will punish them through your hands" ("Clinton Gambles all on Revenge," The Sunday Times-UK).
Rahman is the blind cleric who is currently serving time in New York for his role in the bombing of the World Trade Center-an act of the new terror, financed, apparently, by Osama Bin Laden. Two of the preacher's sons are part of Bin Laden's entourage (ibid.).
An Article from:
World News and Prophecy: September - October 1998
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
