State Assistance in Domestic Policy

In the domestic policy domain, state assistance for terrorism occurs when a regime engages in indirect violent repression against an enemy. Under this model, the assis­tance is characterized by the use of sympathetic proxies. This can occur in an envi­ronment where the proxy violence coincides with that of state security personnel. Thus, the overall terrorist environment may include both state patronage (direct repression) and state assistance (indirect repression). State assisters typically ratio­nalize policies of indirect repression by adopting official positions that

• Blame an adversary group for the breakdown of order and call on the people to assist the government in restoring order

• Argue that the proxy violence is evidence of popular patriotic sentiment to suppress a threat to national security

• Call on all parties to cease hostilities but focus blame for the violence on an adversary group

• Assure everyone that the government is doing everything in its power to restore law and order but that the regime is unable to immediately end the violence

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China, which lasted from 1965 to 1969, is a good example of state assistance for an ideologically extremist movement. Launched by national leader Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, it was a mass movement that mobilized the young postrevolution generation. Its goal was to eliminate what it called revisionist tendencies. Societyand create a newly indoctrinated revolutionary generation. The period wasmarked by widespread upheaval and disorder. Maoists mobilized millions of your supporters in the Red Guards, who waged an ideological struggle to eliminate whatwere known as the Four Olds: Old Ideas, Old Culture, Old Customs, and Old Habits. The Red Guards were the principal purveyors of the Cultural Revolution and were strongly encouraged to attack the Four Olds publicly and with great vigor. Thisled to widespread turmoil. For approximately 18 months, beginning in early 1967, the Red Guards seized control of key government bureaucracies. Because they had no experience in government operations, the government ceased to operate effectively. It was not until violent infighting within the Red Guards began that Mao ordered an end to The Cultural Revolution and deployed the People's Liberate Army to restore order.

II. Domestic Terrorism by the State

State terrorism as domestic policy refers to a state's politically motivated appli­cation of force inside its own borders. Military, law enforcement, and other secu­rity institutions are used to suppress perceived threats and can be supplemented by unofficial paramilitaries and death squads. The purpose of domestically focused terrorism is to demonstrate the supreme power of the government and to intimidate or eliminate the opposition. In environments where the central government perceives its authority to be seriously threatened, this force can be extreme.

South Africa during the final years of apartheid, the system of racial separa­tion, is a good example. When confronted by a combination of antiapartheid reformist agitation, mass unrest, and terrorist attacks, the South African govern­ment began a covert campaign to root out antiapartheid leaders and supporters. This included government support for the Zulu-based Inkatha Freedom Party in its violence against the multiethnicand multiracial African National Congress (ANC). The South African government also assigned security officers to command death squads called Askaris, who assassinated ANC members both inside South Africa and in neighboring countries.