Closer to the Root of the Problem

The phenomenon of terrorism is evidence of the breakdown of social order. The Western democracies are in a state of moral uncertainty and incapable of taking concerted action against an attack of this sort. We may note that terrorism is not a problem in dictatorships, nor has it been a problem in free societies which were on the rise and successfully solving their social problems. It is clearly the decline of will which makes the acts we call terroristic possible, since terrorists by definition never have a decisive degree of physical force at their disposal. Any authority - state or private - which determines to wipe out terrorism can do so by taking draconian offensive action against the source of the problem. Today we do not seem prepared to handle this problem. Terrorism will succeed and will continue to increase in our society. It is quite obvious at this time that the governments of the free world are essentially ineffective in combating this thing. It becomes therefore clear that the people who are the objects of these acts must take their own measures to save themselves." --Jeff Cooper