Word: shying
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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This was the world that had produced the nightmare of Flight 847, an ordeal that continued without resolution as the new week began. There were hints that Israel might be willing to release its Shi'ite detainees if the U.S. asked it to do so; after all, only a month ago, the Israelis had exchanged 1,150 prisoners, including some world-class terrorists, for three of their own servicemen. At the same time, there were reports that the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean had invoked a "radio silence" on its movements -- a possible sign of action to come...
...done. Secretary of State George Shultz has portrayed Israel as a model of effective counterterrorist action. But terrorists are adept at surrounding themselves with innocent civilians, some of whom could be killed in a retaliatory raid. Moreover, the deterrent effect is questionable. Terrorists, including members of Islamic Jihad, the Shi'ite Muslim group thought to be responsible for the hijacking, are often fanatics who place as little value on their own lives as on those of their victims...
Unseen, unknown, apparently unstoppable, Islamic Jihad may not even exist. It could be merely a cover name for a loose confederation of Muslim Shi'ite fanatics. Or it may be the code name for a carefully coordinated campaign by Iran's Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini. The Iranian government has expressed sympathy for the extremists' goals but denies supplying or controlling them. U.S. National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane insists otherwise. Said he last March: "There is sufficient evidence that radical Shi'ite terrorists are responsive to Iranian guidance for us to hold Iran responsible for attacks against U.S. citizens...
Jihad means holy war, and in the Shi'ite credo, to die in a holy war is to achieve martyrdom and guarantee a place in heaven. A seemingly endless supply of young Shi'ite militants seem all too eager to earn their divine reward...
...roots of resentment have been festering ever since the Shi'ites split off from the dominant Sunni Muslims in the 7th century. Of the world's 750 million Muslims, less than 20% are Shi'ites. Some 42 million of them are in Iran, where they make up 92% of the population. To the long-downtrodden underclass of Shi'ites in Lebanon, some 40% of the population, Khomeini's fundamentalist - revolution was an inspiration to rise up against their perceived oppressors: Western and Arab, Christian and Jewish. "If you develop a psychosis that the whole world is against you," says...