orb@whuxl.UUCP (SEVENER) (10/07/85)
Don Black has made an error (as usual): > > Today's Manchester Union-Leader and the Boston Globe carry a story on the > front pages about the death of one Arkady Katkov in Beirut, Lebanon. The late > Mr. Katkov was from the Soviet Union, and served as a counselor in the Soviet > Embassy. He met an untimely death allegedly at the hands of a few Moslem > extremists. Neither article made any mention of his family or hometown. > > This is another example of the barbarism that occurs on a regular basis > in the Mideast. Mr. Katkov and his associates are just more innocent victims > in a useless war that can never end. > > Now here's one for you that didn't even make the back page of the > Dogpatch Weekly Bugle. > > Remember a week or so ago I related the story of Tscherim Soobsokov, the > fellow who was murdered in Paterson, NJ, by the Jewish Defense League? Well, > the beat goes on. Shortly thereafter, this same heroic organization torched > and bombed the home of Elmars Sprogis, on Long Island, NY. Mr. Sprogis, a > Latvian, was accused by the JDL of being a Nazi. A neighbor, Robert Seifried > Jr., lost his foot in the explosion while trying to rescue Sprogis and his > wife. > > I ask again, why is it that the death of an obscure Soviet citizen in a > Bombed-Out Backwater Boondock makes front-page headline news from coast to > coast, while terrorism in our own front yard is a non-event? I don't know about the Dogpatch Weekly Beagle which Don Black reads, but I know that the bombing of an alleged Nazi in Paterson, NJ was reported on local New York area TV news shows as well as local newspapers. Those news shows included allegations that the bombing was done by the JDL. On the other hand the regular bombings occurring in El Salvador conducted by the Salvadoran Air Force have scarcely been reported even in the New York Times. The assassination of a Soviet citizen was reported internationally because it is one of the rare times that a Soviet citizen has been a victim of non-State terrorism. (I say "non-State terrorism" because the bombing of civilians conducted by the Soviet forces in Afghanistan or Salvadoran/American forces in El Salvador, and similar tactics by governments around the world is every bit as much "terrorism" as bombings by non-government groups). I wouldn't be surprised if the Paterson bombing was also reported in the Boston Globe when it occurred. Perhaps someone might want to check on that. Regardless Mr. Black is wrong to say the incidents were never reported. tim sevener whuxn!orb