Commentary

1. Clausewitz, Karl von (1780-1831) - German military officer and author of books on military science. His work "On War", called the Bible of strategy, sets forth fully and clearly the relationship between political and military leadership. Clausewitz shows that war is both a social development and a political act. He asserts that military and political strategy must go hand in hand: "War is not merely a political act, but also a real political instalment, a continuation of policy carried out by other means."

2. Clausewitz's Trinitarian distinction is connected with Clausewitz's statement that strategy should aim at three main targets: the enemy's forces, his resources, and his will to fight (cf. trinitarian - forming a trinity; threefold; triple).

3. Ulster Defence Association, the (UDA) - loyalist paramilitary organization, largest of the Protestant military groups in Northern Ireland. The UDA was founded in September 1971 by Andy Tyrie. Ostensibly not an anned force but a defense force, the UDA is not banned by the Northern Ireland government. The UDA's political programme is one of opposition to Home Rule, which would remove Northern Ireland from the government of the United Kingdom and unite it with the (Catholic) Republic of Ireland.

4. Irish Republican Army, the (IRA) - unofficial semimilitary organization based in the Republic of Ireland that sought complete Irish independence from the United Kingdom. In its later stages it and several successor organizations strove for the unification of the Republic of Ireland with Northern Ireland, which had remained a part of the U.K.

5. Sinn Fein (Irish: "We Ourselves," or "We Alone") - in full SINN FEIN THE WORKERS' PARTY, nationalist political party in Ireland professing a socialist, anticapitalist ideology. Although the party has been electorally insignificant since the 1920s, it plays a role of some importance in Irish political life because of its left-wing opposition to the conservatism of the two main parties, Fianna Feil and Fine Gael, because of its relationship with the Irish Republican Army, of which it is sometimes described as the political wing, and because of its militancy over the question of a united Ireland.

Shining Path, the - byname of COMMUNIST PARTY OF PERU, Peruvian revolutionary movement that employs guerrilla tactics and violent terrorism in the name of Maoism. It was founded in 1970 in a multiple split in Peru's Communist Party (dating from the 1920s) and took its name in reference to the maxim of the founder of Peru's first Communist Party, Jose Carlos Marietegui: "Marxism-Leninism will open the shining path to revolution".

7. Tamil Tigers, the - in full the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the Ceylon Tamil rebels' organization. The Tamil are people originally of southern India and now living in Sri Lanka. In the 1980s, growing tensions between the Ceylon Tamil and the Sinhalese Buddhist majority in Sri Lanka prompted Tamil militants to undertake a guerrilla war against the central government in hopes of creating a separate Tamil state for themselves in the north and northeast. The Tamil Tigers continued their insurgency into the 1990s.

8. Hamas - an organization of Islamic fundamentalists (people who follow the rules of their religion very strictly) in Palestine which opposes the PLO's peace agreements with Israel.

9. Baader-Mainhof gang, the - the leaders of a group of German terrorists called the "Red Army Faction," which had extremely left-wing beliefs. During the 1970s, they bombed many buildings and killed several police officers, business leaders, and government officials.

10 .Semtex - a plastic explosive sometimes used by the IRA.

11. Menachem Begin - underground commander, parliamentarian and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Twice during Begin's tenure as Prime Minister, military actions were launched in response to Palestinian terrorist acts against Israeli citizens from Lebanese territory: the 1978 "Operation Litani" and the 1982 "Operation Peace for Galilee". Both operations were aimed at dislodging the PLO from southern Lebanon. The 1982 Operation grew into a protracted conflict with complex ramifications and a considerable number of casualties.

12.Carlos the Jackal (born in Venezuela, under the more sane name of llich Ramirez Sanchez) was the first "superterrorist". Carlos was thought to have had some involvement in the 1972 terrorist attack on the Munich Olympics, when Arab gunmen killed several Israeli athletes, but he didn't emerge as a prominent international figure until 1975, when he led a team of terrorists who seized about 70 hostages during an OPEC meeting in Vienna. Three people were killed in the attack, which resulted in the kidnapping of oil ministers from 11 OPEC nations. The hostages were eventually released through negotiations. After his high-profile success in Vienna, Carlos went on a spree across Europe. He executed several bombings in Britain and France, killing dozens and injuring hundreds. In between strikes on European targets, Carlos found safe haven in countries like Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Libya, where he was treated as a highly sought-after specialist. As his fame grew, Carlos increasingly played the mercenary, making himself available to various disenfranchised Arab nations and Islamic extremists as a terrorist for hire. He is thought to have amassed a personal fortune in the tens of millions of dollars through these activities and the occasional ransom payment. After an elaborate sting executed with the cooperation of Sudanese authorities, the Jackal was arrested in 1994. With more than 80 deaths, probably thousands of injuries and millions of dollars in property damage to his credit, the only question was which crime to try him for. In 1997, Carlos the Jackal was sentenced to life in prison for three murders.