Hard Lessons From Global Battlefields

Casting about for an approach to fight global terrorism, the United States might well look at how other countries have waged their own struggles. There are key differences. Many countries have battled largely home-grown organizations with national or regional grievances, while the United States is taking on a shadowy network that spans continents and cultures. But there also are lessons to be learned. One is that military might alone does little to eradicate terrorism. Security officials across the globe stress the importance of basic human intelligence, espionage and surveillance. An effective battle requires patience, painstaking sleuthing and perhaps years of work. It may also require rather unsavory methods that the United States might not be eager to engage in. Americans can be expected to willingly dispatch commando squads as do the Germans, but will they accept the hunting down and slaying of suspects--a tactic that has worked for Israel? Would Americans accept the faceless courts of Peru, where masked judges swiftly sent hundreds of terrorists, and many innocent people, to bleak prisons? The Times looks at four countries--Peru, Germany, Japan and Israel--and how they fared in their own confrontations with terrorism.