GROUND ZER0, New York, New York--June 2, 2003-- In 1966, Star Trek's 42nd episode featured a story called the "Trouble With Tribbles."  The Tribbles, furry little creatures that reproduced at such a rate as to threaten the Enterprise, become the heroes.   A fancy wheat (quadrotriticale for Trekkie fans), kept in K-7 storage bins, has been poisoned.  It's all a plot by the Terrorist Klingons, deep space's "Beasts of Terror" who seek to rule the universe with Fear, Intimidation and Complacency.

     The Tribbles, owned by Cyrano Jones, find their way to the storage bin where the poison wheat is kept and begin to die, revealing the plot.   In a Colombo-like detective hunt, Captain Kirk holds up a Tribble before each suspect, and when the Tribble squeals and trills madly, it exposes the Terrorist who happens to be the weasely assistant of the Federation Undersecretary for Agriculture.
      To retaliate, Captain Kirk beams  the Tribbles aboard the departing Klingon ship as Scotty, the chief engineer says, "Where they'll be no Tribble at all."
      Hunting down Terrorists is a lot like trying to get rid of Tribbles.
      It seems they are everywhere, and just when you get rid of one, another pops up.
      Like Tribbles, some Terrorists can hide in the cracks and crannies of the world, burying themselves in the veins and arteries of the world's body not unlike a cancer cell hiding from chemotherapy, waiting for the storm to pass so it can pop up when least expected.

      But unlike Tribbles, Terrorists aren't nice, furry, loveable creatures.    They are much more like Klingons, skulking on the edges of the universe in constant search for cracks and fissures in the Federations defenses.
      Getting rid of Terrorists may be as difficult for the world as stopping the proliferation of the Tribbles.
      Let's take a couple of examples.
      First, the Unabomber.  Theodore Kaczynski.  It took the FBI 18 years to root him living  in a rundown cabin in Lincoln, Montana.  Kaczynski's Terrorism was launched against technology.  His 16  letter bomb attacks over nearly two decades killed three people and wounded 29.   But the big message he sent was his ability to evade capture.  Only when his younger brother, David, tipped off authorities was he finally captured.
      Next is Eric Rudolph, who is alleged to have bombed the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Ga.  The 36-year-old bombing suspect eluded police for five years.   An outdoorsman and former 101st Airborne-trained veteran, Rudolph hid out in 500,000 acres of dense forest in North Carolina.   FBI and other law enforcement agencies used high tech snooper equipment, bloodhounds and heat sensor helicopters  to search for Rudolph who is the prime suspect in two killings and the injury of more than 150 others in Atlanta and Birmingham, Ala.

    Rudolph is also suspected in the bombing of abortion clinics, and, according to the U.S. Attorney General, John Ashcroft, was America's most wanted fugitive.
     Rudolph was arrested Saturday by a 21-year-old rookie cop in a small town of 1,600 for rummaging through a garbage can.   He offered no resistance.
      The precedent of the Unabomber, 18 years of evasion, plus that of Rudolph, five years of dodging and weaving authorities, leaves the door wide open to finding Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.
       It may be as difficult as Captain Kirk trying to get his hands around all the Tribbles.
       In both the case of Rudolph and Kaczynski, they lived in the "wilderness," among people who were less than favorable toward any form of authority, and who may have supported the fugitives flight.
       In Rudolph's case, local communities have issued support for him--many not condoning his violence, but agreeing with his anger toward abortion.   Some suggestions have been made that local residents helped him elude authorities, although no evidence of this has been presented.
       This all conspires to the issue of the Trouble With Tribbles.   Can we ever rid the world of Terrorists?
       Or, will they keep duplicating themselves?
       It's been three years since Osama bin Laden's hunt commenced.   The recent attacks in Saudi Arabia are credited to Osama.
       Then, there's the issue of Saddam Hussein.  Is he alive or dead?
       International news rumors held that he was seen in his hometown a few weeks ago.   Both Osama and Hussein have many loyal allies more than capable of helping them escape or hide from the most powerful "human hunting" sources.

      We shouldn't forget also that the Unabomber went "dark" for a number of years, then erupted with new forms of Terror.  From 1982 until May 1985, a three-year span, he did nothing but plot.   Again, in 1987 he stopped sending bombs for six years and began again in 1993 until his capture in 1996.
        Terrorism is a seething disease.  Like cancer cells, it can sit and wait patiently while it plots to expose its fangs, waiting for the world or its victims to become Complacent, to feel "safe."
         It would be nice if we could take Star Trek's Tribbles by the nap of the neck and hold them up to Terror suspects and wait for them to trill and squeal, exposing either the Terrorist or alerting us that a potential Terror attack was about to commence.
        Unfortunately, we can't do that.
        But there is a way the message of the Tribbles can provide us with ways to protect ourselves against the Terror of Terrorism.
        It's Vigilance.
        If we accept the fact that the Osama bin Laden's and Saddam Hussein's are always going to be hiding in the shadows, perhaps with different faces and names, we won't think we're safe when they are captured.
        Putting the Unabomber behind bars didn't stop Eric Rudolph from his violent agenda.
        Attacking Osama or toppling Saddam will not stop Kim Jong Il, or whomever follows him, from believing that Fear, Intimidation and Complacency will be a hammer that can be used to nail a populace or a world into frightening submission.
        But, beaming Tribbles aboard the Klingon ships can.

        If we look at the metaphor of the Tribbles as Sentinels of Vigilance--little, innocuous furry creatures who have the Courage, Conviction and take the Right Action in behalf of the Children's Children's Children's--we are encouraged to believe we need to keep our noses to the wind to sniff out Terrorists as the Tribble did during the court martial conducted by Captain Kirk.
        Terrorism will find the forests and caves to hide, to duck and weave from the most modern technology imaginable.   Terrorists will find allies who support their agendas of violence.   Terrorists will always find some niche, some crack, some tunnel or cave in which to hide and brew the venom of Fear, Intimidation and Complacency.
        But, if we think in terms of the Tribbles of Vigilance, if we are willing to keep our noses to the wind, keep our eyes alert, and to honor the Principles of Vigilance that remind us to keep aware, to battle Fear with Courage, to beat back Intimidation with Conviction, and to avoid Complacency by taking the Right Actions that benefit the Children's Children's Children, we can always root out the Beast of Terror.
       It might take us 18 years.   It might take five years.  
       But, if we are Vigilant, we will always have the ability to beam the Tribbles aboard the Klingon of Terror's ship.
       We can always be Victorious with Vigilance.
       If you're not sure, just ask the Tribbles.
       

June 1--France's Ploy To Put Terrorism On Back Burner

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