TERRORISTS: The Commandos Strike at Dawn

(5 of 5)

Rising Impatience. For Holland, the Moluccan problem is far from over. Though the white sections of Bovensmilde were slowly returning to normal after the rescue operation, the Moluccan quarter was a ghost town. Whether out of anger or fear, few residents ventured out of their homes—and those who did often drove with helmets and billy clubs. Following a minor auto accident involving young Dutchmen and Moluccan youths, police had to intervene to keep the dispute from turning into a brawl. Sensing rising Dutch impatience with the cause of the Moluccan exiles, Prime Minister Den Uyl promised he would place a ban on rifle-drill and knife-fight training for several paramilitary Moluccan groups. He also pleaded with his fellow countrymen not to take revenge on the Moluccan community as a whole. "The Moluccan problem is not a color problem," Den Uyl said. "It is a problem of history and ideals." Yet the Dutch government was clearly caught in an age-old dilemma, which officials openly acknowledged. Justice Minister Van Agt, in the course of one press conference, said it all. "To reward terror," he said, was to "invite renewed terror."