TERRORISTS: The Commandos Strike at Dawn

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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."

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