Richard welch was born in 14th December, the year 1929, in Hartford, Connecticut. He later joined Harvard University to study Classics. At the age of 22, Welch graduated from the university, top in his class. At this point, Welch took the challenge of working with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The first position Welch got in the CIA was of the case officer. His duties involved walking all over the world to follow various cases relating to the agency. At the age of 55, Welch rose in the ranks to become a CIA station chief. In 1974, Welch was posted in Athens Greece as the station chief. Welch worked as a station chief for one year and six months, after which he was assassinated in 23rd December, 1975. In the evening of the same day, Welch and his family went to enjoy a night out at the American Ambassador’s home where the Christmas party was being held. After the party, Welch drove his family back to their residence. When they reached the gate of their residence, Welch got out of the car to open the door. Somebody called him and when he turned to look, he was shot in the stomach. Five days later, Welch died (Kassimeris, 2013, pg. 135).
After the death of Richard Welch, a terrorist organization called 17 November claimed the responsibility of the assassination. The year Welch was assassinated was the very year 17 November was formed; and Welch was the first diplomat, among the twenty-three they killed before being neutralized more than twenty years later (Karyotis, 2007, pg. 277). The murder of Richard Welch was believed to be as a result of disclosure of his identity. Some people believe that there was a group of American critics who did not want the agency to continue operating. As a result, they divulge their identity to the public so as to reduce their security. Welch’s name was published in a periodical which was called Counter-Spy. It is believed that Welch’s name was published by Phillip Agee, a writer in the Counter-Spy Journal. This was not the first time Welch’s name was made public. In 1968, some two Soviet-bloc intelligence groups identified Welch as an American spy and published him in a small hard book called, “Who’s Who in CIA”. The members of this critic group realized how tantamount the identity of a CIA operative is important to their security. This is because most of these critics were former CIA operatives. By disclosing his identity to the public, they were aware that they will attract the attention of the anti-spy organizations such as terrorist groups. And by so doing, they believed that Welch will be killed.
Welch was not the first person to be a victim of identity, many other CIA operatives had been killed just because their identity was known to the public. Some people also believed that it was the CIA which organized the death of Welch. Maybe they did not do it directly, but they did it by disclosing his identity. CIA is known for its covered operations, and indirect assassinations. It is therefore logical to argue that they were not comfortable with Welch and so they disclosed his identity so that he can easily be killed by the terrorist groups. As a result of the death of Richard Welch, the United States enacted Intelligence Identities Protection Act (IIPA). This act made it illegal for any American Intelligence officer’s name to be disclosed to the public. Any agent of American Intelligence Agency can never have their name published in any way. IIPA made it a federal crime to intentionally publish or reveal the identity of any covert United States intelligence officer. The penalty for breaking this law was set at a fine of $50,000 or a ten years’ imprisonment in a maximum security facility.
The assassination of Richard Welch was believed to have been carried out by the Revolutionary Organization 17 November, also referred to as “17 November”. 17 November was a domestic terrorism group which was formed in 1975 and was operating within Greece. The believe was a s a result that the group claimed responsibility for the assassination (Kassimeris, 2013, pg. 135). The problem here was to apprehend the group and to find justice for the death of Welch. Greece took more than 27 years to apprehend the members of the terrorism group and to neutralize the group. This paper will therefore assess the reason why the Greek police took too long to neutralize 17 November.
For 27 years of its operation, not even one member of 17 November was arrested by the Greek police. As a result, the U. S State Department labeled 17 November as “the most dangerous active terrorist group in Europe.” On the other hand, the Greece labeled 17 November as “the weakest link towards the Europe’s effort against terrorism”. The main reason for this delay was because of the Greece’s attitude towards terrorism. While other European countries considered terrorism as some of the most important issues in in their security system, Greece believed that terrorism was not the most immediate threat to the Greek security. The Greece media, on the other hand, did not take terrorism seriously. They perceived terrorism with a different light as compared to other European countries (Kassimeris, 2013, pg. 137). Other European countries considered terrorism an important aspect of security. They created strict anti-terrorism laws which ensured that terrorism in those countries were highly reduced. On the other hand, Greece perceived terrorism as something which has no effect on the security and political issues, until the end of 1990. As a result, the terrorists found Greece as the soft spot for their activities.
When Welch was assassinated on 23rd December, 1975 and the 17 November proclaimed responsibility, the Greek government dismissed the allegations. 17 November made their proclamation on Greek and French Press. The government, however, did not believe that such a small domestic group which is not even known can carry such a high profile target operation. 17 November chose this high profile target so as to attract the attention of the international society. They also want to ensure that the credibility of their organization is established. Due to the dismissal by the government, the proclamation was not published on any newspaper. A year letter, the group struck again, assassinating a police captain, Evangelos Malios. Malios was presented to the target of the 17 November by being discharged from his duty. He was dishonorably discharged because he tortured prisoners during the dictatorship regime. This made him a legitimate target to the 17 November. In 1980, 17 November again assassinated a former security officer, Pandelis Petrou, who was also accused of torturing during the dictatorship regime. By assassinating the “American Spy”, and two torturers, 17 November got attraction of the public (Kassimeris, 2005, pg. 23-24). The y started to have sympathizers who believed on their course. By assassinating the wicked and the imperialists, ensuring that they never had any innocent casualty, 17 November was able to create a clean image to the public. The public viewed them as vigilantes; the other option for justice which is not provided by the government.
The group leader of 17 November, Dimitris Koufodinas, believed that he was fighting for the weak, the poor and the exploited. By so doing, he decided to choose the path of revolutionary (Kassimeris, 2005, pg. 24). As a result, the public viewed him as man of the people. He was therefore able to carry its operations without the interference from the public. On the other hand, the antagonistic political parties, Penhellenic Socialist Movement and the New Democracy Party, failed to come into a consensus on how to define terrorism. When the New Democratic party took power in 1978, they introduced anti-terrorism bill. However, this bill was criticized by many people. It also did not get support from the people. They believed that the law was undemocratic and tyrannical. When Penhellenic Socialist Movement came into power on 1981, they repealed the law but never bothered to replace it.
In 1983, 17 November increased its operations. They started undertaking large operations which involved the killing of the United States Navy Captain, George Tsantes; and the United States Army Sargent, Robert Jude. The group carried sophisticated attacks which included motor bombings, rocket attacks and car bombings. They also started to target the capitalist class which they believed that were exploiting the working class. At first, the Greek political players continued to downplay the existence of terrorism in the country. Things changed when chief parliament spokesman, Pavlos Bakoyannis was assassinated in 1989. The public trust towards the 17 November faded (Kassimeris, 2011, pg. 561). The government also was prompted to take affirmative actions to combat terrorism.
The continuous terrorism in Greece started to destroy the relationship between Americans and Greeks. They started imposing travel advisories to Greece (Bakoyannis, 2001, pg. 3). On 2000 the National Commission of Terrorism proposed that economic sanction be imposed on Greece due its inability and unwillingness to crack down terrorism. This is the point when Greece started a serious crack down of terrorist groups in the country. By 27th June 2002, all the members of November were apprehended (Karyotis, 2007, pg. 286). At last, the assassinators of Richard Welch were put into justice.
References
Bakoyannis, D. (2001). Terrorism in Greece: Revisiting an Issue. Mediterranean Quarterly, 12(3), 1-7.
Karyotis, G. (2007). Securitization of Greek Terrorism and Arrest of the Revolutionary Organization 17 November'. Cooperation and Conflict, 42(3), 271-293.
Kassimeris, G. (2005). Urban guerrilla or revolutionary fantasist? Dimitris Koufodinas and the revolutionary organization 17 November. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 28(1), 21-31.
Kassimeris, G. (2011). Why Greek terrorists give up: Analyzing individual exit from the revolutionary organization 17 November. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 34(7), 556-571.
Kassimeris, G. (2013). Greece: the persistence of political terrorism. International Affairs, 89(1), 131-142.
