Official who warned of terrorism

ROBERT Kupperman (71), a government scientist who started warning of terrorist attacks against the US more than 30 years ago, has died.

“Unless governments take basic precautions, we will continue to stand at the edge of an awful abyss,” Kupperman, chief scientist for the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, wrote in a 1977 report that summarised nearly five years of work by the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism. President Richard Nixon created the high-level government panel in September 1972 after Palestinian commandos slaughtered 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games.”Terrorists are undergoing a dangerous metamorphosis from technological clods relying on fanaticism to skilled tacticians,” Kupperman warned in a 1988 article in The New York Times.He wrote in 1995 that the government had “essentially ignored the issue of domestic terrorism” for two decades.Nampa-APPresident Richard Nixon created the high-level government panel in September 1972 after Palestinian commandos slaughtered 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games.”Terrorists are undergoing a dangerous metamorphosis from technological clods relying on fanaticism to skilled tacticians,” Kupperman warned in a 1988 article in The New York Times.He wrote in 1995 that the government had “essentially ignored the issue of domestic terrorism” for two decades.Nampa-AP