however, that it has become increasingly convoluted to avoid public addresses of terrorism in recent years due to the ‘tremendous growth of the mass media’ following international terrorist developments, subsequently thrusting the issue to the forefront of every presidents political agenda. 51 President Richard Nixon would be the first American l eader to officially address ‘inhuman wave of terrorism’ as a key threat haunting these decades, in his ‘Action to Combat Terrorism’ speech of 1972. 52 Nixon would bring the issue to the frontline of political thinking and security by claiming the ‘time has come for civilized people to act in concert to remove the threat of terrorism from the world.’ 53 It would be the presidency of Jimmy Carter, a victim of his decisions and insecurities, which would end in such catastrophic disappointment following the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, and therefore directly a result of terrorism. His inconsistency in naming the suspects as hostage takers offers a prime example, Carol Winkler suggests, of Carter’s hesitancy during this time and as such his ineffectiveness. 54 Jeffrey Simon notes that this incident would ‘virtually paralyze his presidency’, with any opportunities to salvage his legitimacy as America’s leader lost following the failed rescue mission. 55 At this point international terrorism would reach a critical point in development, with a prevalent need for action and a ‘warrant for immediate international condemnation […] against such behaviour in the future.’ 56 As Bruce Hoffman notes, ‘anticolonial terrorism campaigns are critical to understanding the evolution and development of modern 51 Simon, p. 10. 52 Richard Nixon, ‘Action to Combat Terrorism’, 1972 <http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=3602> [accessed 30 November 2015]. 53 Nixon, <www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=3602> [accessed 30
November 2015]. 54 Winkler, p. 39. 55 Simon, p.8. 56 Winkler, p. 44-45.
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