The slow breakup
Last week’s news agenda was so rich in official revelations about November 17 that, once again, the issue of terrorism eclipsed all other current affairs. The story is unraveling slowly but surely and, despite the prime minister’s insistence that only the first step has been made, the overall impression is that this is the end of November 17. Police believe that the group has neither the manpower nor the weapons to support further action. The government, meanwhile, has yet to attain its goal of «totally eradicating» terrorism but it vows it will, stressing that the investigations will take some time to complete. The government, justifiably satisfied with its progress to date, is also aware it needs to reveal much more to the public in order to convince it that all hidden truths about November 17 have been exposed. However people imagine the «myth» of November 17, they cannot deny that, to achieve its «goals,» it required «top priority» information which neither common criminals nor «fervent left-wingers» could have provided. We cannot be sure whether the investigations will shed full light on terrorist activity in Greece. And maybe this is not entirely in the hands of the government either. But whether developments will progress in a climate of «low-profile activity,» as Costas Simitis has suggested, is up to the government. If it wants further revelations about November 17 to coincide with the pre-election period next fall, then their «low-profile activity» will have to take a walk.
