How to Be a Terrorist

It reads like a cross between a driver's manual and a guide for revolutionary Boy Scouts. Among other things, it contains admonitions to drive carefully, be courteous to neighbors and, of course, be prepared. Entitled Security Rules and Work Methods, the loose-leaf document of 20 typewritten pages was among the most valuable finds uncovered late last month by police who raided a Red Brigades apartment hideout at Via Gradoli 96 in Rome (TIME, May 1). As a survival handbook for Italy's underground terrorists, the document provides a fascinating glimpse into how the Red Brigades seek to use respectability as a cover for their nihilistic actions.

Written in a businesslike style, free of the usual Marxist rhetoric, the manual contains instructions grouped under seven headings: renting or buying a "safe" house, use of automobiles, work methods, appointments, contact with relatives, personal care and what to do in case of arrest. Ringing a kind of middle-class change on Mao's dictum that guerrillas should mix with the people as fish swim in water, the handbook conveys a portrait of an organization that is both rigorously disciplined and shrewd.

The manual specifies, for example, that an apartment or house to be rented or bought must be "'modest, clean, neat and completely furnished. It must appear from the outside as a decent house -curtains, an entrance light, a doormat and a nameplate." It should be situated on a street where it is "easy for a militant to keep watch over and to observe any police surveillance: that is, if possible, it should not be near bars, public buildings, shops, institutes, warehouses, etc." Purchases of food and other necessities should be made far away from the neighborhood of the hideout.

A long section on the use of automobiles states that cars are "the property of the organization" and should be treated "with discretion." They should be maintained in peak condition and kept clean, since dirty cars tend to attract attention. "An automatic car wash takes five minutes," notes the handbook. At night, it cautions, drivers should remove old newspapers and debris as well as radios, tape decks or anything else that could tempt car thieves. In the event of an accident, if minor, the handbook advises Brigades members to "assume responsibility and even pay the costs." If the accident is serious, the driver should "collect all car papers and any compromising material, and escape to safety as quickly as possible before police arrive." To preclude confrontations with the cops, revolutionaries should "avoid occasions for argument [and] drive with extreme care. A banal incident can have the gravest consequences."

Since "strict discretion is absolutely necessary" if terrorists are to blend in with their surroundings, "every comrade must be decorously dressed and be personally well-kept: clean shaven and hair cut." (In fact, several prominent Brigatisti, including imprisoned Leader Renato Curcio, do sport beards.) Terrorists are admonished "as a matter of principle" to be "reassuring and kind to neighbors and not make noise after hours."

Members of Red Brigades "columns," rather like Communist cells, are urged to establish "a well-defined [false] identity, even in the smallest details." If, for example, a Brigatisto pretends to be an artisan, he "must leave home every day before 8 in the morning and not return before 12:30 in the afternoon, leave again at 2 p.m. and return home at 7 p.m. or later." As the manual puts it: "The role assumed must be carefully studied, so that any irregularities in one's behavior can be explained." Militants should never write down phone numbers, even in code. But do, says the handbook, "always carry your side arm."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.