The storming of Air France Flight 8969, by a special unit of the Gendarmerie, Monday in Marseilles, was a great tactical victory in the war on terrorism. It prevented use of the airliner and some 170 hostages as a giant firebomb on Paris.
The Algerian civil war did not drop on France out of the skies. It was already there. Terrorists have used French sanctuary, as have their victims. Rebels accuse France of propping up the Algerian dictatorship. Terrorists have assassinated some 80 foreigners in Algeria in 15 months -- including four priests as reprisal for the storming of the plane -- crippling French business. French police have cracked down on terrorists and, in so doing, have harassed many North African immigrants.
Most of the victims of the terrorists are Algerian. Most of the hostages on the plane were. Algerian journalists, popular singers, intellectuals and unveiled women have been assassinated. So have prominent Berbers, an Islamic but non-Arab people resistant in turn to French colonialism, Algerian socialism and Islamic extremism.
Estimates of the death toll since the civil war began three years ago run from 10,000 to 20,000. The highly publicized targeting of foreigners threatens the oil and gas industry, which supports the country. The suspension by France of commercial travel to Algeria is a victory for the slain hijackers, who were seeking to isolate their own country.
This war began in early 1992. The National Liberation Front (FLN), ruling Algeria since independence in 1962, canceled run-off elections and suppressed the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), which had won the first round. The FIS went underground and is more extremist now than it was then. An Armed Islamic Group (GIA) -- its relation to FIS unclear -- commits the worst terror. GIA seized the airliner in Algiers, demanding an end to French support of the FLN and release of three extremist leaders including two from FIS.
Some observers have speculated on French willingness to come to terms with an FIS Algeria. This now seems less likely in the short run. Prime Minister Edouard Balladur, the probable front-running candidate for president, and hard-nosed Interior Minister Charles Pasqua are basking in the success of the gendarmes.
Algeria's FLN regime, now headed by President Liamine Zeroual, missed its chance in 1992 to usher in democracy and soften the FIS in the process. Neither the regime nor its enemies can now promise Algeria stability. But terrorism with an international dimension must be confronted internationally. For that, all praise to Mr. Balladur and the assault team, who struck a blow for civil aviation and safety aloft.