The clang of the Athens attack

The Athens rocket attack on the US Embassy is a grim reminder of a bygone era, and the taste of things to come, writes Gamal Nkrumah

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Tinkering at the edges misses the bigger point. The rocket attack on the United States in Athens which occurred on 12 January spells disaster. The danger is that the deepening crisis of terrorist threat in the Mediterranean Basin countries, in Europe, in the Arab and Muslim worlds is on the rise. It suggests the re-emergence of ruthlessly efficient lethally brutish organisations in the tradition of Germany's Bader Mein Hoff, and Italy's Red Brigade -- groups that were very powerful and ruinous in the 1970s and 80s, and that have ceased to be, with the abrupt end of the Cold War and pernicious clamp down that led to their demise.

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Bomb squad officers collect evidence at a construction site from where a rocket was launched against the US Embassy in Athens

Greece is no ordinary country. With its 3,000 years of recorded history, it is the cradle of European civilisation. It is also firmly European, a full-fledged member of the European Union which has adopted the euro as its currency, but it also lies at the crossroads of Europe and the Middle East. Next to the predominantly Greek-speaking Cyprus, it is the closest European country to the Middle East. Some 14 million foreign tourists visited Greece in 2006, and its economy is booming.

The centre-right New Democracy government under Costas Karamanlis is in a comfortable and secure position. Greece, a staunch US ally, is also a nation with close historical ties to the Arab world. It is a Mediterranean nation that experienced a long history of subjugation under Ottoman rule, hence its close affinity with the Arab countries of the Levant, Mesopotamia, the Nile Basin and Maghreb. The Greek war of liberation was legendary, and many in this part of the world look back to that historic era with nostalgia -- this was the period when many Greeks made Egypt, the Levant and North Africa their home. Alexandria in particular, and Egypt more generally, was home to hundreds of thousands of Greeks in the 19th and early 20th century.

In more contemporary times, Greece, just like many Arab countries, was subjected to an oppressive military dictatorship and autocratic rule. The country has shaken off the yoke and evil consequences of military dictatorship. Today, it is a thriving democracy. The stranglehold of the juntas has long been eliminated. However, the threat of terrorism remains more real than ever. Greece has weathered many storms, and will undoubtedly overcome the curse of international terror. Today, the country has a large and dynamic community of Muslims and Arabs. Because of its history and geography, Greece will always be inextricably intertwined with the Arab world.

The terrorist organisations cranked up their lobbying forces around the Mediterranean. The European terrorist underworld is still alive and kicking. And, it is vehemently anti- American and anti-globalisation American- style. Capitalism as exemplified by Pax- Americana is still the public enemy number one, insofar as the European terrorist underworld networks are concerned.

The appointment of John Dimitri Negroponte, director of US intelligence, by US president George W Bush is quite frankly ominous. The Athens rocket attack occurred soon after. Negroponte has a terrible track record in Iraq and Nicaragua, in particular, where he was ambassador in the 1980s and then in Iraq more recently. He was the architect of the so-called contra-war in central America that left a sorry trail of death and destruction. The Athens attack and Negroponte's appointment are no coincidence, but, rather, a portentous omen.