Michael Adebolajo, front, a man now infamous for beheading
a British soldier in
broad daylight and explaining why he did it,
demonstrating anti-terrorist
arrests in London six years ago.
'New Face' of Terrorism Demands Level-Headed Public (Rzeczpospolita, Poland)
It is extremely difficult to track terrorists like the murderers
in London, the Tsarnaev brothers in Boston, or the assassin
of Toulouse in France a year ago. ... There's is no doubt that there will be
further attacks like the one in London - and not only in the U.S. or U.K. One
cannot prevent them all. We simply need to learn to live with this new face of
terrorism.
For
years, al-Qaeda has been on the defensive. Its members have been ruthlessly
hunted down and - even Osama bin Laden spent the last years of his life
practically cut off from the world, walled off on in a mansion in a Pakistani
province. He was head of his organization, but only symbolically.
It
is clear that while possible, the ability of al-Qaeda and its supporters to
organize an attack on a scale similar to that of September 11 is extremely
difficult. Intelligence and police services from dozens of countries are so
thorough about tracking known terrorists that preparations for a complex
operation involving dozens of people in several nations is virtually
impossible.
So
for years, through the Internet, al-Qaeda has encouraged its followers to carry
out other types of attacks. Osama spoke about this before he died, and radical
imams speak about it in their sermons today - which can be viewed on the
Internet.
They
encourage Muslims living in the West, often from immigrant families, to conduct
attacks on a smaller scale - and to prepare themselves and self-select targets.
Al-Qaeda doesn't want to murder of thousands of people in one go like it did on
September 11. Now it is enough for only one person to die. Thanks to electronic
media and the never-ending news cycle, such attacks will without a doubt hit
the headlines of newspapers and TV broadcasters. The propaganda effect will be
achieved.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
The
attack in London
is a perfect example of this tactic. The murderer, with blood on his hands, tells
a passerby who is recording him via cell phone: “You will never be safe.” This precisely
fulfills the demands of Islamist propaganda.
It
is extremely difficult to track terrorists like the murderers in London, the Tsarnaev brothers in Boston, or the assassin of
Toulouse in France a year ago. They are not on any list of potential
terrorists, they don't meet with known Islamist activists, and often seem
perfectly blending into Western society. Far from al-Qaeda camps in Pakistan,
they learn the terrorist trade on home PCc. Their
targets are often chosen at random and at the last minute.
There's
is no doubt that there will be further attacks like the one in London - and not
only in the U.S. or U.K. One cannot prevent them all. We simply need to learn
to live with this new face of terrorism.
