Attacks by radical Islamic terrorists are nothing new and their targets include anywhere their “enemies” congregate as demonstrated by the recent mass murders in the U.S., France, Belgium and Pakistan, just to name a few.
Who are the terrorists’ enemies? The list is long; among them are Jews, Christians, Hindus, all “Westerners,” non-radical Muslims and even opposing sects. No one, not even children, are excluded – they are willing to slaughter all comers.
Are there terrorists with other motivations and beliefs? Sure, terrorists come in every stripe but the most serious problem by far – the largest number, the best organized and equipped, most dedicated and most ruthless – are the various radical Islamic political and religious movements that spread their poison worldwide; they have led the parade of death for decades.
The threat is not what they do today, the current odds of being a victim of a terror attack are long; however, using that as an argument for not making an all-out commitment to defeat this threat, not merely contain it, misses the point. The real danger is what they want to do tomorrow and what they would do if they could. It is the threat of intention that has changed our way of life because without extensive security precautions the long odds would be very short indeed.
Passive defensive postures are not effective against wholesale attacks on any society; there will always be an abundance of vulnerable “soft” targets. Offensive postures and other preemptive steps designed to stop attacks before they happen require detailed intelligence above all else and that is hard to come by.
However, it’s no secret that the terrorists receive outside encouragement and support. Since the last week of February, in a little over a month, U.S. and allied navies have intercepted three surreptitious arms shipments from Iran to Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Iranians see the Houthi as performing the same functions as the terrorist organization Hezbollah which is also Iranian supplied and based in Lebanon.
The confiscated arms included about 5,500 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 300 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 21 heavy machine guns, 49 light machine guns with 39 spare barrels, 20 mortar tubes, 64 sniper rifles, nine anti-tank missiles and “other equipment.” How many other shipments escaped detection? Obviously, we don’t know.
There is a basic psychological difference in planning and acting to win and merely planning not to lose. That latter strategy has shown itself to be ineffective against terror. So, let’s dedicate ourselves to eradicating the threat – not just coping with it – before the terrorists get around to doing what we know they want to do which is perpetrate a horrific mass casualty event.
After it happens, the political argument and blame-gaming of “I told you so” is going to ring pretty hollow.