(Analyst's note: Absolutely must read. We can clearly see by the recent, and never ending, attacks against us on our own soil that we have been lucky so far. This article address some areas that must be considered if we are going to win this war of ideas against those involved in the global Islamist jihad. It also addresses in very understandable terms what we face if this enemy "gets lucky" in future attacks. At this point, we can know that the jihadist attacks will continue. As these jihadies achieve, even some small measure of success, the number of attacks increase and the terror and economic impact is measurable. Remember that Dr. Tawfik Hamid was once a jihadist, so he knows how they think. Do yet we know and are our agencies charged with helping to protecting us able to use a vocabulary to describe this enemy? The answer is a resounding "NO.")
After the recent failed attempt to explode a car in the Times Square in NY City it is vital to learn some lessons to prevent further attacks on the US soil. There is no doubt that our HLS is doing a great job keeping us secure and it is fair to say that their efforts need to be saluted. However, learning from the NYC attack is also fundamental to avoid major disaster in the future.
The following points need to be addressed:
1- What if the person who conducted this failed attempt in NY was wearing an Islamic Niquab that covers the whole face and body? In this situation, searching for the suspect would be much more complicated. It is time to think of how religious freedom must be weighed against our security measures. Wearing the Niquab can limit our ability to find terrorist suspects and consequently impede our efforts to prevent terrorism.
2- The incident in Times Square further confirmed the fact that terrorists are still having the "will" to attack us and they have the capability to "penetrate" our systems. All they need to cause massive damage to the US is to "attain" a destructive weapon. Efforts in the US are clearly directed toward preventing the penetration of our systems by the Jihadists and limit their ability to attain WMDs. It is time to seriously consider using better psychological warfare tactics to weaken the "will" of the terrorists. Addressing ALL components of this Fetal Triad i.e. "The will to destroy", "The ability to penetrate"- and "Attaining more destructive weapons" is crucial in winning the war against terrorism. Ignoring one of these components, for example, failure to declare an effective psychological warfare to weaken the "will" of the terrorists can have grave consequences on our future security.
3- The US administration MUST analyze the reasons and factors that have contributed to the increasing number of terrorist acts and attempts inside the US in Year 2009/2010. Not including the Pakistan case of the 5 American Jihadists, the Rand Corporation says that nearly 30 homegrown terror plots have been uncovered in the U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001. Ten of these attacks surfaced in 2009 alone, including two actual attacks - in Little Rock, Ark. and Fort Hood, Texas [1]. The possibility that some actions of the Obama administration were perceived as signs of weakness by the Jihadists and thus have contributed to such an increase in their "will" to attack the US must be addressed and analyzed.
4- In the last 5 months "Luck" has played a major role in preventing two disasters in the US. The first was the failed attack to destroy an airliner on the Christmas day [2]. The second is the latest attempt to explode a car in Times Square on a busy Saturday night [3]. Just imagine the negative impact on the US if we were not 'lucky" on those days and the explosions exploded! The damage would include:
a- Loosing trust and confidence in US security measures (which can encourage Jihadists to launch more attacks on the US).
b- Economical damage to the airline industry.
c- A major blow to tourism industry in NY (and possibly all over the US!).
The question that MUST be raised: What measures are the US administration going to take to improve our security so that we do not rely on "luck" anymore in defending our home land?
I mentioned earlier the importance of being pro-active against the tourists via using effective psychological warfare (EPW) to weaken the 'will' of the Jihadists and to limit their ability to launch more attacks on the US.
In short, we cannot rely on our 'luck' while dealing with Islamist Terrorists. We must analyze our strengths and weaknesses and consider new approaches to enhance our ability to protect our homeland. Psychological Measures to weaken the "will" of the Jihadists are needed to achieve victory in this war.
1. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2009/12/14/homegrown-terror-rise/
2. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30973.html
