By Brigitte L. Nacos
Writing about the global epidemic of suicide terrorism by
Muslim extremists and the latest events in London and at Glasgow airport, New
York Times columnist Tom Friedman
wrote, “In the old days, you needed a terror infrastructure with bases in Beirut
or Afghanistan to lash out in a big way. Not anymore. Now all you need is the
virtual Afghanistan— the Internet and a few cellphones — to recruit, indoctrinate, plan and
execute. Hence, the atomization — little terror groups sprouting everywhere. Everyone
now has a starter kit.” Indeed, al-Qaeda is the perfect example: Less than ten
years ago, the organization was centrally guided and controlled by Osama bin
Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri, and a few other men. Recruiting was the result of
personal contacts, training was provided in actual training facilities, terror
attacks were conceived and plots directed by operatives who were part of or
worked closely with the leadership, cells were established at the request of
the central directorate. The terrorist cell of physicians and other medical
workers in the United Kingdom behind the latest terrorism attempts in London and Glasgow is
just the latest affirmation of contemporary terrorism’s increasingly virtual
nature. As the Washington
Post reports today, one of the central figures in the plots, Dr. Bilal
Abdulla, had been warned by his colleagues at the Royal Alexandra Hospital “that he was
spending too much time perusing Arabic-language Web sites instead of tending to
his duties.” Moreover, there are reports about links between the U.K.cell of physicians and medical doctors in Australia.
According to latest
reports,“Police have seized computers and other material from two
hospitals in Australia as
part of the investigation into attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow.
Detectives also revealed that inquiries in Australia, where Indian doctor
Mohammed Haneef was arrested in Queensland state on Monday, had also widened to
a third state, New South Wales.” The Australian authorities’ focus on computers
indicates that today’s counterterrorism efforts concentrates increasingly on
computers, e-mail records, and the Internet.
All of this does not deny an influence of al-Qaeda’s leading figures, namely bin Laden and al-Zawahiri who, of course, would not reach friend and foe around the world without their easy access to the Internet and global satellite television networks. Indeed, thanks to these relatively new media and means of communication, these men remain important propagandists for their extreme Jihadist agenda. [As an aside, contrary to the expressed surprise that people in the medical field plotted the latest terror attempts in the United Kingdom, it is not at all a shocker: After all, al-Zawahiri—the most influential formulator of al-Qaeda’s interpretation of Islam—is a physician and practiced medicine in Egypt before he joined al-Qaeda.]
But it is the growing number of web sites, established and run by fanatics everywhere and without any actual input by al-Qaeda that are instrumental in brainwashing, recruiting, bringing together, and providing information to fanatics all over the world. This week, a British court sentenced 23-year old Marocco-born Tariq al-Daour to ten years in prison for running with his accomplice Waseem Mughal a network of web sites that “offered advice and motivation to would-be terrorists on a myriad of Web pages run from their London homes.” Interestingly, it was reported that during the trial prosecutors “detailed the message traffic on Internet forums run by the men. One message read: ‘'We are 45 doctors and we are determined to undertake jihad and take the battle inside America.’” The USS John F Kennedy, which is often at Mayport Naval Base in Jacksonville,Florida, was reportedly the first target of these physicians.
Actually, it is not clear whether the Internet threat was merely an empty one, related to the Glasgow terrorism plotters, or indicative of the formation or existence of “doctors’ cell” in the United States--although the FBI confirmed Friday an earlier report that two of the suspects in the failed car bombings in London and Glasgow "had contacted a clearinghouse for foreign doctors about working in the United States.."
One way or the other, there is no doubt about the importance of the Internet for today’s terrorists.
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