In the Free World We Protect Women and Children to ISIS They Are Prime Targets
In the Free World We Protect Women and Children to ISIS They Are Prime Targets
Today, in the wake of the Manchester suicide bombing British Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced that the United Kingdom’s threat level had been raised from severe to critical, its highest level, meaning that another terrorist attack may be imminent.
In the aftermath of last night’s deadly terrorist attack, the British military was placed on alert to support the police and security forces on the United Kingdom’s streets. The last time that Britain faced such a high security threat level was in 2006 and 2007 in the run-up to the July 2007 Al Qaeda metro and bus bombings in London. Last night’s suicide bombing at the Manchester arena following an Ariana Grande concert has cost the lives of 22 people and 59 are wounded. Many of the dead and wounded are young children and teens. The suicide bomber was identified today as Salman Abedi, 22, the son of Libyan immigrants. Abedi was known to British security forces, and may have traveled abroad. He is believed to have traveled to the foyer of the Manchester arena by train and to have target people leaving the concert. The suicide bomber set off a sophisticated and powerful nail bomb at about 10:30 pm Manchester time. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack today which clearly targeted children. The bomber Salman Abedi’s family, save himself and another brother, are believed to have recently returned to Libya with little explanation or warning. Police officers in Manchester arrested a 23-year-old man on Tuesday at a home southwest of the city. The United Kingdom’s major political parties have agreed to suspend election campaigning ahead of the June 8th election out of respect for the victims of the attack and their families.
Based on the developments today we know a few things from an intelligence perspective. First, the Manchester bombing was the most sophisticated to hit the United Kingdom since the Al Qaeda bombings in July 2007 in terms of bomb design, planning, and execution. This was a well orchestrated devastating attack against a soft target. Second, the person who built this bomb had training, and this was not cooked up from the internet by a 22-year old. Third, based on the previous points, the suicide bomber almost certainly had support and assistance, meaning that there is potentially a surviving bomb-maker and terror cell on the loose preparing for another attack. Fourth, this attack was likely orchestrated and directed from abroad with an execution and support cell in theater. There is much in common about this attack with the November 2015 Bataclan attack in Paris, and the Reina night club attack in Istanbul this past New Year Day. Both were directed from the top of the Islamic State command structure.
Fifth, as the Islamic State has morphed over time, and under pressure, it has become increasingly violent and blood thirsty to an extend that Al Qaeda was unable to support. Sixth, in Europe, in over 12 attacks, the Islamic State have increasingly targeted, woman, young girls and children. Whether this is a change of philosophy within the organization, or a splinter faction, its fixation on women and children has crystalized. Women and children are no longer collateral damage, they are the target. It is important to draw a line here. The Islamic State has decided to target women and children purposely for two reasons. One, they do not value the lives of women and young girls in the way that they value men and male children. Two, taking away wives and children, particularly daughters, takes away the enemy’s future in such away, that they almost never existed in the first place.
Finally, on a seventh point, the Islamic State has moved from ‘limited war’ scenarios in Iraq and Syria, with ‘limited strategic objectives’ to ‘total war’ on the ‘crusaders’ with one objective ‘total victory’ by killing women and children. The enemy is not Islam, it is the Islamic State, and the West needs to wake up before it is too late.
