Saturday April 20, 2013

I've Been Thinking:

The brothers who perpetrated the Boston Marathon bombings proved an important axiom of terror and the prevention of terrorist acts.

The most dangerous and the most difficult acts of terror to prevent are those perpetrated by terrorists who are religiously and ideologically committed to their mission. In the United States that includes those who are culturally and socially assimilated.

If there are others out there like these two brothers it will be almost impossible to intervene before they reach their targets. And there are others out there like them, that is a certainty. The only chance we have is that to secure soft targets and catch the perpetrators after they have committed their terrorist acts.

These brothers are a combination of the consummate sleeper cell and the crafty lone wolf.

They waited and planned this attack and all the while they were totally off the grid. They arranged an escape plan and even had alternative plans. They clearly strategized on how to inflict the most harm at the end of the race. And they knew how to strike at and destroy families waiting for their loved ones to cross the finish line. They knew their prime targets would be waiting for them a full three hours after the winners crossed the line. The terrorists were not interested in the race winners, usually foreign, professional, marathon runners.

The Boston Marathon terrorists did not need to be part of a larger group. They were a group. That is why no police, no intelligence team, no counter terrorism unit, could infiltrate them.

The lessons taught by these brothers will be taken to heart by other would be terrorists. The lesson we must learn is not to let fear rule our lives.

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