ISIS “lone wolf” violence on global stage baffles Western authorities fighting terror//Faisal J. Abbas: Are we living Islam’s darkest hour?

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Are we living Islam’s darkest hour?
Saturday, 27 June 2015/Faisal J. Abbas/Al Arabiya

How much terrorism can the world take in 24 hours? Friday 26 June, 2015 will certainly go down in history as a day that pushed the limit. Just in case the daily dose of evil committed by the likes of ISIS or Iranian-backed militias in Syria and Iraq wasn’t enough, we witnessed three additional horrific attacks done in the name of Islam yesterday. In Kuwait, a deadly bomb took the lives of 27 innocent people and injured 200 others in an ISIS attack on a Shiite mosque. In the Tunisian resort town of Sousse, at least 38 innocent people were killed and dozens wounded when at least one ISIS gunman opened fire at a beachside resort. Meanwhile, a headless body and Islamist flags were found at the scene of an attack on a gas factory near France’s second largest city, Lyon. Here is what will happen next: leaders of affected countries will visit the wounded and vow retaliation, world leaders and concerned parties will condemn, the press will talk about it for a few days. Then, the story will die and terrorism will be forgotten – until it strikes again.

‘Quiet condoners’
The madness needs to stop. But this will not happen as long as there are Muslims who, while not actively participating in these crimes, still think the likes of ISIS have grounds for what they are doing, People might say the above argument echoes the rather unpopular (but accurate nevertheless) views of British PM David Cameron who recently accused many British Muslims of quietly condoning the ISIS ideology. One has to wonder if these “quiet condoners” realize that it is Muslims – and nobody else – who are ultimately being hurt the most in the end? Now, while it remains a puzzle how anyone can agree – privately or publicly – with this group’s evil creed; one has to wonder if these “quiet condoners” realize that it is Muslims – and nobody else – who are ultimately being hurt the most? Putting aside the innocent Christian, Jewish and/or Muslim lives that these terrorist acts take, let us not forget that after almost each one of these attacks, hate crimes against Muslims increase and Muslim communities end up finding it harder to be accepted, to find jobs and to integrate. Some might ask: what about Muslim grievances regarding occupied lands, unjust causes and unfair treatment, which these terrorist groups claim to be fighting for? In response to that question, one can only ask how many of these grievances, while legitimate, have been solved by terrorism? If anything, the likes of ISIS and al-Qaeda has made these causes worse and much more complicated to resolve. As simple as this truth is, many people refuse to see it and this is probably the reason why I remain extremely pessimistic about our region. Perhaps one positive thought remains. It is said that the night is darkest just before the dawn – I don’t think our night can get any darker!

ISIS “lone wolf” violence on global stage baffles Western authorities fighting terror
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis June 27, 2015
The US State Department said Friday, June 26, that there was no indication so far “on the tactical level” that “the attacks in Tunisia, Kuwait and France were coordinated.”
debkafile: That conventional prototype of Islamist terrorist operations is no longer applicable. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ISIS has its own methods of inflicting widespread death which are hard to detect or predict. A decree sent from the top galvanized followers worldwide into initiating lasrgely solo operations. The result was: 211 people dead on Tunisian beaches, a decapitated victim – the first in Europe – at an US-owned French factory, and 27 Shiites killed at a Kuwaiti mosque.The three outrages were perpetrated on three continents just two hours apart.
The second Friday of the Muslim festival month of Ramadan marked the first anniversary of the founding of the Muslim caliphate in Iraq and Syria under the rule of Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi and was therefore judged a fitting date for killing infidels and Shiites.

These atrocities, along with the mass-executions of Syrian Kurds in Kobani and attacks on Saudi Shiite mosques, were also designed to further inflame sectarian hostilities between Sunnis and Shiites and remind non-Sunni minorities, including Kurds and Druze, of the cruel punishment in store for them. The latest operational mode of terror employed by the Islamic State is a special adaptation of the “lone wolf” method – which is nothing like the lone terrorist acting on impulse, such as Israel officials depict after a Palestinian crashes a vehicle into a crowd, or stabs a passerby. It rests on meticulous forward planning, according to all the evidence.

Most of the terrorists activated by ISIS are radical Muslims living or working outside Syria or Iraq, often in western Europe and the United States, who have pledged an oath of loyalty to the Islamic State and its caliph, or else Western converts who returned home from Middle East battlefields:
These extremists set up their own operations for acting alone, or in twos or threes at most. They choose their targets according to three yardsticks:
1. The highest number of victims they can kill.
2. The most gruesome atrocity, climaxing in beheading, for inspiring terror in a large community.
ISIS strategists have turned their backs on Osama bin Laden’s tactics. He employed 20 Saudi terrorists to hijack two commercial planes for murdering thousands of people in the horrific 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington.

Fourteen years later, ISIS uses a single terrorist who is ready to die – or two at most – to execute a massacre. It took no more than one gunman, later identified as Abu Yahya al Qayrawani, firing his Kalashnikov non-stop, to mow down 39 mostly foreign holidaymakers on the beaches of the Tunisian resort of Sousse. Disguised as a European holidaymaker, he sauntered out to the first hotel beach, his automatic rifle hidden in a large sun shade and opened deadly fire on the unsuspecting people lying there, swimming or heading for the hotel lobby. He then raced to the next hotel beach, firing as he went and killing people as they sought cover.

He was only stopped by police gunfire. A bomb belt was found tied to his body, meaning that the shooting was just stage one of the attack. A big explosion was to have followed. This was no ordinary “lone wolf” terrorist. It was a highly competent terror machine on two feet. The beheading of victims is another novel Islamic States method, compared with the classical Al Qaeda of yore. Its perpetrators are usually selected from a group of Muslim extremists with a history in the movement. The more gruesome the deed, the more valiant and honored is the perpetrator.
Many of the jihadis are known to Western security and intelligence agencies. In same places, especially Britain, France and Tunisia, they may even serve local Western security agencies as informants, a role they use as cover for secretly setting up their attacks. This makes their attacks virtually unpredictable.

The unfortunate truth is that many Western counter-terror bodies have been penetrated by these extremists who pretend to cooperate in the war on terror and instead keep their handlers confused.
President Barack Obama has avoided linking terrorism with the Muslim religion. Friday, British premier David Cameron responded to the latest round of ISIS attacks with horror, but he also said, “…this terrorism is not in the name of Islam. Islam is a religion of peace.” The killers, rather, “do it in the name of a twisted, perverted ideology.”
debkafile: Too many Muslims, even those who do not preach violence, don’t see it in those terms.