by Norman Halls, contributor
The Middle East war is not the same as wars in the past as there was a beginning and an end. In the pass 25 years the adversary has used tactics that are not in any military handbook. These tactics have caused mayhem living in our society. In recent years, references to such attacks have become avoidable. But this obscures the real nature of the threats against us. With our ears let’s listen, and look with our eyes; thus each wise man spies out the way. Where you recognize evil, speak out against it, and give no truces to our enemies. Aggression is defined as: intentional action aimed at doing harm or causing physical or psychological pain. We all become alert when someone attacks us on the street or in some structure.
“Terrorism has changed dramatically in recent years. Attacks by groups with defined chains of command have become rarer, as the prevalence of terrorist networks, autonomous cells, and, in rare cases, individuals, has grown. This evolution has prompted a search for a new vocabulary, as it should. The label that seems to have been decided on is “lone wolves”. They are, we have been repeatedly told, ‘Terror enemy No 1’.” Jason Burke The Guardian UK. “Researchers believe lone wolf attackers are fundamentally different than people who participate in organized political violence. In an effort to better understand the phenomenon, the Department of Justice has funded two groups of researchers to compile databases of historic lone wolf attacks, so they can be analyzed for trends, psychological profiles — and, the authorities hope, insight into how to prevent them.” Katie Wolf, FRONTLINE/Columbia University.
A hostile loner or lone wolf is a person who avoids or does not actively seek human interaction. There are many reasons for solitude, intentional or otherwise. Intentional reasons include being introverted, and spiritual, mystic, or religious considerations or personal philosophies. Unintentional reasons involve being highly sensitive, extremely shy, past trauma or events, or having various mental disorders. So-called lone player may be inspired by the recruitment videos and hashtag campaigns delivered via social media by the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, but they move from inspiration to action on their own, without direct communication with terrorist groups’ leadership.
Times have changed with cell phones and internet for the loner will use his/hers to receive directions from Islamic State spokespersons and encourage them with instructions on how to carry out attacks. They instill in the lone wolf when and where they should assault a group of people. We must remember the people giving the instructions are hiding behind a fortification. But, through the same process they give instructions we are able to find them. The methods that these loners use vary, from vehicles to firearms. The firearms are not your hunting weapon; they are AR-15 type rifle with a bump or slide fire modification. The vehicles the lone wolf is instructed to use are big trucks, trailer or box type. The aggressors have used cars and small trucks too.
This is a core security problem for open Western societies: So-called lone actors may be inspired and have become radicalized by the recruitment videos and hashtag campaigns delivered via social media by the Islamic State and other terrorist groups, but they move from inspiration to action on their own, without direct communication with terrorist groups’ leadership. They may respond to, for example, the generalized call of now-deceased Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani to “make [Ramadan] a month of calamity everywhere for the nonbelievers,” but ultimately they select their own targets, choose their own weapons, determine their own timing, and, increasingly, record their own press releases.
“Lone actors have become a higher priority for counter-terrorism professionals (UK police, Prevent practitioners and security agencies), but there is a paucity of research into the views and awareness of these professionals. This qualitative study examined how Prevent practitioners perceived the radicalization and motivations of lone-actor terrorists they had encountered. Participants were an opportunity sample of five Prevent practitioners; all had served as police officers with varying employment backgrounds and counter-terrorism experience. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews identified perceived general characteristics of lone-actor radicalization. Three themes clustering around the concept of becoming a terrorist are discussed: mechanisms of radicalization, vulnerability to radical discourse, and individual motivation. Participants construed radicalization as a process over time, accelerated in the presence of generalized criminality or extensive Internet use. Vulnerability was seen as inherent, as well as a product of social context. Participants adopted folk-like psychological explanations with mental health problems, social isolation and relative deprivation cited as prominent vulnerability factors. Lone actors were seen as motivated by grievances, pressure from external sources or personal reward. Practitioners’ perceptions of the process over time had parallels with a diathesis–stress model, although there was some support for social movement theory” wrote Marie Eyre School of Forensic and Investigative Sciences.
We don’t know who these “Lone actors or Wolfs” are. If you look at the communications between the attackers and the virtual plotters you will find they are being guided behind a wall of inscrutability like the New York City attack. The “Lone Wolf” is this case; neighbors had no idea what he was up to. We must be alert. “IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING.”
