What to do in wake of U.K. terror
Free world must be strong without empowering hate
It isn’t just Great Britain. The repetitive terrorism that left our close European ally shaken is a threat to all of us. On Saturday, seven people were killed and dozens injured when a van drove into pedestrians on London Bridge and three attackers subsequently rampaged through pubs and restaurants with knives. The Islamic State claimed responsibility.
On May 22, children were among the 22 people killed and 59 injured at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. The Islamic State claimed responsibility.
On March 23, an attack on Westminster Bridge near the House of Parliament left five people dead, including the terrorist, and dozens injured. A news agency linked to the Islamic State said the attacker was responding to its calls to kill citizens of countries that oppose it.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said Saturday’s rampage was an “attack on the free world.”
Yes. We are all in this together, and it is an existential struggle. The free world cannot triumph by making itself less free. If we do that, the terrorists win.
Yet the potential for homegrown terrorism to become routine in Western nations, including the United States, demands a strong and united response. The citizens of nations at risk demand action.
Wise leaders will react to the fears and concerns of their people without empowering the enemy.
It starts with defining who the enemy is — and isn’t.
The goal of terrorists is to disrupt and destroy our way of life. Their weapon of choice is random, violent attacks on everyday people doing everyday things. They sow fear and division.
They are criminals. They are political extremists who use sham piety as an excuse for indiscriminate killing. Jews, Christians, atheists, Buddhists and — yes — Muslims fall victim.
In fact, more Muslims than non-Muslims have died or been displaced from their homes because of radical extremists who claim to act in the name of Islam.
Saturday’s attack in London was the third terrorist assault in Great Britain since March. How do you prevent this repetitive carnage from becoming the new normal?
For some, fighting back means seeing Muslims as a monolithic enemy.
London’s first Muslim mayor put the motives of the attackers in perspective.
Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “I’m angry and furious that these three men are seeking to justify their actions by using the faith that I belong to. The ideology they follow is perverse, and it is poisonous.” Perverse. Poisonous. Not pervasive. We will not beat those who want to destroy our way of life by allowing the slaughter they commit to divide us. Such division — and the thoughtless prejudice it produces — is another tool of those who hate societies in which free people make choices about how to think, believe and act.
Because of who we are — because the free world is not bound to authoritarian traditions — it is as important to say how we should not respond as it is to say how we should react.
We should not target a religion. We should not react with travel bans or other indiscriminate actions that treat anyone who follows Islam as the enemy.
These are counterproductive distractions. They prevent us from focusing on an enemy that kills Muslims, too.
We should engage Muslim communities. They are best equipped to teach their youth that violence is not the path of Islam.
Law enforcement needs to work with Muslim communities in the spirit of partnership to prevent radicalization, and to identify and stop those who promote violence.
One of the three terrorists involved in the recent carnage in London was known to authorities for espousing radical views. That raises big questions about when to step in. We cannot trample free speech. But we need to move against those who threaten innocent lives.
If someone speaks and acts like a threat to the lives of others, that person has forfeited an expectation of privacy. Police surveillance should be an expected consequence.
British Prime Minister May has reportedly said there is too much tolerance of extremism in Great Britain. Such tolerance is a hallmark of free societies. But it can be dangerous.
We need to find a balance. We need to protect ourselves and each other.
The terrorists are trying to blow holes in our collective peace of mind. That intent needs to be met with vigilance, covert investigations and decisive action.
The United States suffered a huge and dramatic terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001 and Presidents Bush and Obama subsequently hunted down and killed Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of that horror.
But terrorism has ten thousand heads. Increasingly those heads rise out of unsuspecting neighborhoods in nations that have long celebrated their free and open societies.
That freedom — that openness — is the real target.
World leaders who understand the stakes will not indulge in cheap tweets and grandstanding. This is a real conflict with genuine evil. International cooperation is essential, and it is essential for free countries to trust one another with sensitive information.
Donald Trump’s self-indulgent tweets and his careless sharing of information represent a real threat to the success of the global war on terror. This is not a game.
The free world has to remember who the enemy is and what that enemy wants to do. If we scapegoat all Muslims, we play into the hands of the terrorists and alienate potential allies.
If we succumb to the trivial and the petty instead of standing united, then we help the relentless quest of terrorists to undermine the foundations of Western democracy.