Police effort not enough to stop terrorists

The latest terror attack perpetrated by the Islamic State — this time against the civilians of Barcelona — makes two harsh facts painfully clear.

The fuller view of the Barcelona attack, now coming to light, ought to be setting off serious alarm bells.

First, the strategy of confronting international terrorism as a global policing problem just isn’t working well enough.

Second, the necessary strategic shift toward treating it as more of a military conflict requires European leadership.

Although it will not be easy for Western leaders and peoples to face up to these facts and change, the alternative — suffering through terrorism as a way of life — will be increasingly difficult to sustain.

The fuller view of the Barcelona attack now coming to light ought to be setting off serious alarm bells.

The terror cell responsible began its planning over a year ago.

They amassed weapons components and tested bomb-making.

Using the Islamic States’ explosive of choice — an extremely powerful and unstable compound nicknamed “the Mother of Satan” — they accidentally blew up a building far from Barcelona they used as a base to develop their scheme.

Yet despite all this activity, carried on for so long, they entirely escaped notice by the authorities.

That is deeply discrediting to those who continue to believe law enforcement is the best way to fight terror.

Certainly the problem is not that European law enforcement officials are weakwilled, lazy or incompetent.

Especially in the wake of the Paris attacks, police have been pressed to the breaking point, working around the clock in the face of impossible odds to find, track and apprehend jihadists who have fanned out widely across the continent and burrowed deep into the crannies of everyday life.

The policing model has just been overwhelmed by the terrorist threat.

Europe is not prepared or willing enough to respond in the only prudent way — with a comprehensive, cohesive strategy for military intelligence action at home and in the near abroad; and a coordinated, multinational effort to target specific terrorist plots outside the continent.

Hard as it may be, Europe’s militaries must take the lead.

Europe’s colonial history and past U.S. military adventures in the Middle East have paved the way for much of the terror we see today, unfortunately.

Now we need to deal with those problems in a smart way, without repeating the mistakes of the past.

In the wake of the Paris attacks, police have been pressed to the breaking point, working around the clock in the face of impossible odds to find, track and apprehend jihadists who have fanned out across the continent and burrowed deep into the crannies of everyday life. The policing model has just been overwhelmed by the terrorist threat.