From Deseret News archives:

Terror groups have abundant supply of recruits, resources, experts say

Published: Saturday, July 23, 2005 10:12 p.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
LONDON — Car bombs at an Egyptian luxury hotel. Explosions in London subways. Suicide blasts in Baghdad.

With the frequency of terror attacks apparently mounting, experts searching for common threads behind the attacks suggest that the war on terror is being waged against an ever-increasing well of recruits, bound together by motives and cause — rather than a single al-Qaida mastermind.

With havens in Afghanistan under pressure and their finances under scrutiny, militants may take philosophical guidance from the likes of Osama bin Laden but are largely relying on their own resources in carrying out operations, experts interviewed by The Associated Press said Saturday.

"They all want to be part of this phenomenon," said Loretta Napoleoni, author of "Terror Incorporated: Tracing the Dollars Behind the Terror Networks," as she explained the terror wave. "It's not like someone is telling (the militants), 'You bomb on the first of July.' "

Story continues below
Anger over the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict also seems to be providing some inspiration, despite early arguments from Bush administration officials that fighting insurgents in Iraq would help prevent them from launching attacks on Western targets. The war has instead turned into a recruiting tool, experts said.

The constant images on Arab language networks of dead and dying civilians — coupled with U.S. soldiers conducting operations — has only heightened sensitivities.

"Iraq has been an absolute gift to al-Qaida," said Paul Rogers, a professor of peace studies at Bradford University in northern England. "(Al-Qaida) seems to have no difficulty in getting more and more recruits."

The attack Saturday in Egypt came only two days after four bombs partially detonated on three subway trains and a bus, causing no deaths but spreading panic two weeks after four suicide bombers hit similar targets, killing more than 80 people.

Magnus Ranstorp, a terror expert at St. Andrews University in Scotland, said few definitive links between the attacks in London and Egypt were likely.

However, the attackers may have taken note of the London attacks and opted to accelerate their plans — hoping to make people even more afraid and the terror more widespread.

"It's more about the timing — to overwhelm the West," Ranstorp said, adding the idea may have been to "overstretch the enemy."

He also said al-Qaida itself has been long been divided into two camps — one that favors targets on secular regimes in the Middle East and another favoring targets among the "crusaders" of the West.

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Related content
previousnext

Latest comments

Jazz outlast Pistons in overtime

This just proves what I have said before. Most of the commentors on this web...

there is no rebuilding in college sports, unless a new head coach is put in...

RSL dancing with soccer stars

the question is: how many goals they're gonna meter on these clowns! Go...

Secularists and religious arguments

How many theocracies enjoy the freedom of our secular republic? Wasn't it a...

Ha, ha, ha, there goes Anonymous again, trying to make political hay....

I am all for banning these products. If this were any other product besides...

I hate Boise State but how are they tied with Oregon who they blasted earlier...

Jazz outlast Pistons in overtime

I've posted this before and I will continue to post it. Why does TNT start...

Utah Utes whip SDSU

I have my tickets to the Utah-BYU Game. It is sad that the season is going...

Just because you wish for something to be true,doesn't make it true. Just...

Advertisements