From news report published in the aftermath of Madrid commuter train attack, we learned that the attackers were from North Africa and had close tie with global al-Qaeda network.  It remains to be seen who really did the blasting on July 7, 2005, in London .  However, no Irish group has claimed the responsibility of the attack.  Furthermore, IRA has never done any coordinated attacks.   

Osama’s terror organization has not yet attacked any marine transport system such as ferryboats nor have they attacked any private vehicles.  Since al-Qaeda has declared a war against the West portraying the Arabs as victims in the hands of West goaded by Israel , and things are not getting better in poor Arab world, the world will see more attacks like the ones London has endured on July 7, 2005.   

The open society in the West is vulnerable to terrorist attacks more so than the closed societies of our globe, which are heavily controlled by state-run agencies.  Thus, al-Qaeda or any other fringe organization will have hard time attacking the public transport system in Saudi Arabia , Egypt , and other Islamic nation.  A case in point is Iraq under Saddam.  Because of a tight reign imposed by Baathist regime under Saddam, no insurgency or terrorist organization could do bomb-blast in Iraq but now that the strongman is gone and the society is opening up a bit, the nation is experiencing a deluge of non-stop bomb blasts.  

Osama’s men consider them “Man of action.”  They do not like a tranquil world.  Therefore, every so often we hear of some activity in Saudi Arabia or in Asian country.  They have focused their attention to a select few nations who sent army to aid America ’s military in Iraq .  From that perspective, Tony Blair’s country became very visible into the radar screen of Osama bin Laden and his evil organization.  Many Brits knew that their nation is vulnerable to terrorist attacks because of the military help and moral support Mr. Blair has lent to American Administration since America ’s invasion of Iraq in late March 2003.   

The bomb blasts of July 7 in which many innocent lives were lost remind us all that we live in a very dangerous world.  The terrorists for whatever reasons have a warped worldview.  Because of non-stop turmoil in Middle East , Osama’s organization has no problem recruiting young jihadis.  Under the spell of indoctrination, these new recruits would do anything to please their elders in the organization.  The game of victimization of Arabs including Palestine , Chechen, Kashmiris, etc., has played rather well.  These political hotspots around the world provide incentives for disenchanted young people to join al-Qaeda and other fringe organization.  Therefore, the West should focus to solve the problems in these troubled areas or else, Osama’s organization will always have easy time to recruit would be acolytes from refugee camps and other place mired in political crisis in Muslim societies.  

In summary, based on cursory observation I have come to conclusion that al-Qaeda has an eye for West’s mass transit system.  In all three attacks spanning from 9-11 to 7-7 three nation’s public transport system were either utilized or victimized to kill in excess of 3,500 people.  Based on an AP report, an uncanny similarity between 9-11 and 7-7 were observed.  In both the cases, the terrorists chose four targets.  I hold the view that since al-Qaeda plays the game of victimization of Muslim people to recruit new jihadi brigade members, the West should try very hard to bring a permanent settlement and enduring peace in troubled spot such as Palestine , Chechnya , Kashmir , and transform many Muslim societies into democratic societies.  Only then, Osama bin Laden and his organization will have hard time recruiting new members for his terror organization.  What is so wrong in trying to correct our mistakes from the past?  The West has the capacity to help make enduring peace in the Middle East but whether they would do it or not is an open question.  Perhaps what the world needs is visionary leaders, but there aren’t many at this time.  With this sour note let me bring to a closure of this commentary.

----------------------------

Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans , USA

page 1 | page 2