I have some thoughts.
In a former life I was tasked with training my department, and others, in LERT—which is a somewhat awkward acronym for the Law Enforcement Response to Terrorism. I was sent to a number of schools to learn what was considered, at the time, best practices, methods, and general strategies to identify and respond to a terrorist event in our jurisdiction, or to recognize certain indicators of terrorist activity.
At the same time, our SWAT team began to train for kinetic responses, and to consider the myriad responses that could be, at any moment, required of us. This was invaluable training and education, given that our city had no fewer than five “High Value Targets” that we knew, based on reliable intelligence, existed on terrorist wish-lists. One thing to remember: once a target is on the table, it never comes off the table. If they fail at a target, they will try again. This has been proven repeatedly, most notably on 9/11.
And I studied. I began a comprehensive deep-dive into, in particular, the jihadist mindset, its origins both historical and modern, in order to better understand their world view and intent.
I was helped immensely along the way by reading the works of Walid Phares, including Future Jihad, The War of Ideas, and The Confrontation, as well as Lightning Out of Lebanon, by Tom Diaz and Barbara Newman, God’s Terrorist by Charles Allen, Crisis of Islam by Bernard Lewis, American Jihad by Steven Emerson, and a Portrait of Egypt by Mary Anne Weaver. And of course I read the Koran, to try to understand, with my infidel mind, Mohammad and the 5 Pillars. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it is a good start and the books have aged well, and each of the works deals in the idealogical foundations of Wahabbism and the Shia Revival—and their kinetic effects— that the world has been witnessing for decades.
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