Were Akayed Ullah a more accomplished suicide bomber, we might today be writing about the horrible repercussions of mass casualties in New York City‘s subway just days before Christmas. Fortunately, Ullah‘s makeshift bomb failed to fully detonate; he was most seriously injured in his own attack, like reported by kaplanherald.com.
“I did it for Islamic State,” Ullah reportedly told investigators.
You may ask: What remains of Islamic State?
In recent weeks the U.S. and its partners have crushed the last remnants of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria. The terrorists‘ dream of an empire lies in shambles.
We had hoped that the defeat of Islamic State on the battlefield would demolish the group‘s recruiting appeal. Unfortunately not. Its violent message still inspires willing wannabes via cyberspace. One British counterterrorism official warns that there is “incitement to attack through the internet, 24/7.”
There‘s much more work to be done before the U.S. can declare VI Day.
There is progress. The U.S. has choked off potential terror recruits‘ efforts to gain weapons training overseas. Instead, Islamic State devotees have turned to tutorials on encrypted communications channels, The New York Times reports.
The recent subway tunnel bombing was the third terrorist attack in New York City in about 15 months. Truck attacks, suicide bombings — more common in European capitals and the Middle East — are now moving up the list of potential threats to U.S. cities.
Two reasons:
These attacks take little expertise, planning or money.
They‘re nearly impossible for law enforcement to detect and thwart.
