http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1011652,00.htmlThe old-style tactics used in the 'war on terror' won't work on al-Qaida
Simon Tisdall
Monday August 4, 2003
The Guardian
Fear of attack, rather than the attack itself, is the terrorist's most potent weapon. And despite all the declared successes of George Bush's "war on terror", fear of major new outrages by al-Qaida and its partners in mayhem is once again on the rise.
The immediate question, as ever, is how to prevent such attacks before they happen. The larger question is why, after Afghanistan and Iraq and everything else that has been said and done by western leaders since 9/11, this threat apparently remains so omnipresent - and so scary.
The past few days alone have brought fresh warnings whose non-specific nature only intensifies the vague, nagging sense of menace. In Washington, the Department of Homeland Security raised the spectre of renewed suicide hijackings. Another 9/11-style attack "could be executed by the end of the summer 2003", it said. "Attack venues may include the United Kingdom ... or the east coast of the United States."
US opinion polls indicating falling confidence in Bush's conduct of the "war on terror" found an echo at the UN. Heraldo Munoz, chairman of the al-Qaida sanctions committee, said international collaboration was slipping.
Only 30% of UN members were meeting their obligation to report al-Qaida movements and financing, he said. "Individuals or entities associated with al-Qaida" were still able to acquire weapons and explosives where and when they needed them, as shown by several recent attacks.
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