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Articles by Robin Simcox specialized
When ISIS Fighters Return Home
Thousands of Western citizens went to the Middle East to fight alongside the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq. Now that the “caliphate” they helped build has collapsed, some are going home. This has occasioned much hand-wringing in the West about how to respond to this. And that’s puzzling.
What Europe Should Be Doing to Prevent Another Terrorist Attack Like Barcelona
Not so long ago, scenes of death and carnage on the streets of major European cities were a rarity. Not so any more. In this year alone, there have been major Islamist attacks in London (twice), Manchester, and Stockholm. We can now add Barcelona to that list. Smaller scale acts of violence in France (on multiple occasions), Austria, and Italy have likely faded from most people’s memory, but they were inspired by the same ideology.
The Groups Lining Up to Undermine UK’s Successful Counter-Terror Strategy
There is only so long that any government programme can be misrepresented or lied about in both the press and Parliament before ministers feel compelled to act. It was therefore no great surprise that last week, the Security Minister Ben Wallace announced in the House of Commons that Prevent, the government’s “Preventing Violent Extremism” programme, will be subject to independent review.
U.S. Must Remain Vigilant in Fight Against Terrorism
Rewind to August 2017. Islamist terrorists had just killed 16 people and injured another 137 in Barcelona and Cambrils. That attack had come hot on the heels of a wave of similar atrocities over the previous 2 1/2 years: Paris, London, Manchester, Stockholm, Berlin, Brussels, Nice and many others cities suffered significant losses of life as a result of plots either directed or inspired by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). It was an especially bleak time for Europe.
Radical Islamists Are Still a Threat Behind Bars
In August 2014, a homeless, unemployed petty crook had his plan to behead a British soldier thwarted by the police. A recent convert to Islam from Jehovah’s Witnesses, Brusthom Ziamani appeared to be just another jihadi whose grand plans ultimately ended in failure—until, that is, he ended up in a British jail. Operating among a sea of other radicals in HMP Woodhill, in Milton Keynes, a town 50 miles outside of London, Ziamani staked out a position of importance.
Left’s Use of Islamophobia a Cynical Ploy to Shut Down Disagreement
“Some people did something.” That’s not how most people would describe a watershed event in which terrorists killed as many people as possible by turning planes into missiles. Yet this was how Rep. Ilhan Omar referred to the 9/11 attacks at a Council on American-Islamic Relations fundraiser last month.
After a Lull, Islamist Terrorism in Europe Returns With a Vengeance
There’s lots of talk in Washington about the Islamic State and the Trump administration’s Syria policy. That’s an important discussion to have, but it’s only one part of the counterterrorism discussion that America has to be engaged in. Consider events in Europe over the past week. On Oct. 3, an information technology specialist, Michael Harpon, stabbed four of his colleagues to death and injured two others before being fatally shot.
New York Times: Blame Russia First
Europe has problems: Trust in traditional center-right and center-left parties collapsing. A rise in support for outsider parties. Integration issues brought about by decades of mass immigration, exacerbated by the 2015 refugee flow. A European Union that has become so undemocratic that it is about to lose one of its key members. There are several ways to approach these problems. You could think the answer lies with making the European Union more accountable.
Osama bin Laden’s Son Is Likely Dead. Here’s What It Means.
Hamza bin Laden, the son and heir of Osama bin Laden, is almost certainly dead. While his demise has not yet been confirmed by al-Qaeda, U.S. officials have felt confident enough to brief media outlets that the younger bin Laden was killed at some point after January 2017. It’s unclear to what extent the U.S. was involved and exactly where the killing of Hamza bin Laden took place. However, for years, much of al-Qaeda’s central leadership has been lying low in northwest Pakistan.
Taliban Trolls Could Adopt New Terrorist Tactics in the Wake of America’s Peace Plan
President Donald Trump wants out of Afghanistan by 2020. He may get his wish. Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan, has been negotiating with the Taliban for a nearly a year and is hopeful that the next round of talks will produce a “lasting and honorable” peace agreement. While peace would be wonderful, the United States should not be too hasty in reaching a deal.
Let the Terrorists Win?
In February 2015, London schoolgirl Shamima Begum headed to Syria to live in the Islamic State’s Caliphate. Now nineteen years old, she recently turned up in a Syrian refugee camp, demanding to be returned to the UK. Begum claims she “never did anything dangerous” during her stint with the Caliphate, but subsequent news accounts suggest her activities in Syria were not those of a mere housewife. The Daily Mail reports that she stitched suicide bombers into explosive vests.
Potential Terrorist Case in New Mexico Draws Attention to Growing Use of Children in Terrorist Plots
Last week, authorities in New Mexico discovered 11 children living in a dilapidated compound. Most were the sons and daughters of a Georgian resident called Siraj Ibn Wahhaj who, along with his wife and sisters, was charged with child cruelty offenses. Human remains found on the site are feared to be those of his disabled child, who he believed required an exorcism. The 11 children are now being put in foster homes.
It's the Caliphate, Stupid
Not so long ago, ISIS held territory in Syria and Iraq equivalent to the size of the United Kingdom. Yet the U.S. and allied forces have slowly but systematically pried virtually all that real estate from its grip. ISIS will have to change tactics. A recent article by Michael Dempsey, the former acting director of national intelligence, posited how that may look.
Children of the Caliphate: Victims or Threat?
As the Caliphate in Iraq and Syria crumbles, European governments are paying particular attention to foreign fighters returning to their countries of origin. What to do with children returning alongside them, however, has received much less focus. The precise number of children who will make it to Europe from the Islamic State’s heartland is unclear.
Is Italy Immune From Terrorism?
Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini recently delivered a stark warning: Such was the scale of migration into Italy, he argued, that “Islamic terrorist infiltration is no longer a risk—it has become a certainty.” Although the vast majority of asylum-seekers in Italy are not security threats, the case of Alagie Touray, a Gambian asylum-seeker arrested in southern Italy in April 2018 on suspicions that he was planning an attack, helped lay the groundwork for Salvini’s case.
Angela Merkel’s Government Almost Collapsed Last Week - How Much Time Does the Chancellor Have Left?
The German government almost collapsed this week. At the heart of it all: a dispute over immigration policy. On one side was Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, head of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) Party. His support is crucial to maintaining Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government. Seehofer wants Germany to start turning away migrants and refugees at the border. But Merkel is the godmother of the European Union’s immigration policy.
The Terrorist As Litigant
We have read the stories. A burglar breaks into someone’s property, injures himself in the process, and so sues the people he was trying to rip off. Something similar happened after 9/11. America was attacked. In response, the U.S., UK, and coalition forces detained and questioned terror suspects. The United States sent 779 to Guantanamo Bay. But it was the U.S. and UK who ended up in the dock, with the terror suspects as the accusers.
Jeremy Corbyn Has a Soft Spot for Extremists
It is conceivable that Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn could be the next elected British prime minister. In last year’s general election, the hitherto obscure far-left politician unexpectedly wounded Prime Minister Theresa May, leading to a hung parliament and a weakened leader. May’s Conservative Party has become more divided since, and her diluted plans for Brexit—the political issue that continues to dominate British political life—are deeply unpopular.
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