日批在线视频_内射毛片内射国产夫妻_亚洲三级小视频_在线观看亚洲大片短视频_女性向h片资源在线观看_亚洲最大网

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Opinion
Home / Opinion / Featured Contributors

Terrorists seek to psychologically shock society

By Gong Honglie | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2017-08-22 14:26
Share
Share - WeChat

On Monday, a man allegedly suffering psychiatric problems deliberately rammed a stolen van into pedestrians at two bus stations in Marseille, France, which caused one death and another injury.

That incident has not been confirmed as terrorist attack yet, but it largely deepened the nervousness of Europe about security. Especially, as the attack happened after the Aug 17 attack in Barcelona, Spain, which left 13 people dead and over 100 injured. The last known perpetrator of the Barcelona van attack was killed on Monday.

The Barcelona attack was done in a way similar to the previous attacks in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom: Terrorists drove unarmed civilian automobiles into pedestrians and caused casualties. In the first such attack in Nice, southern France, on July 14, last year, 84 people were killed. The Barcelona attack is the latest one in this round of attacks in Europe that have used automobiles as weapons.

The Barcelona attack is also the biggest terrorist attack in Spain since the previous one in 2004. For years, Spain was relatively safe and had not suffered yet from the new round of terrorist attacks, but the Barcelona attack had broken that illusion.

The latest news reports suggest that the terrorists’ original plan was to attack the Sagrada Familia, the famous local landmark, with self-made bombs. However, on Aug 16, one night before their attack, an unexpected explosion that killed two of the members of the terrorist cell ruined their “bomb making workshop” and made their original plan impossible. Had they successfully bombed the Sagrada Familia, it would have cast an even deeper shadow over Spain.

But that does not mean using a car as an attack weapon is less powerful than a bomb. It should be noted that terrorists and extremist groups tend to use any available tool to launch attacks for their own political purposes. For them, the only difference between a civilian car and a bomb is that the former is easier to get and easier to hide, while the latter could inflict deeper psychological wounds upon people who witness it or see it on TV.

But whatever weapons terrorists employ, they target ordinary civilians. And it is the vulnerability of modern infrastructure that makes it possible for them to launch the attacks. It is very hard to put bus stations, shopping malls and cinemas under strict security measures because there are so many people visiting them. Any attack on such public venues could cause heavy casualties and create a psychological shock for the whole of society.

There are at least two reasons for terrorists attacking bus stations and shopping malls. First, people’s confidence in the public transportation system will be ruined, and the running costs of the whole society will be higher because stricter security measures are needed in these public spaces.

Second, if it is always one specific group that attacks other groups, the ethnic and religious conflicts will be made fierce, posing grave challenges to the building of a plural society. That’s already evident in Western European countries, where attacks of Islamic terrorists have made people challenge their countries’ loose immigration policies and turned the general political tendency to the right.

But there are reasons not to despair. The frequency of the car or van attacks is still relatively low. And the fact that terrorists are resorting to vehicles instead of bombs is proof that strict control of sensitive materials and tight monitoring of the extreme crowd in Western Europe is successful.

It also shows that terrorist groups are loosely organized and they lack an effective logistical support network.

And the fact that terrorists are resorting to vehicles instead of bombs is proof that strict control of sensitive materials and tight monitoring of the extreme crowd in Western Europe is successful.

For the past several years, Western European countries have made progress in monitoring terrorist groups and fighting terrorism, but they need to do more to ensure that there are no major terrorist attacks, like those against the United States on Sept 11, 2001.

The author is an associate professor at School of International Studies, Nanjing University.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1994 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 久久青娱乐 | 亚洲精选av | 超碰88 | 毛片视频网站 | 久久久久久久艹 | 在线成人黄色 | 久久嫩草精品久久久久 | 亚洲午夜视频在线观看 | 一区二区久久久 | 午夜精品在线播放 | 日韩一区二区三区在线视频 | 国产伦精品一区二区三区免费视频 | 免费日本黄色片 | 欧美日韩另类视频 | 国产伦精品一区二区免费 | 女人十八毛片嫩草av | 中文字幕高清在线观看 | 婷婷在线免费视频 | 超碰97av | 亚洲黄色一区二区三区 | 在线免费观看a视频 | 天天干天天操天天拍 | 免费黄色国产 | 国产三级网站 | 成人一区av| 亚洲精品国产91 | 一区二区欧美视频 | 毛片视频网站 | 亚洲婷婷丁香 | 久久综合久色欧美综合狠狠 | 国产小视频网站 | 久久久久久久久久国产精品 | 国产片久久 | 日本精品视频一区二区 | 成人午夜大片 | 自拍毛片| 一区二区三区在线免费观看视频 | 欧美成人午夜免费视在线看片 | 国产精品自拍一区 | 4虎最新网址 | 大陆av在线 |