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WORLD SEES INCREASE IN GLOBAL TERRORISM
By Julie Brown
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y., Oct. 11 – After foiling a bombing plot in Denmark this past September, worldwide intelligence officials are now admitting that the small European country has joined England, Scotland, Germany, Spain and the United States as a major target for terrorist activity.
American and Danish intelligence officials worked together to catch eight people suspected of planning a bombing attack in Denmark’s capital city of Copenhagen, according to The New York Times. Jakob Scharf, the head of Danish Intelligence, has declared this plot the third case of terrorism over a two year span in a country that is smaller in population than New York City.
“I would trace this incident back to the publishing of a political cartoon almost two years ago that depicted Mohammad with a bomb in his turban,” said Dr. JoAnne Myers, a political science professor at Marist College.
The New York Times has reported that the above mentioned political cartoon caused a chain reaction of violent and deadly protests in many countries, and the fact that Denmark has supported the United States with troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan has helped to make the tiny country a target on many jihadist websites.
On the same day that intelligence officials uncovered the bomb plot in Denmark, Germany also faced a potential attack on Ramstein, the largest United States air base in Germany, according to The New York Times. Monika Harms, a federal German prosecutor, said that these attacks would have been massive and more deadly than the London subway attacks of 2005 because in this case the terrorists had amassed large quantities of hydrogen peroxide, an explosive chemical.
“Germany has assisted the United States at one point or another in the war against terrorism,” remarked Dr. Vernon Vavrina, a political science professor at Marist College. “Germany has housed a large number of American soldiers since the end of World War II, making it an attractive target for terrorist activity.”
The threat for terrorism in Germany remains high, some German politicians and legislators have said, and the situation in Germany has become extremely serious. According to The New York Times, the investigation of the threat was German led, although German officials eventually notified American intelligence of the probable attack.
“Americanization throughout the world has led to a terrorist focus on harming those countries that are allied with the United States,” said Alida Elsbree, a history major at Marist College. “Terrorism activities overseas will eventually have an impact on the United States due to globalization.”
Similar to other European countries, Great Britain has also dealt with its fair share of terrorism. British authorities in London raised the terror level to critical over the summer due to the discovery of bomb plots at major airports, The New York Times has reported. British intelligence agencies were on alert throughout the summer due to the resignation of Prime Minister Tony Blair, and the transition of power to Gordon Brown, the current prime minister, an anonymous official told The New York Times.
“London is one of the most progressive metropolitan areas in the world, and offers incredible freedoms to practice religion, as well as hosting the largest Muslim population of all English-speaking countries,” said Alex Sutton, an English major at Marist College.
Had the attacks in London succeeded, there would have been a massive loss of life. At the end of June, British authorities found two cars full of gasoline canisters and nails ready to detonate in central London, The New York Times wrote. A second attack came a day later when a Jeep Cherokee driven by Dr. Bilal Abdulla of Britain, and Khalid Ahmed of India, crashed into a building at Glasgow airport in Scotland, an anonymous British official remarked.
“Terrorists have a stated goal of creating terror, of scaring people out of their daily habits and changing their ways of thinking,” Sutton said. “The Islamic terrorists face a problem of fighting on too many fronts. They have too many enemies to be ultimately successful.”