We’re now in a world war and the terrorist enemy wants to obliterate western civilization.
That’s the message of Efraim Halevy, the former head of Mossad, the Israeli Secret Intelligence Service who until recently was head of the Israel National Security Council and national security adviser to the Israeli prime minister. In an interview with The Scotsman, Halvey, considered one of the world’s top terrorism experts said:
“Thursday’s attacks on the London transport system were the work of perpetrators who had an operational capacity of considerable scope. They have come a long way since the two attacks of 1998 against the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, and the horrors of September 11, 2001.
“There was careful planning, intelligence-gathering, and a sophisticated choice of timing as well as near-perfect execution. We are faced with a deadly and determined adversary who will stop at nothing and will persevere as long as he exists as a fighting terrorist force.
“We are in the throes of a world war, raging over the entire globe, and characterised by the absence of lines of conflict and an easily identifiable enemy. There are sometimes long pauses between one attack and the next, consequently creating the wrong impression that the battle is all over.”
And there’s more:
He said the ‘great wars’ of the 20th century lasted less than this war, and the end was nowhere in sight. “The aim of the enemy is not to defeat western civilisation but to destroy its sources of power and existence, and to render it a relic of the past.
“It does not seek a territorial victory or a regime change; it wants to turn western civilisation into history and will stop at nothing less than that.
“It will show no mercy or compassion and no appreciation for these noble values when practised by us. Unfortunately, it cannot be said that seven years after this war broke out at the embassies in east Africa, we can see its conclusion.
“For a while – too short a while – we are engrossed with the sheer horror of what we have seen and heard, but with the passage of time our memories fade and we return to our daily lives, forgetting that the war is still raging out there and that more strikes are sure to follow.”
Indeed: there is a tendency when things are calm to assume that we’re back to pre-911 days again. Western countries must work harder to strike a balance to not let their guards down and also to ensure that the terrorism issue isn’t allowed to be exploited for domestic purposes. Unity should be (but, alas, does not seem to be)the paramount goal. Why? So the whole of society is united in combatting a common enemy. MORE:
“In practice, no government today can provide an effective ‘suit of protection’ for the ordinary citizen. There can be no protection for every bus, every train, every street, every square. In these times the ordinary citizen must be vigilant and must make his personal contribution to the war effort.”
And good news? He offers little in the short term. He predicts this new war is ‘destined to be part of our daily lives for many years to come – until the enemy is eliminated – as it surely will be.”
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.