Reader’s Links for September 25th, 2024

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Each day at just after midnight Eastern, a post like this one is created for contributors and readers of this site to upload news links and video links on the issues that concern this site. Most notably, Islam and its effects on Classical Civilization, and various forms of leftism from Soviet era communism, to postmodernism and all the flavours of galloping statism and totalitarianism such as Nazism and Fascism which are increasingly snuffing out the classical liberalism which created our near, miraculous civilization the West has been building since the time of Socrates.

This document was written around the time this site was created, for those who wish to understand what this site is about. And while our understanding of the world and events has grown since then, the basic ideas remain sound and true to the purpose.

So please post all links, thoughts and ideas that you feel will benefit the readers of this site to the comments under this post each day. And thank you all for your contributions.

This is the new Samizdat. We must use it while we can.

For those interested, please check out https://vladtepesblog.substack.com/ as an another avenue of expression. The Substack is a different project in a sense. It is older videos that in the light of subsequent events, look different or of increased importance, Check it out now and again if you like.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

12 Replies to “Reader’s Links for September 25th, 2024”

  4. Justine says the Conservatives are only thinking about power. IF things were not SO BAD in Canada under this little global clown —- the Emergency Act was not a power move by Justine to crush any Canadian who did not support his mandate madness.

    Always remember the smirking Deputy PM / World Economic Forum chair peoplekind, Chrystia Freeland gloating how they were going to freeze bank accounts, cancel Canadians insurance, crush CANADIAN CITIZENS lives because they did not comply.

    The World Economic Forum clowns were not elected.

    How many non-elected czars has Justine appointed?

    Why did thousands of healthcare professionals, nurses and doctors lose their jobs and hospital privileges during Covid and why the hell have they not been reinstated? When did politicians know more about OUR health and safety than the REAL experts in the field?

    Billy Gates recently remarked about people who talk about vaccines not being as safe as we were told, are a threat to free speech. Did he dedicate his life to science, virology, immunology, medicine or just making money?

    Are you tiring of the global POWER hungry horse pucky. The politicians in Canada who support this POWER WEF supporting, Liberal government. Get use to it, far too many Canadians fell for the government bullshit, lost their ability to think clearly and will take you down with them. It’s all about the power and the politicians reliance on useful idiot collaborators .

  5. Turkey being weird again.

    Erdo?an’s advisor claims Israel will attack Turkey
    https://www.turkishminute.com/2024/09/25/erdogan-advisor-claim-israel-attack-turkey/
    Yi?it Bulut, a senior advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, has claimed that Israel is planning to attack Turkey, attracting criticism from within the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
    Bulut, who serves as both Erdo?an’s chief advisor and a member of the Presidential Economic Policy Board, alleged on social media that Israel would target Turkey after launching strikes against Islamic holy sites, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
    The post, shared on X, called for Turkish citizens to wake up to the threat, warning that “it may be time to burn” and suggesting that S-400 missile systems are Turkey’s key defense against a broader Western assault. Bulut emphasized Turkey’s supposed “break from the West,” urging the country to continue down an independent path following its application to join BRICS.
    Bulut’s claims were met with skepticism and backlash from within the AKP. Mücahit Birinci, a former member of the party’s Central Executive Board, criticized Bulut’s statement, questioning his qualifications to make such predictions.
    “You are not the defense minister, nor are you a party spokesperson,” Birinci said on social media, accusing Bulut of fomenting unnecessary panic. Other AKP figures, including former lawmaker Mehmet Metiner, also voiced concern, calling for a reassessment of advisors in the presidential palace and questioning Bulut’s continued role as a senior aide.
    Bulut, who has made several controversial statements in the past, defended his position by sharing a video of a speech by President Erdo?an that denounced Israel’s actions and reaffirmed Turkey’s support for Palestine.
    The controversy comes amid heightened tensions between Turkey and Israel, exacerbated by Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, and Turkey’s vocal opposition to the strikes.
    [..]

  6. Suspect with prior convictions kills policewoman in ?stanbul
    https://www.turkishminute.com/2024/09/23/suspect-with-prior-conviction-kill-policewoman-istanbul/
    [..]
    The suspect was alleged to have had a criminal record for offenses including “deliberate injury, sexual harassment, looting, theft, property damage and sexual abuse of a child,” according to a report by the Gerçek Gündem news website on Monday.

    The incident caused a significant backlash on social media, with many accusing the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of responsibility for the police officer’s death. They questioned the motives behind releasing a suspect with multiple criminal offenses at the same time that the government is determined to punish its opponents by keeping them behind bars on politically motivated charges.
    “You filled the streets with criminals by issuing amnesty laws. What happened next? Those with 20, 30, 40 or even 50 criminal offenses either harmed innocent citizens or fired at the police and soldiers. Stop shedding crocodile tears and wake up!” an X user with the nickname “Polisin Sesi” (The Police’s voice) said, targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an’s AKP.
    Meanwhile, Geçti was transferred to the courthouse in an animal control van on Monday, encased in a black garbage bag. Two female police officers were seen pushing the attacker into the vehicle in a video circulated on social media, a situation that attracted criticism from human rights defenders.
    [..]

    Video of the suspect in a garbage bag being pushed into an “animal custody vehicle”
    https://x.com/ArrestedLawyers/status/1838226420981473615

    Publicized torture of ?stanbul police killing suspect draws condemnation
    https://bianet.org/haber/publicized-torture-of-istanbul-police-killing-suspect-draws-condemnation-300030
    [..]
    The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (T?HV/HRFT) also issued a statement, acknowledging the emotional toll of the tragedy but stressing that “no one, under any circumstances, can be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. Torture is absolutely prohibited.” The organization also noted that the case demonstrates how violence has become a pervasive tool for managing social relations and resolving conflicts.
    [..]

  8. Emily@emilyshar1
    The Biden Admin granted Javad Zarif a visa to enter the US when sanctioned & @MSNBC
    Journalist @mitchellreports offers him a platform to spread propaganda and lies.

    Andrea Mitchell asks about Irans interest in intervening with the US election, all while US Intelligence agencies have stated that Iran has intervened in the election campaigns and assassination attempts against candidate Donald Trump.

    Shame on you for providing him with a platform & casting doubt on our intelligence agencies.

    https://x.com/emilyshar1/status/1838937830074015933

  10. A Warning to America
    Ignore Animal Antics and Look to Europe
    Ayaan Hirsi Ali
    Sep 18, 2024

    Following the ABC Presidential Debate on September 10th, Donald Trump’s opponents are still dedicated to dispelling the rumor that some of the 15,000 recent Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio eat domestic animals.

    X users responded in shock to one video – shared by accounts like End Wokeness – of an unidentified man (squeamish readers will have to forgive me) strangling a cat. Another photograph of a migrant in Springfield carrying a dead goose by the neck compounded these claims. The photograph accompanied complaints at the Springfield City Committee Meeting that some Haitians were decapitating ducks for food in public parks.

    Restoration, with Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

    However, there is not enough evidence to claim that Haitians are rampantly hunting and eating the beloved pets of Ohio locals. It makes sense that Democrats are lambasting Trump’s characteristically brash line: “They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets” as per their tried and tested tactic of framing him as a peddler of dis- and mis-information. They are keeping the animal debacle at the front of people’s minds in order to distract from the salient problem at hand: Rapid integration of migrants from developing nations remains a pipe-dream.

    Flooding small American towns with a diaspora from the most violent, economically deprived nation in the Western Hemisphere is, for the Democrats, the best answer to economic stagnation in Middle America. The country is filling with immigrants desperate enough to relocate to places as culturally distant as the Midwest, providing there is relative comfort and the possibility of low-skilled work. This might sound like a reasonable thing to do. If locals don’t have enough children or work blue-collar jobs, why not welcome people who will do the work more cheaply while raising the fertility rate?

    Except now the inevitable cultural clashes – which Europe has experienced in abundance – have set in. When Springfield locals complained to the city council of lawlessness in the streets perpetrated by Haitian arrivals, they were testifying to a commonly observed effect of rapid immigration from nations with radically different cultural norms and sky-high crime. As I wrote here, migrants whose culture involves activities considered criminal in Western nations do not abandon their ingrained norms. Expecting them to do so is utopian. I have discussed the causal relationship between rapid migration from the developing world and increased crime rates in European cities:

    “Islamic cultures around the world actively hold Western “decadence” in contempt; this attitude doesn’t just disappear when migrants, especially fighting-age men, move abroad to improve their economic prospects. Islamists easily infiltrate and plot against the very countries which provide shelter and jobs to many communities of Muslims – communities which Islamists successfully target. This is why, as of 2020, the UK’s MI5 has over 40,000 suspects on a terror watchlist, the vast majority of which are related to extremist Islamist terrorism. Terrorism is not the main problem, though. As Eva Vlaardingerbroek points out, immigration is related to crime more generally. I have discussed sex crimes and their relationship to migration in my book Prey, but other forms of crime like the violence described above – especially gang-related violence like shootings, which have more than doubled in the last decade in Sweden – are also skyrocketing.”

    As grievous as European rates of violent crime and sex crime are, less sensational phenomena – like petty crime and rental markets – are worth discussion, because they affect everyone living in urban areas. The following graph illustrates how European cities with significant migrant populations also boast the highest rates of robbery. Gang-organized phone-snatching in London soared by 150% over the last year. Many phones – snatched out of hands by thieves as they move through crowds on bikes – end up in China where the second-hand phone market is booming. Gangs are divided along racial lines; diversity is not always the “strength” of London.

    In this excellent piece for The European Conservative, Connor Tomlinson describes “a conspiracy of silence” by the Ministry of Justice in the UK for refusing to publish data on crimes committed by ethnicity or nationality. But in countries where such data is occasionally released, like Sweden, the picture is unavoidably clear. In 2021, a study found that 59.2% of sex offenders aged 15-60 who were convicted of rape between 2000-2015 were of an immigrant background; 47.7% of those were born outside of Sweden. These findings are so significant that they are even cited on Wikipedia (“Rape in Sweden”). In fact, there are so many obviously unintegrated migrants in Sweden that the government has announced that it intends to pay individual migrants up to 350,000 Swedish kroner (about 34,000 USD) to return to their home countries. If this isn’t a decisive concession to concerns, typically only voiced by conservatives, about the pipe-dream of integration, I don’t know what is.

    Ohio did what European cities have been doing for a generation: it saw a labor shortage and sought a quick fix, ignoring all long-term socio-cultural issues which might follow. Take the UK’s recent Conservative governments, who oversaw skyrocketing immigration in service of ensuring that total GDP growth remains above 0%, albeit by minuscule margins. While the overall population grew in 2023 by 685,000 net migrants, GDP grew only by 0.1%. This logic lacks all regard for the fact that GDP per capita is falling: Life for the average person is economically harder (by about £1,500/ year per the cited report). With imported populations the size of entire cities entering the UK annually, people notice unwelcome changes to their local communities rather than the supposed benefits of mass immigration surmised in the meaningless invocation of “GDP growth” (by 0.1% annually!). Consequently, the Tory party has been punished by its electorate, with conservative voters flooding to the new Reform party in the July 2024 election.

    A factory owner in Springfield, for whom the lower wage demands of immigrants is a boon, praised the relative industry of his Haitian workers compared to the locals with drug problems. Immigrants function as a sticking-plaster which Democrats slap over the festering wounds of social decline: endemic drug addiction amidst an opioid crisis claiming 1,500 American lives per week, falling fertility rates, and sapped ambition which has addled Middle America for decades. This is putting aside the negative fiscal impact which low-wage migrants, who often reserve money for dependents and make more use of the fiscal safety net than they contribute in tax, have on developed host nations. (A new study from the UK has documented this trend.) In lower-wage sectors, migrants who are enlisted to remedy labor shortages work for less than the host population would typically ask for, lowering hourly wages for the labor market’s lowest earners over time. The populist appeals of Vance to blue-collar Americans are not unfounded.

    It is also intuitive that sudden influxes of people put pressure on services and housing. Once again, we can look to Europe for surefire proof: A study covering 382 German administrative districts found that an increase in migration inflow of 1% of a district’s initial population causes a hike in flat prices of about 2.5–3% as well as a hike in flat rents of about 1%. Naturally, social housing is often given to low-wage or unemployed migrants, with 74% of Somali housing in London being social housing. It is lamentable that so much attention is devoted to Trump’s remark about domestic animals and so little to the fact that from 2019 to 2023 homelessness in Ohio increased by 10% following sharp increase in rents. It’s even worse in the UK: where 38% of those sleeping rough are foreign nationals. Though immigration is rarely the sole contributing factor to rental problems, it is no wonder that locals wonder about the effect of importing thousands of people to areas with scarce housing. To demonize them as Nazis is the all-too common response of establishment media.

    Thanks in part to the reticence of cheap-labor-hungry governments to be transparent about the felt effects of immigration, and because of the general crisis in social science studies which produce findings which often cannot be replicated, the topic remains radioactive for many politicians. It may be true that there is a drug addiction problem plaguing white working-class areas, and that this is not the fault of honest immigrants looking for factory jobs. It is also true that politicians’ duties are, first and foremost, to serve the current citizens of their nation: the people for whom this is their only home, their only source, their only history. Those duties include getting drugs off the streets, ensuring that blue-collar wages remain dignified, and tackling homelessness. They also include listening to the complaints of locals when they have grievances with immigration, not scolding them for noncompliance.

    Like this eloquent young woman, I am baffled by the typical Democrat response to the mere suggestion that the benefits of immigration are debatable. Implying that not all Haitian migrants are perfectly integrated citizens will earn you derision from Democrats, particularly in election season; the conversation is not aided by hysteria about cats and dogs It is also worthwhile noting that, in Haiti, the syncretic traditional religion voodoo is very widely practiced alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. As the popular saying goes: “70% Catholic, 30% Protestant, and 100% Vodou”. Voodoo includes practicing animal sacrifice; so it may only be a ticking clock until someone is arrested for the ritualistic slaughter of a pet. Were one only myopically focused on filling gaps in the labor market, they might be forgiven for overlooking how this may present a barrier to integration. But this provides no comfort to the Springfield locals, who now live alongside thousands of unassimilated strangers. To de-escalate tensions, their concerns must be heard and addressed — not dismissed as racist.

    Americans must take heed from Europe, where knife crime, gangs composed of ethnically distinct groups, Honor Based Violence (HBA) against women in Islamic communities, and general sexual violence is rising dramatically. To deny that these phenomena are associated with ethnic division, caused by rapid immigration and imported cultural baggage, is to betray the duties of any political office.

    https://www.restorationbulletin.com/p/a-warning-to-america

  11. Russia has a secret war drones project in China, intel sources say
    Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a drone production facility of the the Special Technology Center in St. Petersburg on Sept. 19.
    Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a drone production facility of the the Special Technology Center in St. Petersburg on Sept. 19. | Sputnik / Kremlin via REUTERS
    Reuters
    SHARE
    Sep 26, 2024

    Russia has established a weapons program in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in the war against Ukraine, according to two sources from a European intelligence agency and documents reviewed by Reuters.

    IEMZ Kupol, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned arms company Almaz-Antey, has developed and flight-tested a new drone model called Garpiya-3 (G3) in China with the help of local specialists, according to one of the documents, a report that Kupol sent to the Russian defense ministry earlier this year outlining its work.

    Kupol told the defense ministry in a subsequent update that it was able to produce drones including the G3 at scale at a factory in China so the weapons could be deployed in the “special military operation” in Ukraine, the term Moscow uses for the war.

    Kupol, Almaz-Antey and the Russian defense ministry did not respond to requests for comment for this article.

    China’s foreign ministry said it was not aware of such a project, adding that Beijing had strict control measures on the export of drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

    Fabian Hinz, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based defense think-tank, said the delivery of UAVs from China to Russia, if confirmed, would be a significant development.

    “If you look at what China is known to have delivered so far, it was mostly dual-use goods — it was components, sub-components, that could be used in weapon systems,” he said. “This is what has been reported so far. But what we haven’t really seen, at least in the open source, are documented transfers of whole weapon systems.”

    Still, Samuel Bendett, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington-based think tank, said Beijing would be hesitant to open itself up to international sanctions for helping Moscow’s war machine.

    He said more information was needed to establish that China was playing host to the production of Russian military drones.

    The White House National Security Council said it was deeply concerned by the report of the drones program, which it said appeared to be an instance of a Chinese company providing lethal assistance to a U.S.-sanctioned Russian firm.

    The White House has not seen anything to suggest the Chinese government was aware of the transactions involved, but China has a responsibility to ensure companies aren’t providing lethal aid to Russia for use by its military, a spokesperson added.

    Asked about the report, a NATO spokesperson said via email: “These reports are deeply concerning and Allies are consulting on this matter.”

    Members of a police demining unit remove a warhead from a Russian kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicle landed by a radio electronic warfare in this handout picture released on Jan. 26.
    Members of a police demining unit remove a warhead from a Russian kamikaze unmanned aerial vehicle landed by a radio electronic warfare in this handout picture released on Jan. 26. | Press service of the National Police of Ukraine / via REUTERS

    “The Chinese government has a responsibility to ensure its companies are not providing lethal assistance to Russia,” added the spokesperson, Farah Dakhlallah. “China cannot continue to fuel the largest conflict in Europe since the Second World War without this impacting its interests and reputation.”

    Britain’s Foreign Office called on China to stop providing diplomatic and material support to Russia’s war effort.

    “We are extremely concerned by reports that Russia is producing military drones in China,” a spokesperson said.

    “This adds to a growing body of open-source evidence that Chinese companies are enabling Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

    “The supply of weapons would be a direct contradiction to statements from China that it would not provide weapons to relevant parties of the conflict.”

    The G3 can travel about 2,000 kilometers with a payload of 50 kilograms, according to the reports to the Russian defense ministry from Kupol, which was placed under U.S. sanctions in December 2023.

    Samples of the G3 and some other drone models made in China have been delivered to Kupol in Russia for further testing, again with the involvement of Chinese experts, they said.

    The documents do not identify the Chinese drone specialists involved in the project that it outlined, and Reuters was unable to determine their identity.

    Putin visits a drone production facility of the the Special Technology Center in St. Petersburg on Sept. 19.
    Putin visits a drone production facility of the the Special Technology Center in St. Petersburg on Sept. 19. | Sputnik / Kremlin via REUTERS

    Kupol has taken delivery of seven military drones made in China, including two G3s, at its headquarters in the Russian city of Izhevsk, according to the two separate documents reviewed by Reuters, which are invoices sent to Kupol in the summer by a Russian firm that the two European intelligence sources said serves as an intermediary with Chinese suppliers.

    The invoices, one of which requests payment in Chinese yuan, do not specify delivery dates or identify the suppliers in China.

    The two intelligence sources said the delivery of the sample drones to Kupol was the first concrete evidence their agency had found of whole UAVs manufactured in China being delivered to Russia since the Ukraine war began in February 2022.

    They asked that neither they nor their organization be identified due to the sensitivity of the information.

    They also requested certain details related to the documents be withheld, including their precise dates.
    ‘Double standards on arms sales’

    The sources showed five documents in all, including two Kupol reports to the ministry in the first half of the year and the two invoices, to support their claims of the existence of a Russian project in China to manufacture drones for use in Ukraine.

    The program has not previously been reported.

    Kupol’s reports did not give more precise locations for sites related to the project.

    Reuters was also unable to determine whether the defense ministry gave the company the green light to proceed with the serial production proposed.

    Beijing has repeatedly denied that China or Chinese companies have supplied Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, saying the country remains neutral.

    In response to questions for this article, the foreign ministry said that China’s position presented a contrast with other nations with “double standards on arms sales” whom it said had “added fuel to the flames of the Ukrainian crisis.”

    The ministry said earlier this month that there were no international restrictions on China’s trade with Russia, when responding to a report that Kupol had started to produce the Garpiya-A1 long-range military drone in Russia using Chinese engines and parts.

    The new documents reported here indicate state-owned Kupol has gone further by sourcing complete UAVs from China.

    Both Russia and Ukraine are racing to ramp up their production of drones, which have emerged as highly effective weapons in the war.

    Electronic parts from drones and missiles in a laboratory of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise on Sept. 13
    Electronic parts from drones and missiles in a laboratory of the Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise on Sept. 13 | REUTERS

    David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector who heads the Institute for Science and International Security research group, and has conducted extensive work on Chinese and Russian cooperation on drone production, said Kupol could skirt Western sanctions on Russia by setting up a production facility in China where it could access advanced chips and expertise.

    But Bendett at the Center for a New American Security said Beijing had reason to tread carefully: “For a factory to exist officially that builds UAVs for the Russians exposes China to some of the more severe effects of the sanctions, so it’s not clear the extent to which China would be willing to expose itself.”

    The Ukrainian government did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
    Comparable to the U.S. Reaper drone?

    The G3 is an upgraded version of the Garpiya-A1 drone, according to Kupol’s reports sent to the defense ministry.

    It was redesigned by Chinese experts working off blueprints of the Garpiya-A1, they said.

    Kupol said that within eight months, the project in China would be ready to produce a Chinese-designed REM 1 attack UAV with a payload of 400 kg.

    The two European intelligence sources said this system would be similar to the U.S. Reaper drone.

    The sources said another Russian defense firm called TSK Vektor acted as the intermediary between Kupol and Chinese suppliers in the project.

    They said the Russian firms worked with a Chinese company called Redlepus TSK Vector Industrial, based in Shenzhen, without specifying Redlepus’ role.

    TSK Vektor and Redlepus did not respond to requests for comment.

    A separate document reviewed by Reuters reveals plans involving Kupol, TSK Vektor and Redlepus to establish a joint Russian-Chinese drone research and production center in the Kashgar special economic zone in China’s Xinjiang province.

    Reuters was unable to determine who produced the document, which bore the logos of the three companies, or identify the intended recipient.

    The 80-hectare “Advanced UAV Research and Manufacturing Base” would be able to produce 800 drones a year, the document said.

    No timeline was given for when it would be operational.

    Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his military had received around 140,000 drones in 2023 and that Moscow planned to increase this number tenfold this year.

    “Whoever reacts faster to demands on the battlefield wins,” he told a meeting in St. Petersburg about drone production.

    https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/09/26/world/russia-war-drones-project-china/

  12. Lone Wolf Terrorists and Soft Targets: Predicting the Next Wave of Attacks

    Soldier of Fortune Magazine 2 weeks ago Security

    The fact that a high-profile lone wolf attack may not be based on any clear motive doesn’t worry some terrorist groups. They will still claim the perpetrator as one of their own, to gain maximum publicity.

    by Jeffrey D. Simon

    For many Americans, the events of September 11, 2001, were the first time they ever felt vulnerable to terrorism. The suicide attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa., left an indelible image for most people of terrorism being committed against innocent victims by large groups with seemingly unlimited resources. Yet it didn’t take long for the public, and in many cases policymakers, to realize that lone wolves can also be quite devasting in their attacks.

    In the years since 9/11, there have been many spectacular terrorist incidents perpetrated by individuals not affiliated with any terrorist group. These include the 2001 anthrax letter attacks, the 2009 shootings at Fort Hood, Texas, the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing (two brothers working alone), the 2015 San Bernardino shootings (a husband and wife working alone), and the massacres of African-American churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., in 2015, gay patrons in a nightclub in Orlando, Fla., in 2016, Hispanic shoppers in El Paso, Texas, in 2019, and Asian-Americans at three spas/massage parlors in Atlanta in 2021.

    The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security released a joint report stating that “the greatest terrorism threat to the Homeland we face today is posed by lone offenders, often radicalized online, who look to attack soft targets with easily accessible weapons.” The May 2021 report stated, “Many of these violent extremists are motivated and inspired by a mix of socio-political goals and personal grievances against their targets.”

    READ MORE: America’s forgotten terrorists, the Galleanist anarchists invented new ways to use violence

    There are several reasons why lone wolves present a more serious threat to the homeland than terrorist organizations. First, lone wolves are not burdened by any group decision-making processes that can sometimes stifle creativity in formulating plans and operations. They are therefore free to think up any type of scenario they want and then act upon it, since they are accountable only to themselves.

    Furthermore, since they are not part of a group, lone wolves will not be concerned, as would be some terrorist organizations, about alienating their supporters with a particular type of attack, such as causing too many casualties, using a weapon of mass destruction, attacking the wrong type of target, and so forth. Lone wolves will also not be concerned, as would be more traditional types of terrorist organizations, about a potential government and law enforcement crackdown following an incident that could lead to the virtual elimination of the group through arrests.

    Lone wolves are also dangerous because they are unlikely to be discovered by law enforcement or intelligence agencies prior to an attack. Since they work by themselves, there will be no communications between members of a group to intercept, nor will there be any members of a group to arrest and use to gain further information. Another factor that adds to the danger of the lone wolf is that they sometimes tend to be mentally unstable, yet highly intelligent and effective in their attacks.

    It is important to remember, however, that lone wolves are never truly alone. They can be inspired in many different ways, including through online posts by extremist groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS or by interacting with others in chat rooms, message boards, and other social media tools. The days of a “pure” lone wolf such as Theodore Kaczynski, the infamous Unabomber who lived in isolation in a cabin in Montana and sent package bombs throughout the country during a 17-year period beginning in 1978, are over. The Internet has seen to that, becoming the big game-changer in the world of lone wolf terrorism.

    The role of the Internet in creating and encouraging lone wolves will undoubtedly continue into the future. Al-Qaeda and ISIS have perfected the technique of reaching millions of people through the Internet. We can expect any new extremist organizations that may arise to follow suit. Terrorist groups have also proven quite savvy in exploiting any situation to their advantage. The Internet gives them the means to create their own narrative of events and reach anybody, anywhere, anytime.

    A recent example of this was al-Qaeda exploiting the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol for its own purposes. The terrorist group encouraged those who took part in the Capitol siege to read al-Qaeda’s online English manuals that explain how to construct improvised explosive devices. Al-Qaeda also portrayed the violence at the Capitol as exposing “the fragility of the democratic system” and expressed joy at the “impending civil war” in America. ISIS, meanwhile, published a newsletter online shortly after the attack praising the rioters for breaking into the Capitol “ during a meeting of the tyrants.”

    The Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan raises the specter of al-Qaeda, ISIS, or another terrorist group establishing a base of operations there. At the very least, the withdrawal of the U.S. from Afghanistan after a 20-year war and the sudden collapse of the U.S-trained Afghan security forces will be used for a long time by Islamic extremist groups worldwide to encourage lone wolves to continue the struggle against the infidels through terrorist attacks in their homelands.

    The future of lone wolf terrorism in America will also see expanded efforts by federal, state, and local government agencies and community partners to prevent individuals from embarking on a path toward radicalization and extremist violence. A key hurdle to overcome for any countering violent extremism program will be to identify the tipping points that move an individual from holding extremist views to actually following through with an attack.

    Another major challenge in the years ahead will be how to deal with the most difficult lone wolves of all: those who strike without any apparent motivation. These individuals truly fly under the radar of law enforcement and intelligence agencies since they usually are not doing anything to arouse suspicions that they are intent on committing a violent attack. Under most definitions of terrorism, such individuals are not classified as “terrorists” since they do not have a political, religious, or social motive for their violence. But whether we label them as lone wolf terrorists, lone wolf offenders, or just plain “lone wolves,” their impact upon government and society can be quite profound.
    FBI photo

    For example, the worst mass shooting in U.S. history occurred in 2017 when Stephen Paddock killed 58 people at an outdoor music festival in Las Vegas. Despite over a year of investigation by the FBI, no motive was ever uncovered for the attack. Yet it led to renewed debates on gun control, questions about security against shootings, bombings, or other acts of violence at large gatherings, and a general sense of fear among the public regarding terrorism, even though it wasn’t labeled “terrorism.”

    The fact that a high-profile lone wolf attack may not be based on any political or religious motive doesn’t worry some terrorist groups. They will still claim the perpetrator as one of their own to gain maximum publicity around the world. Shortly after the Las Vegas massacre, ISIS issued a press release claiming that Paddock was “a soldier of the Islamic State who carried out the attack in response to calls for targeting coalition countries.”

    ISIS and al-Qaeda are part of what pioneering terrorism scholar David Rapoport has labeled the religious wave of terrorism. In 2004, he proposed one of the most famous and influential theories in terrorism research. Tracing the evolution of modern terrorism from the 1880s until the early 2000s, he argued that terrorism has appeared in four distinct waves (Anarchist, Anti-Colonial, New Left, and Religious) with one type of terrorism dominating over all others for a specific period of time. According to Rapoport, the 9/11 attacks occurred during the religious wave of terrorism, and he predicted that this wave would last until around the 2020s, when it would be replaced by another wave of terrorism, yet to be determined.

    The multifaceted nature of the lone wolf threat ensures that lone wolves will be major players in the next wave of terrorism. Lone wolves throughout history have cut across the political, religious, and social spectrum, and they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

    https://sofmag.com/lone-wolf-terrorists-predictions/