As a disclaimer, I am not stating in this article that the vast majority of citizens in other US cities are not capable of deciphering terror attempts and smelling imminent danger; but in a Post 9/11 world, there is a noticeable level of heightened awareness that many long time New York City residents share when it comes to situations like this weekend’s failed car bombing by Connecticut resident Faisal Shahzad. The heroic actions taken by Time Square vendors to alert police of the danger at hand cannot go understated and reinforce this thought. In a culture that largely chooses to look the other way, or run for the hills in times of crisis or danger, these keen eyed individuals saw a suspicious vehicle, saw smoke, and reacted without hesitation to protect the people around them, and not just themselves. Whether it would have mattered had the bomb detonated quicker is of no matter. For police, this kind of petty terrorism is almost undetectable until it’s too late. Therefore, the critical cooperation between ordinary citizens in the streets, and the officers of the NYPD, is a prime example of the kind of open eyed approach to counterterrorism that ultimately saves lives.
We know, as of the release of the Federal Charges against Shahzad, that the newly naturalized United States citizen was a former resident of Pakistan. He had returned in early February from his latest trip to Karachi where he visited his family, but also made his way to Waziristan to train himself in bomb making. His claims to be working alone are under investigation, but his tracks are slowly leading him to a connection with the Pakistani Taliban and possibly Al Qaeda. In addition to his quickly unraveling story line, it seems that Shahzad was a rookie when it came to his attempted car bombing. Though his materials could have combined for a huge explosion, it has been revealed that his wiring job was amateurish, and his subsequent attempts to leave the country with a ticket to Dubai bought with cash lead me to believe he was chosen as an actor with little hierarchical importance to any major terror network. He parked his SUV in a location where cameras could catch his every move. He apparently bought the SUV off Craig’s List with cash, even inquiring to the previous owner about the cargo space at the expense of a faulty engine. Basically, this man has all of the signs of a wannabe who went too far.
As the details of United States v Faisal Shahzad continue to emerge, it should not surprise anyone if it is found that the Pakistani Taliban hired this green individual to carry out its dirty business. Why sacrifice an important individual to carry out an act which is likely to result in a bust or failed launch? The Taliban and Al Qaeda are growing increasingly desperate, and they are resorting to petty acts of terror in order to stay in the game. The Obama Administration has embraced the recent cooperation of the Pakistani government and military, and by doing so, the two sides have teamed together to slowly root out the radical influences in the region. It’s a struggle between divergent ways of life which is likely to last as long as humans are on the planet earth, and in order to leave the region in better shape than it was before we arrived in 2001, we must find a way to prevent US citizens such as Shahzad from reaching terrorist camps around the world.
Unless we and our allies can produce a full proof, globally intertwined system to detect the movement of high risk individuals into hotbeds of terror around the globe, it will be the keen eye of our citizenry, along with our collective willingness to work with law enforcement, that will ultimately determine our success in stopping future plots on our own soil. Our intelligence communities can help us to narrow down the major players of the various terror networks around the globe. They can help the TSA and other transportation safety agencies to flag individuals who are deemed a threat to their intended destination or are fleeing the scene of a crime. But, without our timely cooperation, and a New York City type awareness of the world we live in, the hard work of our homeland security officials can only get us so far in the fight to end terrorism. We, like those heroic Times Square vendors, need to alert the authorities to suspicious activities, especially when we are in crowded areas such as airports, tourist attractions, mass transit systems, and other high profile venues. In 2010, we have the ability to use our technology to capture videos and still images of suspicious behavior as it happens. We can then quickly forward that information to law enforcement. If we do this, we can rest assured that what is preventable is prevented, and the parties responsible, like Shahzad and his accomplices, are apprehended and brought to justice in a timely manner.
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