Facing the threats posed by dedicated suicide bombers who have access to
modern technology for mass destruction and who intend to cause maximum
human suffering and casualties, democratic governments have hard choices
to make. The premise of this book is that for intelligence organizations
in democratic states to be able to face up to the challenges of global
terrorism, they must think outside the box and utilize all of their
resources effectively and creatively. To overcome the enemy, we must
also secure the peace. Winning the hearts and minds of the terrorists'
pool of potential recruits will be essential to cutting off the supply
of suicide bombers. This book therefore addresses not only the question
of how intelligence organizations can improve their efficacy in
pre-empting terrorist outrages, but also the wider issue of removing the
forces that sustain global terrorism as a scourge of the twenty-first
century. The general public in the target countries and recruiting
grounds must also be persuaded that--despite their rhetoric--the
terrorists are not engaged in a holy war. Intelligence services of
various countries need to find convincing evidence to prove this point.
But it is up to governments, civil society, and the media in different
parts of the world to work together if the evidence unearthed by
national intelligence services is to be accepted by the general public.
Unless the emotional or quasi-religious appeal of the global terrorists
can be removed, the simple arrest of bin Laden and his close
associates--or even the destruction of Al Qaeda as an organization--will
not be sufficient to prevent others from rising to replace them.
