When you have an enemy with values, behaviour and a decision-making process you don't understand, none of the normal rules and standards apply.
That makes it particularly difficult for the West to come to terms with the threat and develop strategies to deal with it.
Ganor's visit to Calgary, sponsored by the Calgary Jewish Community Council and Canada-Israel Committee, was part of a trip to Canada in which he briefed MPs on anti-terrorism issues.
"I don't see this as a problem of Islam," said Ganor, "it is a problem of Islamic radicalism.
"The jihadists say they are waging a defensive war, but it's not against western colonialism. It is not even a defence against globalization. It is a war against modernity.
"These guys would like to spread their radical version of Islam all over the world," Ganor said, pointing out that Islamic radicals consider moderate Muslims no less infidels than those of other faiths.
"In fact, moderate Muslims have to understand that by fighting Islamic radicalism, they are not fighting for the West, but for their own cause, since Muslims are the main target."
The goal of the jihadists is to destabilize and take control of the main Arab and Muslim countries, then target surrounding states in their quest to spread their twisted version of Islam all over the world, Ganor said.
Attacks on the U.S. and Britain are actually aimed at frightening those powerful countries into altering their foreign policy, which would in turn destabilize moderate Muslim countries.
The biggest threat to Western countries these days is from homegrown radicals indoctrinated to believe terrorism is the way to achieve their fanatical ends.
Canada's CSIS director Jim Judd told a Senate committee this week that homegrown radicals pose a grave threat because they often fall under the radar of intelligence organizations.
Ganor said facilities such as Alberta's oilpatch are natural targets of an enemy whose motives are as much to create fear and instability as to kill.
The counter-terrorism adviser to Israeli prime ministers and the New York Police Department said plans should be put in place to protect such facilities, but admitted guarding infrastructure spread out over vast spaces is difficult, to say the least.
So it is equally important to have a crisis management plan in place to limit the consequences of such an attack.
Ganor wants to see all countries acknowledge that counter-terrorism is a "top priority of every civilized state."
Fighting this scourge requires a two-pronged approach, he said.
The first involves destroying the operational capability of terrorist groups.
The second is to reduce the motivation in mainstream Muslim populations to become indoctrinated by the radicals.
This could be accomplished by helping bring political stability and better living conditions to moderate Muslim states.
It's up to Muslims, not western society, to prevent their fellow Muslims from becoming indoctrinated, Ganor said, but western assistance will aid the task.
Canada gets the idea when it comes to the motivational approach, he admitted, but it needs to commit more resources to knocking out the terrorists' operational capacity.
The world must develop an international databank and strategy in order to defeat this threat which leaves no country safe, Ganor said.
The author of The Counter Terrorism Puzzle, A Guide for Decision Makers, wants to see terrorism defined as "the deliberate use of violence aimed against civilians in order to achieve political gain."
Armed with that definition, the world should create a new international court to judge terrorist groups.
As al-Qaida and other groups move into a new phase of terrorist activities, Ganor's words must be heeded -- especially by countries such as Canada where many seem to believe we are invulnerable to the threat.
Canada gets introduced to reality
Cloud Darkens
By Roy Clancy, Calgary Sun
The spreading phenomenon of international terrorism "is maybe the biggest threat ever posed to humanity," said Boaz Ganor, an Israeli counter-terrorism expert.
The head of the International Policy Institute for Counterterrorism admits that might sound like a tough statement to swallow. But Ganor argued in a talk to fire and police representatives in Calgary this week that it is the nature of the crusade of destruction waged by radical Islamic jihadists that poses the gravest danger.
Greater even than the one we faced during the tense years of the Cold War. "When you have two superpowers facing each other with nuclear warheads who share the same rationality, they can persuade, they can communicate, they can threaten," he said.
When you have an enemy with values, behaviour and a decision-making process you don't understand, none of the normal rules and standards apply.
That makes it particularly difficult for the West to come to terms with the threat and develop strategies to deal with it.
Ganor's visit to Calgary, sponsored by the Calgary Jewish Community Council and Canada-Israel Committee, was part of a trip to Canada in which he briefed MPs on anti-terrorism issues.
"I don't see this as a problem of Islam," said Ganor, "it is a problem of Islamic radicalism.
"The jihadists say they are waging a defensive war, but it's not against western colonialism. It is not even a defence against globalization. It is a war against modernity.
"These guys would like to spread their radical version of Islam all over the world," Ganor said, pointing out that Islamic radicals consider moderate Muslims no less infidels than those of other faiths.
"In fact, moderate Muslims have to understand that by fighting Islamic radicalism, they are not fighting for the West, but for their own cause, since Muslims are the main target."
The goal of the jihadists is to destabilize and take control of the main Arab and Muslim countries, then target surrounding states in their quest to spread their twisted version of Islam all over the world, Ganor said.
Attacks on the U.S. and Britain are actually aimed at frightening those powerful countries into altering their foreign policy, which would in turn destabilize moderate Muslim countries.
The biggest threat to Western countries these days is from homegrown radicals indoctrinated to believe terrorism is the way to achieve their fanatical ends.
Canada's CSIS director Jim Judd told a Senate committee this week that homegrown radicals pose a grave threat because they often fall under the radar of intelligence organizations.
Ganor said facilities such as Alberta's oilpatch are natural targets of an enemy whose motives are as much to create fear and instability as to kill.
The counter-terrorism adviser to Israeli prime ministers and the New York Police Department said plans should be put in place to protect such facilities, but admitted guarding infrastructure spread out over vast spaces is difficult, to say the least.
So it is equally important to have a crisis management plan in place to limit the consequences of such an attack.
Ganor wants to see all countries acknowledge that counter-terrorism is a "top priority of every civilized state."
Fighting this scourge requires a two-pronged approach, he said.
The first involves destroying the operational capability of terrorist groups.
The second is to reduce the motivation in mainstream Muslim populations to become indoctrinated by the radicals.
This could be accomplished by helping bring political stability and better living conditions to moderate Muslim states.
It's up to Muslims, not western society, to prevent their fellow Muslims from becoming indoctrinated, Ganor said, but western assistance will aid the task.
Canada gets the idea when it comes to the motivational approach, he admitted, but it needs to commit more resources to knocking out the terrorists' operational capacity.
The world must develop an international databank and strategy in order to defeat this threat which leaves no country safe, Ganor said.
The author of The Counter Terrorism Puzzle, A Guide for Decision Makers, wants to see terrorism defined as "the deliberate use of violence aimed against civilians in order to achieve political gain."
Armed with that definition, the world should create a new international court to judge terrorist groups.
As al-Qaida and other groups move into a new phase of terrorist activities, Ganor's words must be heeded -- especially by countries such as Canada where many seem to believe we are invulnerable to the threat.
Posted by Ted Belman at November 3, 2005 09:31 AM