Tri-Service
Comment: Terror Is Just A Train Ride Away
Christopher Lee is the Forces Broadcasting Defence Analyst
Ever since the attacks in Paris last year, most cities within a train ride have been anticipating another atrocity.
The Belgians caught Salah Abdeslam last Friday. He was part of the Paris attacks. But the second man they wanted, everyone wanted, Najim Laachraoui, the bomb maker slipped through the net. So did the getaway driver in Paris, Mohamed Abrini. The two on the run meant others were free, covering them. That meant another attack was "on the clock" - likely.
The security alert in London and other cities is Severe - the counter-terrorism agencies have covered all known bets. But the Belgian authorities had warned at the highest levels that something was about to happen.
This morning it was Zaventem airport. An hour later Maelbeek metro station was hit. Brussels Midi train station was closed. Eurostar from London was terminating at Lille in Northern France. What is special about Lille? Modern terror is just a train ride away.
Sickenly, terror means more than corpses and wounded.
We have now a world between the longitudes of the Tigris and Euphrates and the Iberian Peninsular that is fighting for its identity. That is what terrorism is.
Every police and security agency in Western Europe (hardly ever Eastern Europe) is now running double checks on the terror state of its capital. Terrorists like capitals. They are less obvious and the target is more terror-efficient.
Anyone, especially the nervous who avoids the carriage with the guy with a Muslim look and a backpack, who rides any subway knows this.
More from Forces.tv: Belgium's Military - How It Stacks Up
So if we know all this and more, what now?
Now is the test of a counter-terror adage. When a terrorist team strikes they are for 48 hours on the run. When they run they are, if the intelligence report system is in place, vulnerable to capture.
Najim Laachraoui and Mohamed Abrini prove some escape the net, especially the Belgian net. The Belgians are particularly bad at counter-terrorism. But the rule is reasonably sound. The terrorist team is vulnerable.
But if one goes down another will form. This morning's terror attack was successful. Many dead. Many wounded. Many scattered.
The best we can think is that more attacks have been prevented than have got through. The worst we can think is that Najim Laachraoui and Mohamed Abrini are still out there. The network that supports them is still out there.
For all our habit of "carrying on" we should remind ourselves that the next act of terrorism is rarely more than a train ride away.
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