Loading ...Tragedy in Nice, Countering New Extremism
By: Eugene Smith/Contributing Writer
The Tragedy
On Thursday night, thousands were gathered along the historic Promenade des Anglais in coastal Nice to celebrate Bastille Day, a national holiday symbolic of freedom and French unity. The fireworks had just ended and the festivities were beginning to calm. Other than a rainstorm on the horizon, it was a normal summer night on the Mediterranean. Citizens, tourists, families, and friends meandered along the waterfront, couples drank on terraces, others sat on the beach. It was late and the crowd was preparing to return home. Moments later, everything changed and the night was torn apart.
At 10:45pm, a 19-ton truck barreled down the promenade, swerving erratically to deliberately target the most densely populated areas of the crowds. Confusion and panic spread as people fled the oncoming terror, yet for many, the truck’s path was unavoidable. Hundreds were run down; their bodies strewn across the promenade in a bloody wake. The truck would travel over 2km before the driver, later identified as Tunisian-born Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, was killed in a gun battle with French police.
The tragedy claimed the lives of 84 and left over 200 injured. Many are still fighting for their lives. Ten children were counted amongst the dead.
For those at the scene of the attack, there was only panic and confusion followed by carnage. Imad Dafaaoui, who was centimeters from the truck’s path, described the attack to ABC news.
“I saw a huge truck, crushing over people,” he said. “Some people were trying to get out of the way. Some people were in shock. I started to run away. I was in shock.”
For many, the attack at first seemed to be a tragic accident, the calamitous noises just part of the holiday fireworks. But as the driver began to mercilessly run down civilians, the truth set in. Terri Clarke, a Nice native, described the initial moments to the Daily Beast,
“At first I thought it was part of the show, Then I heard people screaming. The [truck] was zigzagging over to the bike path and back on the road, trying to kill as many people as possible . . . after it passed, I saw all these bodies lying in front of us on the opposite side of the street,”
The famed coastal promenade was left covered with blood and the dead. Survivors searched for their loved ones, bystanders rushed to help the wounded. Others covered bodies with sheets and tablecloths. There was no method to the killing. Men, women, mothers, children, foreigners, and French citizens were counted amongst the dead and the injured.
Aftermath
This latest attack is France’s third in two years and comes shortly after similarly brutal attacks in Orlando, Bangladesh, and Baghdad. The images of the dead and wounded, the eyewitness testimonies, the stories of lost loved ones, of indiscriminate and random killing, have cut yet another wound into our shared conscience. For many, there are no words to understand or address yet another tragedy, for others, there is anger, and for some, simply horror and lament.
At first officials were left with little insight into Bouhlel’s motives or possible extremist connections. In press interviews directly following the attacks French prosecutor, Francois Molins, acknowledged that Bouhlel has no known ties to extremist groups and “had never been a target of screening or raised red flags of radicalization.” However, days later ISIL claimed responsibility for Bouhlel’s attack through their Syrian based news agency, though his exact ties and the validity of ISIL’s claim remain unclear.
The investigation has indicated that Bouhlel radicalized rapidly and completely under the radar of the French security apparatus. Prior to the attack, he was known to French authorities for minor criminal activity, including: threatening behavior, violence and theft, receiving a six-month suspended prison sentence in March for assault with an improvised weapon. His family has since indicated that he may have suffered from mental illness as evidenced by his frequent display of violent behavior and multiple nervous breakdowns. Bouhlel had been married with three children but was in the process of divorce after accusations of domestic assault. Neighbors described Bouhlel as reclusive and quiet. Some found him unnerving. Many who had interacted with him recently, told reporters from the Telegraph that he was “depressed and unstable, even aggressive as of late.”
The fact that Behloul had not been monitored for extremist activities means that unlike previous attacks, this was not the result of a major intelligence error. It does demonstrate the difficulty of predicting future attacks and of monitoring potential perpetrators in cases where links to extremist groups may be tenuous or purely ideological.
Another cause for concern is the thin line between mass-murder and terrorism, which is directly linked to the success of ISIL’ model of “franchisee extremism.” Acts of horrific violence, no matter how removed from actual terrorist networks, can be claimed with a single pledge of allegiance, Tweet or Facebook post. This further obfuscates counter-terrorism efforts. With this type of extremism networks of communication and direct hierarchical coordination are lacking. There is little for intelligence officials to track and even less in the way of preventative measures.
This problem is exacerbated by the nature of the attacks that are occurring. Extensive terrorist networks are supplemented by lone-wolf assailants, scarcely detectable by traditional means. Large-scale acts of terrorism, such as 9/11, have been replaced with small scale shootings- easy to replicate and hard to defend against. Long held fears of bio-terrorism and dirty bombs have been swept aside, now the innocuous has become a threat. Other than the gun that Behloul fired in the shootout, the primary weapon used in Nice was a truck. This will only contribute to our fears.
However, if fear turns to paranoia, if radical extremism fuels radical repression, if we follow the guidance of Mr. Gingrich, and require that all citizens of Muslim origin be subjected to a “Sharia test,” we are only legitimizing ISIL’ claims and promoting the recruitment of their soldiers. ISIL feeds on sectarian conflict; its existence is based on a prophecy of apocalyptic religious warfare. Its violent extremism is meant to provoke overreactions and antagonize social fault lines. Reacting to these attacks in an oppressive and exclusionary manner will only foment resentment and catalyze radicalization. We cannot afford to sacrifice our principles. If we do, then we have handed a victory to violence, to extremism, to hate.
What the recent tragedy in Nice highlights is the fact that such attacks, utilizing everyday objects to inflict severe and horrific injury, are becoming increasingly difficult to prevent through traditional “hard methods,” such as surveillance and security. In their stead, we must consider other “soft” tactics to successfully combat and prevent extremism. Counter-terrorism research demonstrates that radicalization is often a product of marginalization and lack of identity. This new form of counter-radicalization involves the more difficult tasks of promoting and enhancing inclusion. This means hard conversations about belief and culture. This means promoting acceptance and understanding of differences.This means that we cannot revert to our tribal tendencies in the wake of tragedy.
To react with anger to such attacks is understandable. We are human and we are dealing with a level of violence and terror that is unprecedented in its visibility to a worldwide audience. As violence increases around us, our sheer inability to prevent it undoubtedly breeds anger and resentment. But we must make the hard decision and work to quiet our fury, to reflect. We cannot fall prey to radical exclusionary policies, such as banning Muslim immigration, or we risk amplifying the threat of extremism alongside the abandonment of our values.