Cult guru to hang for Tokyo subway attack Yemen foils attacks on oil, gas facilities Fresh street fighting in Dili Annan says Non-Aligned Movement more important then ever
The confirmation that Japan will hang the leader of Aum Shinrikyo should serve as a reminder that terrorist threats aren’t the exclusive province of any particular religion; indeed, threats can come from wholly unexpected directions. In particular, I see a potential for more cults to develop in Western countries, and some will probably turn to terrorism, perhaps with results worse than Aum’s attack, which seems like a mixture of technical brilliance and amateurish bungling. There is a potential threat from fundamentalist Mormons like recently-arrested Warren Jeff’s group, the FLDS. Jon Krakauer apparently has a book out about Mormon sects and violence which I would like to read (any comments from people who have?..). Waco and Jonestown are also obvious examples, although their violence was more defensive and internally-directed than in the case of Aum. The Pai Marire and similar groups in 1860s New Zealand provide a local example, combining syncretic Christian-inspired teachings with a revival of ritual murder and cannibalism.
The thwarted bombings in Yemen are another example of terrorists switching to the infrastructure-disruption strategy (as John Robb describes). The fact that the attacks aren’t succeeding will force the evolution of new techniques, however – probably focussing more on easy but low-value targets eg pipelines.
Peacekeepers have failed to bring order to East Timor, and there are no resources available to hunt down rebel leader Major Reinado. I guess they just have insufficient resources available – not a good sign for advocates of intervention in the region.
Finally Annan shows his true colours by supporting an IGO which has just elected Cuba’s dictatorship to lead it. Whose side is he on? He may be mouthing some platitudes about free speech and democracy, but he is sanctioning vile abuses of human rights. And the NAM is even defending Iran’s nuclear program…
Phil, I don’t quite see why you think there is “potential for more cults to develop in Western countries”. We are seeing a general decline in church attendance in all Western countries, and incidents with freaky cults like Koresh’s group have been very rare in recent years. Warren Jeff’s group wasn’t planning any terrorist action, they were just sucked into the sick, twisted cult mind-trap. The same mind-trap that more and more people know about thanks to high-profile cults like Aum Shinrikyo and Koresh’s nutters. With increased awareness, hopefully cults in Western countries will find it harder to get members.
I would have thought you would argue that a more likely source of new terrorist groups is immigrants who belong to existing religions, who can then drift towards established extremist groups (I won’t mention any names
Left by Luke on September 18th, 2006