Radicalization and Lone-Wolf Attack

Introduction

Traditionally, terrorism was only confined in group execution whereby it took more than one individual to execute an attack. However, over the years, attacks have shifted from being executed by terror groups to individuals- often known as lone-wolf attacks. According to Pantucci, Ellis & Chaplais (2016), lone actor in an attack is first taken through a radicalization process, making the person to use his available resources to commit an attack with the perception that the attack will aid in propagating the ideology of the affiliate organization. Although lone-wolf attackers are termed as radicalized individuals, the term radicalization is often seen as synonymous with extreme Islamism. According to Ellis (2016), radicalization is having a strict stance on a given ideology therefore ready to use any method, including physical and verbal attacks, to subdue and intimidate others into embracing the ideology. In Australia, apart from facing problem of Islamic extremism among the youths, the country is faced with other forms of radicalization which include right-wing extremism, left-wing extremism and single-issue extremism (Hagtvet, 1994). In order to engage in de-radicalization process, it is important to first understand the factors that influence youths into joining terror groups. These factors may include sociopolitical isolation, economic problems and mental disorder.

This paper examines three lone-wolf terrorist attacks that were committed in the U.S, France and Australia and their significance in the Australian context. Additionally, the paper analyzes the Islamic radicalization in comparison with other kind of radicalization such as political extremism.

A Soldier and a Terrorist

The main difference between a soldier and a terrorist is that the latter is controlled by an ideology and aims at coercing others to embrace the ideology. On the other hand, soldiers are deployed to prevent any harm and destruction of property by people with malicious plans. According to Pantucci, Ellis & Chaplais (2016), the deployment of soldiers in Syria in the Middle East aimed at curtailing the expansion of the Islamic state and to save the civilians who were subjected to the terror attack in the region. Australia has played a vital role in deploying its soldiers to the countries in the Middle East that are affected by the terror attacks and insurgent by the terror groups. Generally, terrorist groups because they share same ideology which they focus on pushing on other people in the country.

Dimitrious Gargasoulas

Dimitrious Gargasoulas decided to drive his vehicle through the CBD of Melbourne, Australia hitting that were in the street. Gargsoulas killed six people including the two children. The Bourke Street Killer blamed his actions on Illuminati; a group is widely refereed to as freemasonic group with ability to control most of the affairs in the world. Gargasoulas was faced with 6 murders charges and 28 accounts of attempted murder (Lee, 2017).  According to the report by the police, Gargasoulas id said to have previously been remanded for engaging in drug and substance abuse and exhibiting violent behavior (Pantucci Ellis & Chaplais, 2016).

Radicalization aspect of the Event

Although investigations tried to connect various evidences on why Dimitrious Gargasoulas acted as a lone wolf attacker, there has not been any clear evidence connecting him to any external organization. Gargasoulas did not show any sign of a radicalized Muslim nor a person with certain ideologies that are likely to cause him to attack innocent people on the street. In most of the attack, most investigators think along radical Muslim line but there are other causes of attacks such as mental problem. This kind of attack has been on the rise especially with the increase in the accessibility of information through the internet. The use of internet in radicalization is new dynamic of terrorism which has contributed to the shift from traditional group attacks. However, in the case of Gargasoulas, although he blamed it on illuminati, his case can be termed to be purely a medical case (Pantucci Ellis & Chaplais, 2016).

What is the significance of the phenomena in the Australian context?

Dimitrious Gargasoulas’ attack using a car is a typical example of lone wolf attack- a kind of attack that is committed by a person without any direct support in terms of strategy or resources on how to execute the attack. In such cases, the perpetrators are faced with other mental problems which influence them to kill. The case of Gargasoulas is a good example of a person who was influenced by his individual psychology. Unlike other attackers who are influenced by local and international groups, such as ISIS, individual psychology includes having a distorted thinking because of the challenges of life (Marcus, 2009).

Omar Mateen Gun Rampage

            Omar Mateen committed the worst attack in the history of the United States in 2016, having killed 49 and wounded 58 people. Mateen stormed the LGBT party that was taking place in a night club with a sig sauer MCX gun and rampantly shot the audience. From the investigation that followed the attack in Orland showed that Mateen had shown some signs of the radicalization. Additionally, he is also explained as a person who was mentally disturbed considering the fact that he did not have good relationship with the family and the neighours.

Radicalization aspect of the Event

The decision to storm LGBT club was based by his strong belief in the radical Islamism. The investigation that was conducted after the shooting shows that Mateen had connection to terror groups online. Mateen was radicalized through the internet where he used to visit web pages that are used by the Islamic State to win followers and sympathizers. His actions also present a case of a lone wolf attacker who decided to conduct the entire attack without getting any direct support from any terror organization (Pilkington and Roberts, 2016). According to Kennedy (2016), Mateen is alleged to have pledged allegiance to the ISIS after the terror attack that faced the U.S in 2001.

What is the significance of the phenomena in the Australian context?

The decision by Mateen to storm the LGBT club can be coined to a wide range of factors. Various investigations tried to explain the actual motive of Mateen in deciding to take a gun and solely attack the LGBT club. Although some investigations have shown that there is a high chance that Mateen was a radicalized Muslim because he was a son of Iraqi-American. On the other hand, the attack was the largest attack on the LGBT community since history; therefore it is possible to conclude the attack was a possible hatred of people because of their sexual orientation (McCauley, Moskalenko & Van Son, 2013).

This is attack important for Australia; a country where there is an extensive diversity in terms of culture, class, religion and gender orientation. This means, if a suspect should be apprehended on matters regarding lone attacks, it is important to be open on other possibilities. The investigation team should not rush to associate every attack to Islamic radicalization because the perpetrator might have a totally different ideology. In the case of Mateen, there is no compelling evidence to show that the 29 years old was affiliated to any international terror group. However, according to the available information on his social life since childhood, Mateen is described as a child who was aggressive towards other students (Kennedy, 2016).

Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel

Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel is a good example of a lone wolf attacker that committed rampage in Nice, France in 2016. Mohamed drove a 19-tonne lorry in a crowed that had gathered for Bastille Day celebrations in Nice, France. The French born Tunisian is said to have been radicalized through online by the Muslim radicals that called for individuals to participate in the war against the non-Muslims. According to Visser and Orjoux (2016), Mohamed had a quite demeanor and shared no close interaction with the neighbors. However, this was not connected to any lurking attack from Mohamed because it was perceived that it was an inherent behavior.

Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel was born in 1985 in a small coastal city, M’saken, Tunisia before moving to France after securing a residency permit. His decision to use truck as a weapon of attack was based on the fact that he worked as delivery truck driver in Nice. He had a wife and three children, whom they were not living together because of the divorces case that was in progress. Before the attack, Mohamed is said to have been facing mental problems from the financial hardship and the marital problems he was facing with his wife.

Radicalization aspect of the Event

Most of the terror attacks that have been committed by lone wolf attackers are influenced by the large extremist groups that radicalize people through various platforms including offline and online. Radicalization, according to McCauley, Moskalenko & Van Son (2013), radicalized individuals portrays various similar characteristics such as isolating from other people whom they perceived against his/her ideas, verbal abuse and other antisocial behaviors.

What is the significance of the phenomena in the Australian context?

Islamic violence to other extreme violence

The rise of international terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and Taliban and the latest one being ISIS, Islamic violence has been highly examines as compared to other extreme violence. Many people across the world respond different to Islamic terrorism as compared to other forms of extreme violence acts. The surfacing of some of the activities online that are committed by the ISIS has made many people to be very keen on Islamic violence. Most of the massive attacks that have claimed many lives across the world have also been committed by international Islamic terror groups including Al Qaeda, Taliban, Al Shabaab and ISIS, such as the 911 bombing in U.S, have caused many come to see Islamic violence to be likely to cause many problems as compared to other extremists (Weenink, 2015).

Islamic Radicalization

            Radicalization is the process of influencing other people to take given actions by bombarding them information that influences them to embrace given ideologies such as religion fundamentalism and political extremist. Radicalization is often identified with Islamic extremist, which is not always the case, because radicalization is being more than moderate on any ideology. According to Schmid (2013), are highly intolerant and they aim at making a homogeneous society and share into their ideologies, which aggregates to the physical attack on other groups that oppose to the ideology.  Recruitment by radical groups can be passive or active. Passive recruitment involves exposing the target to real or fictional events and actions that makes them to feel that they have a responsibility to help in solving the events. Passive recruitment is mostly done through the internet, although it can also take physical aspect where the group triggers an event in order to attract sympathizers (Sarangi & Alison, 2005). Active recruitment can also be done virtually or direct depending on various factors such as the level of security. Active recruitment involves a direct approach on the target and convincing him/her to take given actions that resonates with the ideologies of the group. According to Teich (2013),   ISIS is the first Islamic group extremist that has significantly used the internet to influence many young people to participate in the Islamic terrorism activities both direct and indirect. The report by Teich (2013), many young westerners have left their country and moved to fight for the ISIS in Syria and other parts in the Middle East. Additionally, from the propaganda videos released online by the ISIS, many young people have continued to buy into their ideology of establishing a caliphate and making the Islam the only religion across the world.

Using the internet has helped ISIS to win many followers across the world including UK, Germany, U.S and Australia. There is wide range of factors that can make a person to be vulnerable to radicalization. Cultural or region isolation is one of the factors that can influence one to be at the risk of radicalization. For instance, the Nice attack in France can be said to be influenced by the region and cultural isolation (Borum, 2011). When people from Middle East and other Islamic states move to Western countries, they feel isolated because of the cultural change and beliefs, from the dressing and worshiping their God, therefore start feeling as though they are not part of the society. For religion extremists, vulnerable people starts to dedicate much of time in indulging with the practices of the religion and start speaking ill of other religion therefore becoming intolerance to the point of physical attack. Other individual extremism can be caused by the political beliefs that influence people to engaging in activism (Cole et al., 2010).

De-radicalization

De-radicalization is the use of various strategies to help counter and reverse the psychology of those people who have already been radicalized. Although most strategies used in the de-radicalization process target Islamic radical, it is important to understand that radicalization goes beyond Islamic radical to individual radical that are influenced by other factors such as politics and racial discrimination (Borum, 2011).

In order to counter the different types of youth discrimination in Australia, the government should use a collaborative approach. The government should involve the affected parties, communities and families which are the core unit of a society (Cole et al, 2009).

What might be the function of masculinity with regard to extreme violence and terrorism?

Masculinity in radicalization is based on the increase in the young males being radicalized over female. According to the study by Beutel and Perez (2016), the males are more likely to join radical groups as compared to girls. This is contributed by the fact that male are more explorative and are attracted to violence and other factor that makes them to be heroes. Young males are enthusiastic about shooting games, racing and other violent games. Most of the young males moving to take part in the war taking place in Syria and other parts of the Middle East are contributed by the fact that they want to be at the center of the exploration. They perceive it as a video game in the real life (Porter & Kebbell, 2011).

Conclusion

Terrorism has no single definition but it is characterized with the acts of harm and destruction of property with the aim of coercing others into agreeing with certain ideologies. Terror attacks have over the years been executed by groups and organization that subscribe to a given ideology. However, with the strict restrictions on terror groups, terror attacks have moved from group based to individual based. Although powerful nations including U.S, U.K and Australia have, in collaboration with international organizations such as NATO, worked to reduce terror attacks from organized organizations such as Al Qaeda, Taliban and ISIS, the world is still struggling to counter lone-wolf attacks.  The attacks from individual attackers such as Dimitrious Gargasoulas, Omar Mateen and Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel are contributed by various factors such as sociopolitical isolation and socioeconomic challenges and mental problems. Australia is faced by the challenge of countering the increase in the youth radicalization Islamic radicalization is given much attention because it touches on sociopolitical aspects of the society and has since history been perceived as the most organized and likely to cause more havoc than other forms of radicalization. To address the problem of radicalization of youths in the country, Australian government should collaborate with communities, families and other local and international organizations to develop programs for de-radicalization.