Terrorism wins if fear rules

George Hook

THE human system is not designed to cope with feelings of panic or terror. Ask anyone that suffers from regular panic attacks to describe what they go through on a regular basis and they will be hard pushed to convey the true horror of their experiences.
When panic grips, it numbs the senses and suffocates the mind, so that rationale thought and ‘normal procedure’ disintegrate in an instant. The feeling of helplessness that comes with such a sickening process is perhaps most terrifying of all. Terror, in any form, is spawned from absolute fear and fear causes people to act in ways that they may never have thought possible.
Terrorists recognise this and they wreak havoc on the back of it.
The shocking scenes arising out of last week’s Brussels attacks are yet another reminder of how vulnerable we all are to persons or organisations intent on the pursuit of chaos and extremism. None of the victims in the Belgian capital that day had the slightest inkling of what was to unfold. Neither, it seems, did Europe’s foremost intelligence experts.
Many of the perpetrators involved in the Brussels attacks were known to Europe’s top level intelligence officers, but this fact only serves to heighten fears that repeat attacks are inevitable and unavoidable.
It is one thing to surrender to an unknown entity, but the perpetrators last week were known to police and still able to infiltrate security.
In the aftermath of the Brussels bombings, European leaders were quick to offer assurances that the perpetrators would not go unpunished and pledged vigilance against anyone that threatened Europe’s security.
These hard-line speeches were meant to reinforce the idea that Europe will do everything in its power to wipe out radical fundamentalism, but it was difficult to find comfort in the words. Brussels had been flagged as a prime target for some time in the run up to the latest bombings. Belgian security forces even had the names and faces of some of those involved in the attacks. Yet, despite this information, they were still powerless to prevent it.

Inevitable
Terrorists operate under a blanket of anonymity and in spite of the best efforts of Europe’s top security forces to track down Islamic State members and guard against future attacks, the terrorists have always remained one step ahead of the defence forces. IS is well-funded, with very sophisticated methods of communication. They have become increasingly difficult to infiltrate.
There is no doubt that several planned attacks have been foiled since the Paris atrocities, but it was almost inevitable that IS would eventually hit their target. Last Tuesday, they did, with the loss of many lives and the spread of panic and fear across the continent.
Where do we go from here? Already there are questions over the viability of staging Euro 2016 in France this summer. Millions of football fans are expected to flood into the country from all over Europe over the course of the Championships. At the moment, their safety cannot be guaranteed.
The prospect of playing Euro 2016 matches behind closed doors has been mooted and some international managers, including Martin O’Neill, have pledged to honour whatever security precautions are necessary to ensure the safety of the players and the fans.
But in my view, UEFA might as well cancel the entire championship altogether as to submit to the threat of terrorism.

Do not concede
People can make up their own minds about whether or not the risk of travel is worth it. And in this case, I am willing to venture that few, if any, football supporters will be deterred from attending the European championships.
Euro 2016 organisers will take every precaution to ensure this tournament is as safe as possible, but nothing is ever guaranteed. And just as thousands travelled to the Stade de France during each round of the Six Nations Championship without incident, I have no doubt that the stadia around France will be full with football fans come June and July.
And that is how it should be. To concede power to these animals is to admit defeat. The primary goal of terrorists is to disrupt life as we know it and plant fear and panic into everyday lives. If society changes its focus, or restricts people’s freedom in any way, the terrorists will have won.
Nobody knows how this whole disturbing chapter will play out. And certainly, on the evidence of the last twelve months, it is almost inevitable that more atrocities will follow the horrific attacks in Brussels last week. But life will go on. And it is up to us to determine exactly what that life will be.
We can fight to protect and preserve our way of life, or we can give in to fear and panic. I know which option I will be taking.