Terror threat

Activating the Sleepers: Islamic State Adopts a New Strategy in Europe

IS' behavior is in many ways more like that of a secret service than of animated fanatics. Al-Qaida committed its attacks as its raison d'etre, the result being that there were no subsequent attacks far outside their usual theaters of war following their acts of violence on New York and Washington in 2001, on Casablanca, Madrid, Amman and elsewhere. Al-Qaida had acted, not reacted. But IS appears capable of doing so.

Testimony from deserters suggests the terror organization began establishing sleeper cells in multiple European countries early on, in Turkey in particular. According to the former IS fighters, they are made up of men who aren't on any watch lists. This enables IS to elude the vulnerability suffered by many based in Europe -- namely that they are known terrorists. The biographies of many terrorists are very similar: an early period of radicalization precedes a period of preparation just before an attack. By this point, however, many are already known to the authorities as dangerous and are subsequently often placed under surveillance. This included the Belgians who, in January 2015 wanted to attack police stations in Brussels immediately after the Charlie Hebdomassacre. Apartments, telephones and cars were bugged -- the authorities always had a clear picture of what was going on.