France train attack could happen again if the world fails to tackle terrorism

There is no convincing explanation to turning a train, a coach or any civilian place crowded with people into a battlefield. While investigations into the motives and intentions of the attack on an Amsterdam-to-Paris train by a Moroccan gunman are in their early stages, there is no doubt that the brave US servicemen who overpowered the attacker have averted a massacre.

Based on police reports that the suspect has links to extremist groups and has traveled to Syria, there is a great likelihood that the attacker was planning to carry out a massacre on board the train. Otherwise, why would he carry all these weapons?

The puzzling question is: Who brainwashed so many youths, mostly of Arab origins, into following this absurd and bloody path? Another question is: How did the Moroccan gunman manage to get on board the train with all these weapons without being discovered?

The former question is more significant as far as counterterrorism is concerned given that it is related to ideology. A generation of youths, most of them in their twenties who were either born or lived in the West for a long time, has fallen into the trap of terrorism. Those youths have failed to integrate into their new societies, instead adopting an attitude so antagonistic and extreme that it justifies the killing of civilians.

This phenomenon will pose a challenge to the world for a long time to come until it manages to address the core problem. With a limited knowledge of Islam, those youths have fallen victim to the extremist ideology being promoted by instigators of violence and terror. No faith justifies random killing. Islam which once built a great civilization is a religion that advocates development and peace.

Those youths would have never been used as human bombs and tools of violence, wreaking havoc in the societies that welcomed them and their families, had they been given a better upbringing.

Thanks to the bravery of the US servicemen and some other passengers, the attacker has failed this time. But the course of events indicates that there will be similar attempts in the future. The danger of terrorism, like that of, say, organized crime, can be largely reduced; but the phenomenon will continue as long as people exist.

People will not stop using public transport or visiting public places, nor will they change their lifestyles because of some deranged individuals who seek to prove their importance through acts of terrorism.

But government and families are responsible for giving those youths a healthy upbringing in order to stop them from being drawn into a life of terror and crime. They need to be made aware that they do have a role to play in their new societies. The international community must step in to stop the growing terrorist activity in the conflict zones of the Middle East. Countries, such as Syria, Iraq and Libya, cannot be left to be hotbeds for terrorists who find in the state of turmoil there a suitable environment to grow.

The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arab Today.