 |
| JAYLEN FRYBEG: SCHOOL SHOOTER |
THE
VIEW THIS WEEK: Picking talking points from happenings from last week, we try
to emphasize a steadily rising trend, which we might see spread across the
globe soon. Terrorism was once a problem for a few countries, now we all can
speak differently about it. DURU CHIMEZIE, writes.
Despite how unrelated it may seem, the
public shootings witnessed both in Canada and the United States should be a
strong indicator to two things: terrorism has well and truly spread more than
we all (or most) expected and public shootings are showing signs it could
equally do same.
Earlier this year, a United States
report indicated that global terrorism rose by a staggering 43%, in 2013 and
this was in spite of al-Qaida splintering. Counter-terrorism campaign globally
were majorly sprawling, yet almost 3,000 people were kidnapped or taken hostage
by terrorists. Rapid deterioration of security in Iraq, the grinding civil war
in Syria and persistent insurgency and terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan
made sure the figures remained high. Iraq, where voting in parliamentary
elections took place in April, 6,378 people were killed and another 14,956
wounded in terrorist incidents last year, a sharp rise from 2012’s 2,436 dead
and 6,641 wounded. Total attacks in the country rose to 2,495 in 2013 from
1,271 the previous year. In neighboring Syria, where a three-year civil war has
left an estimated 150,000 people dead, America's State Department found attacks
were up to 212 from 133, although their lethality remained at approximately
five people killed per assault.
A major jihadist group responsible
for many of the attacks in both countries, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
(now also called ISIS), increased in potency in 2013. It killed 1,725 people
last year, above its 892 death toll in 2013, and increased its efficiency to
4.30 deaths per attack from 3.58. These all point to one single thing; the rate
of terrorism has soared and has spread so vastly, that it has become a global
problem. Date these series of research a collection of years backwards and you
will find a minimal activity; which seemed to be concerns of a few countries
too if not one.
A similar but unrelated article from
CNN in April of 2014 which placed its emphasis on happenings of the previous 18
months, once placed the number of school shootings similar to the just
witnessed incidents of Washington state, at fifteen (15). To place this into
better perspective, the number of all school shooting incidents (irrespective
of whether it matches the case in question or not) that took place within the
same bracket, stand at seventy-four (74). Seventy-four school shootings in just
a year and half is simply staggering! When you consider that this figure plus a
couple more from a little while before, are seen to form more than half of the
total figure since 1966, it leaves you in an awful state of mind. Simply put, the
rate of senseless public/school mass shootings is becoming gruesomely
unbearable.
What should boggle the mind more, is
the potential of this 'new' global threat to peace. This is the same path terrorism
was known to take. Beginning little within countries until it gathered a
certain level of weird appeal leading to sporadic and unpredictable shots of
terrorist activities all over the globe. Even when mass shootings have no clear
terrorist undertone, they still carry significant threat. The worry must be
that when rebellious groups are not seeing it as a means or tool for causing mayhem,
'average' citizens may happily adopt it as a way of expressing their frustration
over more personal targets. Thus leaving various security outfit with a big
question to answer: how do you stop possible mass shootings from persons who
may have never shown any such tendencies before doing so? Of course, that is
made even tougher since such a person would obviously not be in their 'watch-list'.
This is a question that will always leave secret security operatives mulling.
The first step to putting an end to a
possible increase would obviously start with the United States. I agree that
the earlier the global community begins to appreciate this as one of their
problems, the better. I will be talking a bit more on that later. However, I
think the United States must cause it to lose any appeal it may have at this
stage. This should go a long way in determining how much interest external
potential 'shooters' would give into this latest bizarre trend. This can then
be followed by efforts from global leaders, in making sure there is a level of
preparation to nip the bud early once there are signs that this may still be
finding its way into other quarters of the globe. In this manner, little chance
will be given to an ugly inclination which if left unchecked, could do worse
than terrorism.
Remember, at 360talkatives you should always leave a comment...
0 comments :
Post a Comment
The 'Name/Url' option is advisable. You can fill in just 'Name' and ignore the 'url box'.