How has the fight against terrorism turned into a long war?

Ahmed Sultan

The independent US website National Security spread of the media and the increasing use of the deep web have contributed to pushing the recruitment of terrorists to new heights, without the need to establish physical training camps, which has transformed counterterrorism into a long war since 2001.

According to a National Security website analysis written by Bridget Johnson, an expert in terrorist group affairs, propaganda published by terrorist organizations via the internet has contributed to the recruitment of lone wolves that launch attacks within countries without being directly linked to terrorist organizations.

The website pointed out that terrorist organizations and movements are still broadcasting propaganda through various sites, pointing out that the Afghan Taliban movement has its own media institution and also issues a monthly magazine. At the same time, al-Qaeda continues to promote its new media publications, along with old publications and speeches by terrorist leaders such as Anwar al-Awlaki. Meanwhile, ISIS has created an army of sympathetic supporters who continue to produce and disseminate propaganda material.

Psychological war

Terrorist propaganda is one of the forms of psychological warfare waged by terrorist organizations against their enemies and contributes to the continuation of the long war, the National Security website said.

Through the social networking site Telegram, supporters of ISIS published a series of directives for the “long war”, calling for a focus on psychological warfare, which is half the battle.

ISIS supporters are also working to promote the organization’s ideology and attract new loyal followers.

Continuous recruitment

Terrorist groups continue to develop complex networks to recruit and employ supporters, and these terrorist groups do not focus on the extent to which they are recruited.

In an audio speech broadcast by the media arm of al-Qaeda in Yemen, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) leader Qasim al-Raymi said jihad was not limited only to those he described as “the [religiously] obedient, but also the disobedient.”

According to the National Security website, terrorist organizations resort to recruiting any elements that may be useful in carrying out terrorist attacks regardless of the extent of their religious commitment.

Training outside the camps

Although ISIS has succeeded in attracting and training a large number of terrorists within its caliphate camps in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and elsewhere, ISIS leaders have discovered that training outside training camps is less costly and risky.

Many leaders of terrorist organizations have urged taking advantage of war movies and games to learn how to use weapons, as well as relying on simple methods in the manufacture of explosives or the use of firearms, or even resorting to other means such as using cars to run over pedestrians instead of using conventional weapons.

Technical war

Several terrorist groups, most notably al-Qaeda and ISIS, have resorted to the internet as another battleground against hostile states.

Supporters of ISIS announced the creation of the so-called Caliphate Army, a group of cyber-hackers who infiltrate international coalition sites to inflict various losses.

Supporters of other terrorist organizations have also launched technical support groups, advising terrorist leaders and elements to use the internet in an encrypted way and escape online tracking.