Adeela
Naureen
By
Adeela Naureen and Umar Waqar
December
29, 2020
As smoke
evaporates from the 2nd Avenue, in the gutted street of Nashville, Tennessee,
speculations about motivation of an act of terror attack are circulating in the
global media. So far, as we get information from mainstream US media, the
bomber may have been a white male named Anthony Warner — investigators are
still calling him a lone bomber.
While the
damage to the historic Nashville Street was enormous, there was no loss of
life; however the terror attack has raised many questions. What role has the
polarised political and social environment played in triggering such an act?
Why such cases are always referred to as “lone wolf acts” and not attributed to
right-wing groups and, why does the state of denial exist in Western capitals,
especially in the US? Is this the first suicide bombing by a white supremacist
with a vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED)?
Right-wing
politics is not a new phenomenon. Combined with populism, it has been on the
rise in many Western countries. Looking around, Europe is now under influence
of right-wing political parties in almost every country. A BBC report, ‘Europe
and Right-wing Nationalism: A Country-by-Country guide’, was published on
November 13, 2019, highlighting the phenomenon: “From Germany, where the AfD
has become the biggest opposition party in Bundestag, to Spain, where Vox has
become the third largest force in parliament”, the right-wing is on the rise.
“In the European Parliament, nine far-right parties have formed a new bloc,
called Identity and Democracy (ID).” Active far-right political parties in
Europe include the following in order of their share in vote banks and
popularity: Fidesz in Hungary, Freedom Party in Austria, Swiss People’s Party
in Switzerland, Danish People’s Party in Denmark, New Flemish Alliance in
Belgium, Conservative People’s Party in Estonia, The Finns in Finland, Sweden
Democrats in Sweden, The League in Italy, Vox in Spain, National Rally in
France, Freedom Party in Netherlands, Alternative for Germany in Germany,
Freedom and Direct Democracy in Czech Republic, United Patriots in Bulgaria,
Our Slovakia in Slovakia, Confederation in Poland, Greek Solution in Greece and
Elam in Cyprus.
Despite the
fact that Trump’s election success in 2016 had massive support from far-right
groups in the US and that Brexit was triggered by the same ideology, few
questions are raised about the rise of neo-Nazism in the West.
The reason
for rise of right-wing political parties include frustration with the political
establishment, globalisation, immigration, Islamophobia, a dilution of national
identity and EU’s poor performance.
It can be
safely assumed that a polarised political and social environment in the West is
triggering lot of anger in far-right groups, who may be motivated to resort to
terrorist acts.
Gradually
the issue of lone wolves has become the subject of informed debate in the West.
To understand the etymology of the term “lone wolf” in the political domain and
terrorism, we took to The Guardian’s research titled, ‘The Myth of the Lone
Wolf Terrorist’: “In April 1925, The New York Times reported on a man who
‘assumed the title of ‘Lone Wolf’’, who terrorised women in a Boston apartment
building. But it would be many decades before the term came to be associated
with terrorism. In the 1960s and 1970s, waves of right-wing and left-wing
terrorism struck the US and Western Europe. It was often hard to tell who was
responsible: hierarchical groups, diffuse networks or individuals effectively
operating alone. Lone actors were seen as eccentric oddities, not as the primary
threat.
“The modern
concept of lone-wolf terrorism was developed by right wing extremists in the
US. In 1983, at a time when far-right organisations were coming under immense
pressure from the FBI, a white nationalist named Louis Beam published a
manifesto that called for ‘leaderless resistance’ to the US government. Beam,
who was a member of both the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Nations group, was not
the first extremist to elaborate the strategy, but he is one of the best known.
He told his followers that only a movement based on ‘very small or even one-man
cells of resistance… could combat the most powerful government on Earth’.”
While the
etymology of the term may be interesting from a historical perspective, its
current manifestation and links with group terror needs more debate. The
Western world in general and US in particular is averse to acknowledging that
the current wave of lone wolf terror attacks is due to right-wing groups, and
that’s the main cause of the West’s inability to erect affective firewalls
against this rising trend.
The
Guardian points out that as the 2000s drew to a close, attacks perpetrated by
people who seemed to be acting alone began to outnumber all others.
Unfortunately
the recent act of terror in Nashville is again being deflected towards a “lone
wolf phenomenon”; the initial investigation by a joint team of police,
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the FBI and DHS is already stating that they
are inclined to conclude that no other person or group may be involved. Another
reason for this denial is the impression created by the Western media that
suicide terrorism is mainly attributable to Islamic terror groups and
right-wing groups in the West have so far not adopted it as a modus operandi.
Unfortunately,
even terrorists like Anders Breivik, who has been called “the deadliest
lone-wolf attacker in Europe’s history”, was labelled as a lone wolf. The
Guardian states that prior to his arrest, Breivik had long been in contact with
far-right organisations. A member of the English Defence League told The
Telegraph that Breivik had been in regular contact with its members via
Facebook, and had a “hypnotic” effect on them.
An ex-FBI
official, Frank Figliuzzi opines that law enforcement confidence about
investigations on the Nashville terror attack may have merit, most probably due
to a state of denial as discussed earlier.
He stated,
“I think it’s quite likely this was a suicide mission for this individual. If
there’s any comfort to be taken here, it’s that this may likely end up being
not connected to a larger group or organisation, international or domestic, but
rather a personal, real or perceived, beef, acting out on something that may or
may not relate to that AT&T building. It’s going to be personal to him.”
On-ground
facts are different. Anthony Warner assembled a huge quantity of explosives
into a VBIED, installed a warning device with audio taped message, drove
through a neighbourhood under constant surveillance, and parked his RV in the
target area for considerable time to blow up the street on 2nd Avenue. Was it
possible without any help from an organised group?
Our humble
take on the subject is that it is the first suicide VBIED terror attack by a
right-wing white supremacist on American soil; the West, especially the US, has
to look at the deep and emerging fault-lines of right-wing terrorism, which has
stayed in the white supremacist groups for almost three decades and is
gradually becoming a permanent feature of a divided polity.
Original
Headline: Lone wolves and right-wing terrorism in the West
Source: The Express Tribune, Pakistan
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in
America, Muslim Women in
West, Islam Women and Feminism