8/7/18

"I doubt there will be a repeat of an attack like the one on Las Ramblas in Barcelona, but we mustn't let our guard down"

Photo: UOC

Photo: UOC

Andrés Ortiz , journalist specialized in international politics

 

On 17 August it will be one year since the chain of terrorist attacks in Catalonia that claimed the lives of 16 people and 8 terrorists. Society was horrified by the impact of the deaths and astonished that the perpetrators were a group of youths brought up in the region and led by an imam with links to the secret services. Moreover, the leaks about the lack of police coordination turned the event into a perfect storm. Almost a year later, we talk to journalist Andrés Ortiz Moyano, specialist in international politics, about the attack and the possibility of another, security issues and the current situation regarding Islamic State. Ortiz is the author of the books Los falsos profetas and #YIHAD: Cómo el Estado Islámico ha conquistado internet y los medios de comunicación, both published by Editorial UOC, and he also contributes to newspapers, television and radio.

 

 

On 17 August it will be one year since the chain of terrorist attacks in Catalonia that claimed the lives of 16 people and 8 terrorists. Society was horrified by the impact of the deaths and astonished that the perpetrators were a group of youths brought up in the region and led by an imam with links to the secret services. Moreover, the leaks about the lack of police coordination turned the event into a perfect storm. Almost a year later, we talk to journalist Andrés Ortiz Moyano, specialist in international politics, about the attack and the possibility of another, security issues and the current situation regarding Islamic State. Ortiz is the author of the books Los falsos profetas and #YIHAD: Cómo el Estado Islámico ha conquistado internet y los medios de comunicación, both published by Editorial UOC, and he also contributes to newspapers, television and radio.

 

We are a few days away from the first anniversary of the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils and new details about the investigation are starting to emerge. Is there anything you find particularly worrying?

The most disturbing thing about all this is that, although Spain is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism and is an international benchmark, it was unable to identify a cell of this magnitude on its own soil. The efforts to fight terrorism in Spain in terms of arrests and prevention are remarkable, but the fact that this cell went unnoticed and operated with all the classic characteristics of a cell with an instigator like Es Satty, willing followers and international links, really makes you wonder.

Were the police uncoordinated or was that a claim whipped up by the media?

I have no doubt they were. Much of what happened was connected to a lack of police or institutional coordination that would not have happened at any other time. The fact that an attack like this can occur is due to a series of errors and an ultimate failure to protect the public. Today, security is not negotiable and we have to prevent anything like this from happening again.

The question that many citizens ask is: could there be another similar cell, as yet undetected?

Terrorists act where they can, not where they want. I always give the same example: if they could attack the White House or the Eiffel Tower every day, they would. They are stopped when they come up against opposition from the security forces. I doubt there will be a repeat of an attack like the one on Las Ramblas, but we mustn't let our guard down.

What are the increases in security levels and alerts issued periodically by the Police based on? Information from informants? Monitoring?

Very often the alerts come from high-level intelligence agencies, intelligence services between countries that exchange tip-offs, and these levels often change due to a domino effect but they depend on many factors, including politics. There was criticism in Spain because we spent a long time at level 4 when in fact level 3 would have been enough.

Shortly after the attacks there was a controversy about the lack of protective bollards on Las Ramblas. Has the city become better prepared to deal with these situations over the last year?

I don't live there and I can't provide a very objective analysis of how things have evolved but I can say that I recently read an interview with a security expert who seriously questioned the effectiveness of bollards. Notice that when you impede terrorists from acting in one way, such as using a lorry, they arm themselves with knives.

In 2015 you infiltrated via the internet to see how easy it is to become an Islamic State recruit. How much has this situation changed today?

In my experience it's been very easy and nowadays it's relatively simple. In 2015 I found it extraordinarily easy to contact recruiters with a perfectly structured false identity and using French. At that time Islamic State seemed unstoppable. Now it has lost the war and a great deal of power. I would say it has been a victim of its own success. Today it's a bit more complicated to make contact but not impossible. In 2015, within just a few hours I had a firm invitation to go to Syria, manuals on how to deceive the police, how to train and be the good Jihadist, Bitcoins to fund the trip...

After its defeat, do you think it has become less attractive to young people?

Islamic State has been multifaceted: it has been revolutionary because it has created a proto-state with a universal caliphate. They sold the same idea as the Nazis, the Thousand-Year Reich, until the international powers dismantled it. But that is only one aspect; the symbolic side is also important, in which they present their idea as spiritual and eternal. They also have a particular characteristic that other groups like al-Qaeda lack. Islamic State is very democratic in accepting militants and anyone who commits an attack can do so in its name. Al-Qaeda, in contrast, is more elitist, and does not accept just anyone into its ranks. But we must not consider them gone, as they have barely reduced the level of attacks in the East and just two months ago in Europe they killed two police officers in Belgium.

With the defeat of Islamic State in the East, a wave of attacks was predicted with the return home of former combatants but, for the moment, this isn't happening. Why?

We must tread carefully here bearing in mind the example of the police officers I just mentioned. One year or 18 months ago, a terrorist in Europe only had to sneeze the news was all over it, but curiously this no longer happens. Somehow the focus on this issue has reduced. Behind this lack of attacks is also the immense work carried out by the security services. Another aspect to keep in mind is that many returnees may not carry out attacks but they may well set up a mosque to train future terrorists and this is another challenge. I'm very pessimistic about the reinsertion of Islamic State returnees.

Are we paying enough attention to the Sahel? Some experts say it's a powder keg about to explode...

As a society we're not paying it enough attention but at a geopolitical level the French and Spanish armies have been operating in this zone, aware that it is a major factor of destabilization for the immediate future. It is being taken into consideration, but there is always more that could be done.

Do some countries in the Persian Gulf fund terrorism?

Of course, they all do directly or indirectly. In the case of Islamic State, it was paradigmatic and a kind of Frankenstein: feeding a monster that later turns against you. Saudi Arabia or the Emirates, which are allies on some matters, then send us their radical clerics who indoctrinate potential terrorists.

One of the West's great fears until recently was the possibility of terrorists arriving mixed up with immigrants. Was or is this a real threat?

Here we have to distinguish between immigration from the Mediterranean and from the Syrian war. It's completely unfair to claim that refugees are terrorists, just as it's naive to think that among all the people who have arrived, or that will arrive, there is no potential or future terrorist. There may be a higher percentage among those who have arrived from Syria, but it is a purely quantitative question.

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