Cowards attack the vulnerable
Whether it is violence of all kinds, including cybercrime and/or suicide terror, attacks on Innocents, the public now demand relentless surveillance at best and condemnation at worst.
( May 27, 2017, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) At school it was the bully who attacked the most vulnerable student. At University it was the fresher who was most ragged. At work it was the keen worker who was the butt end of attack and discrimination.
It is often a tiny minority, mostly cowardly minded “selfies” who fall prey to show themselves off as “leaders of the pack” and who succumb in the end to the Machiavellian ambitions of “behind the scene” more cowards.
It is these cowards who are shielded behind a brick wall of cowardice camouflage and cover up, who are the causes of a catalogue of terror. Communities in some parts of Britain are more prone than others in fostering the sense of alienation that “can act as a conveyor belt to mass slaughter.”
The malaise of our times
Recently we experienced cyber bullying, demanding money ransom of critical medical records in the NHS. The so called “curse of social media” has tempted millions around the world to share private information which is conveniently used as blackmail by criminals.
Shameful pages on social media, altered intimate associations ,images, photos and even videos of physical bullying posted with the sole intention of victimisation, character assassination, sharing of personal and private information for harassment or even for ransom have been overlooked as “freedom of expression.”
The politics of self interest and sometimes group interest reign supreme with little or no regard to moral scruples, conniving at and virtually supporting a serious erosion of ethics. The victim has become the innocent onlooker unable to do much against these shameful and cowardly acts.
Too little, too late
Whether it is violence of all kinds, including cybercrime and/or suicide terror, attacks on Innocents, the public now demand relentless surveillance at best and condemnation at worst.
Preventing suicide terror is now an urgent matter of great consequence around the world, not only to security forces, forsenic experts and military strategists. Even scientists are scrambling in different directions to find solutions.
We know of metal detectors, sniffer dogs, we now hear of “distributed biological sensors” bees, moths, even rats specially trained to pick up vapours.
We are also told about “the geometry of crowds” and the behaviour of belt, suicide and other terrorists and how to avoid mass casualties.
Some say it is too little too late, but sensitively handling the causes and the consequences of cowardly crime is a serious matter.. The more the world is interconnected, the more it brings risks to humans, in the abuse of freedom of movement, in social media fraud, cyber security and terror.
Who is winning the race?
We see two uncompromising sides pitted against each other. On the one hand we have competent, capable and caring men and women of the security services, police and ambulance personnel, to protect the public, the innocent citizens.
On the other hand we have the cowardly terrorists, the cyber criminals; organisations consisting of invisible and “anonymous persons” who will operate either in cyberspace or at concerts and who perhaps are paid “mercenaries”.
We need to bring an end to these callous acts of crime against humanity. Most of these crimes are targeted against women and children. The more difficult we make the job of cyber crime or the more vigilant and educated the public is of the risks of terror in cities around the world, the more likely we are on the road to fewer casualties and cowardly acts by misguided mercenaries.
