Rita Panahi: Manchester attack was a sickening new low — even by the depraved standards of terrorists
THE suspected nail bomb attack at Manchester Arena is a sickening new low — even by the depraved standards of terrorists. This was an act of pure, unadulterated evil, writes Rita Panahi.
Rita Panahi
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THE Manchester attack is a sickening new low, even by the depraved standards of terrorists.
This was an act of pure, unadulterated evil. To target children and teenagers with a nail bomb is utterly loathsome.
It was done with the intention of causing maximum carnage and terrible pain to those who survived the explosion.
At least 22 people have been killed and more than 50 injured. Police are treating the incident as an act of terror with a suicide bomber considered the most likely culprit.
The explosion occurred shortly after 10.30pm, near the entrance of the stadium as thousands of concertgoers were leaving the venue.
Islamic State has taken responsibility for the attack and would’ve known that innocent children would be among the casualties given Ariana Grande’s young fan base.
The unofficial terror supporting social media accounts have predictably celebrated the atrocity.
The West is sadly becoming desensitised to such acts of bastardry but the sight of scared, bewildered children looking for their parents will touch even the most hardened hearts.
Video footage from inside the 21,000-capacity stadium shows that most of the fans were just kids — tweens and teens on a night out to see a former Nickelodeon star turned pop princess.
Many of the youngsters at the concert would’ve been there without parents who were waiting to pick them up outside the venue or at train stations around Manchester.
It’s hard to imagine the terror felt by parents in the aftermath of the explosion.
broken.
— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 23, 2017
from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words.
We expect our children to be safe at a pop concert but for terrorists venues such as Manchester Arena present a soft target.
Less than a month ago 19-year-old Islamist Haroon Syed admitted to plotting a nail bomb attack, to be carried out on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with an Elton John concert at Hyde Park a likely target.
Syed’s brother, Nadir, who had been prevented from going to Syria to fight alongside Islamic State had already been convicted of a beheading plot on Remembrance Sunday in 2014.
As White House national security adviser Seb Gorka pointed out that “dates matter to Jihadi terrorists”, noting that the Manchester bombing occurred on the fourth anniversary of the murder of British Army soldier Lee Rigby by Islamist extremists.
Within hours of the attack elements of the British media were urging Britons to carry on as if nothing had happened.
‘There’s only one way Britain should respond to attacks such as Manchester. That is by carrying on exactly as before’ said the headline in The Independent. How about no?
How about Britain responds by targeting those responsible as well as the ideology behind the attacks?
Simply pretending a difficult problem doesn’t exist doesn’t make that problem go away.
Yet many of our leaders opt for the ‘head in the sand’ approach while preferring to avoid uncomfortable truths.
We must strike a balance between understanding the dangers that undoubtedly exist while not allowing fear of the terrorism scourge to fundamentally change our culture or way of life.
But ‘carrying on exactly as before’ is not an option.
We can’t target a problem if we don’t acknowledge it exists. Our leaders must dispense with the weasel words we’ve become accustomed to hearing after such attacks.
On a practical level it may mean further inconvenience as we are all subjected to greater security checks when entering venues.
However, if a terrorist targets entrances or exits then not much can be done to minimise the risk for large crowds leaving a venue.
The Bataclan attack in Paris in 2015 saw 89 concertgoers murdered by jihadi terrorists in a venue that holds approximately 1500.
Bataclan showed how vulnerable arenas, great and small, are to murderous jihadis seeking to cause maximum mayhem.
The Manchester tragedy is the most deadly terrorist attack on British soil since four radicalised suicide bombers killed 52 people in 7/7 bombings in London in 2005.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has suspended all election campaigning as the country mourns the lives lost in the “appalling terrorist attack”.
“All our thoughts are with the victims and the families of those who have been affected,” she said.
It was only two months ago that London was touched by terror when an Islamist known to police and MI5 mowed down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before stabbing to death police officer Keith Palmer.
The time for prayers, hashtag campaigns and lightshows is over.
It’s time to tackle this problem head on and that starts with an honest discussion about the terrorism threat without fear of offending those seeking to wrap themselves in the cloak of victimhood.
Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist rita.panahi@news.com.au
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