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Author: Gary Ackerman
ISBN No: 978-1-4200-696
Review date: 27/06/2026
No of pages: 494
Publisher: CRC Press
Year of publication: 11/09/2012
Brief:
Will the efforts of terrorists to buy, steal or make a chemical or nuclear bomb be the foremost security issues of the 21st century? An American book goes into this potentially terrifying subject.
The authors to their credit early on note there is such a thing as the ‘homeland security industry’, that may exaggerate threats so as to sell the state and corporation their defence products. What is the risk of jihadists using a weapon of mass destruction (WMD)? If we are honest, we can never tell, just as in August 2001 you could not tell the likelihood of terrorists stealing an airliner and flying it into a New York skyscraper. So while much of the book is about jihadist psychology, training, and the authorities efforts against terror, it’s tempting to turn straigtht to the back, to learn: what is the ‘once and future threat’? For ‘jihadists are audaciously nimble operators who will adapt to survive and are prepared to persevere to attain their goals’. The book goes round the houses to suggest ‘that WMD terrorism is a sufficient threat so as to warrant considerable investment in prevention, protection and reponse’. From what we know so far – 9-11 – the terrorists go for a big bang. What form of transport will the CBRN terrorists choose? If a suicide bomber (or nutter) with an aerosol or backpack weapon turns up at the gates of your mall or stadium, it’s too late to prevent. The front line, for all we know, is the vetter and screener of lab workers at a university or petrochemical multi-national; or the suspicious guard patrolling a warehouse.
