Counter-terrorism strategies in the United Kingdom, United States, and Israel

¶ … UK, the U.S., and in Israel to Terrorism Threats?

The Response by the United Kingdom (UK)

The United Kingdom is a long-time member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an organizations that responds when there is an act of terrorism to one of its members. The UK is one of 26 nations allied through NATO, and any attack against one member is considered an attack against all of them (www.direct.gov.uk).

But in addition to its involvement in NATO, the British government has taken many steps of its own to prevent terrorism from killing and injuring its citizens. The UK knows first hand that it faces ongoing threats from al Qaeda, as in fact the London subway bombings on July 7, 2005 (that killed 56 people and injured 700) proved beyond doubt. The government's Director General of the Security Service (called M15) is Jonathan Evans, who claims that the UK "…continues to face a real threat from Al Qaeda-related terrorism" (www.direct.gov.uk). That threat is "…diverse in both geography and levels of skill involved," Evans explained (2010). But the threat is "persistent and dangerous and trying to control it involves a continual invisible struggle. There remains a serious risk of a lethal attack taking place," he stated.

After terrorist bombers tried to kill civilians in London (on busses, in the subway and elsewhere) on July 21, 2005, London police and terrorism specialists arrested four suspects by July 30, using "electronic interception" (phone taps), phone tips, and other strategies.

The Response by Israel

One of Israel's security problems is the fact that they share a border with a known terrorist organization, Hamas, a group that has launched rockets into Israel and has sent suicide bombers into Israel to viciously kill innocent civilians. Israel's response to the terror launched against it in March, 2002, is worth noting. It was a violent month as eleven times during March, 2002, suicide bombers worked their evil, killing 81 Israelis and injuring 579 (Perliger, 2009). But when a Hamas operative Abd al-Basset Muhammad Odeh walked into the Park Hotel ballroom in Jerusalem -- where 250 guests enjoyed Passover celebrations -- on March 27, and blew himself up, killing 29 Jews and injuring 144, that set in motion Israel's powerful response to terrorism. Two days later the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) retaliated; Israeli F-16 warplanes bombed the house of the military commander of Hamas (Sheikh Salah Shehadeh) in Gaza City, "…burying him and at least 11 other Palestinians, including seven children, beneath the rubble of a four-storey block of flats, and wounding 120 others" (Goldenberg, 2002). This is typical of the way the Israelis respond to terrorism, and it's hard to find fault with Israel's anger albeit one can argue that perhaps Israel's response is too violent, but they have a right to protect their land and their people in the way they believe is best.