The car bomb attack on police buildings in Riyadh yesterday must leave no one in any doubt that we are all confronted by a great evil and that the struggle against it will not be won in a matter of weeks or months. On the contrary, the war against terrorism will be long and difficult.
The Kingdom’s security forces have again paid a high price for defending the public. Just nine days ago, a member of the security forces was killed in a clash with militants in the east of the capital; the following day, four Riyadh policemen were gunned down by terrorists in assaults during which one suspected militant was also slain. And now this. Yet there can be no doubt that but for the vigilance and courage of the security forces, things would have been much worse . The same day that the four police officers were killed in the line of duty, two primed car bombs were discovered and defused and a car full of arms was seized.
The clampdown on terrorism will continue but no one should underestimate the difficulties of the struggle with this great evil which is now seeking to maul civilized societies all over the world. Whether in Riyadh or Madrid, Istanbul, Bali or New York, we are all in the same boat, all threatened by the same diabolical menace. Only patience and care will defeat these twisted bigots. The initial advantage always lies with the terrorists who hide themselves in the backdrops of everyday life. It is they who choose the moment for the next bestial attack, having planned carefully how to sneak back into their hiding places. Nevertheless, as has been proven elsewhere, every blast leaves evidence which taken together will eventually lead to the killers’ discovery.
The terrorists have another enemy — the ordinary man or woman in the street in whose midst they seek to conceal themselves and their evil activities. It is thus imperative that everyone in the Kingdom remains alert to anything that seems unusual. As Crown Prince Abdullah said again this week, we are all in the security forces now. The police must be informed of any suspicious activity. The terrorists are not supermen. They are not invisible. Preparing car bombs behind closed doors may seem safe enough, but all the elements to make those deadly devices have to be bought from somewhere and then assembled. Alert members of the public may have more opportunities than they imagine to spot a small part of these deadly preparations, either in the busy daytime streets or in the middle of the night. And finally, though it is inevitable that decent people will be worried by what is happening, we must remain calm and utterly resolute. It is only if terrorists create terror that they are able to win. We must not be frightened into submission, frightened into flight. Dogged determination in the face of the terrorist evil is what will defeat them.
