Governments around the world can expect more violent terror attacks as radical jihadists develop more sophisticated networks, are better trained, and become increasingly adept at spreading their message, says former intelligence officer Col. Derek Harvey.
The day is past when terrorists are "hiding in caves," Harvey, a retired Army colonel, told Newsmax TV's "America's Forum," adding that governments have to define the problem in order to develop a strategy to combat terrorist attacks.
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"I would clearly say that we have got a violent course ahead of us, very disruptive, and very problematic," Harvey said Friday. "If we don't define the problems, we're going to be in trouble."
Harvey said there is a "problem within Islam," and that "deferring or avoiding the subject does not help you address the real problem" of terrorist acts and their causes."
The strategy of "appeasement, waffling, and weakness" by the U.S. over the past several years has resulted in motivating jihadists, said Harvey, who now directs the Global Initiative on Civil Society and Conflict. He maintained terrorist acts are "symptoms of underlying problems in the society, economic frustration, dislocation, social issues."
"There has to be a rethinking about how they've approached these issues and the underlying allegations of racism and segregation that permeate parts of that community," he said.
A two-day manhunt kept France in a state of tension as officials sought brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi for an attack on Wednesday in Paris that killed 12 people at the offices of a French satirical publication. The attack was thought to be retaliation for the magazine's publication of offensive religious cartoons about Islam.
Officials said the brothers, who had reported ties to al-Qaida, died on Friday after a hostage standoff in a town near Paris. Harvey suggested the Kouachi brothers could be considered martyrs because "there's probably some empathy for what they did against the publishers there that produced those cartoons."
He said the incidents posed a "delicate situation" in France as officials worry about a backlash against Muslims.
"This is just the beginning of the story. There's a lot more that has to be done by police and intelligence officials there to determine the degree of the networks that these two individuals and others were working with, who supported them," he said.
While some analysts maintained the Kouachi brothers appeared to be more sophisticated than terrorists in previous attacks, Harvey disagreed.
"These guys were motivated, but they weren't very professional. We're going to learn that these guys really aren't that good. Initially, there were reports that it was such a professional attack, it had to be al-Qaida. They made far, far too many errors to make this a professional hit," he said.
Harvey said officials would "have to learn much more" to determine if the French attack was part of a rivalry between terror organizations al-Qaida and the Islamic State (ISIS).
Self-censorship by the media as a result of fears of offending sensibilities of Muslims has become a byproduct of terrorism, said Ryan Mauro, national security analyst at the ClarionProject.org. However, he predicted censorship would come under fire from Americans.
"You're going to see an increasing amount of outrage from actors, actresses, comedians, and your average person on the street saying don't do this. You're going to see the media going in one direction, your average citizen going in another, and it's going to be a debate for the year coming forward," he told Newsmax TV on Friday.
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