Krzysztof Izak

In the second part of the article on the case of Anders Behring Breivik, the author answers the questions of whether the attack could have been prevented and what impact it had on public sentiment, the nature of the changes to internal security policy in Norway and the performance of the country’s security services. In addition, he analyses Breivik’s actions in terms of whether he meets the criteria of a lone wolf terrorist, as well as describing terrorist attacks prepared or carried out by his imitators.

In the second part of the article on the case of Anders Behring Breivik, the author answers the questions of whether the attack could have been prevented and what impact it had on public sentiment, the nature of the changes to internal security policy in Norway and the performance of the country’s security services. In addition, he analyses Breivik’s actions in terms of whether he meets the criteria of a lone wolf terrorist, as well as describing terrorist attacks prepared or carried out by his imitators.

M.S. Stempień, Boko Haram 2002–2020. Czarne flagi nad Nigerią, Warszawa–Siedlce 2020, Rytm, 206 s.

M.S. Stempień, Boko Haram 2002–2020. Czarne flagi nad Nigerią(Eng. Boko Haram 2002-2020. Black flags over Nigeria), Warszawa–Siedlce 2020, Rytm, 206 pp.

The aim of the article is to present the causes, chronological course and effects of the attack carried out on 11 March 2004 in Madrid, taking into account differences and contradictions in reports about these events. The author analyses the actions taken by the Spanish authorities to ensure anti-terrorist security in the country, including the creation of structures to fight Islamic terrorism and Muslim extremism. He also discusses the problems and challenges faced by Spanish services fighting political violence and illegal migration of people from high-risk countries, which affect the state of state security.

The aim of the article is to present the causes, chronological course and effects of the attack carried out on 11 March 2004 in Madrid, taking into account differences and contradictions in reports about these events. The author analyses the actions taken by the Spanish authorities to ensure anti-terrorist security in the country, including the creation of structures to fight Islamic terrorism and Muslim extremism. He also discusses the problems and challenges faced by Spanish services fighting political violence and illegal migration of people from high-risk countries, which affect the state of state security.

The aim of this article is to present the characteristics of Anders Behring Breivik, including the influence of his childhood and early youth on the development of his personality, and to describe his activities and preparations for the attacks carried out on 22 July 2011 in Oslo and on the island of Utoya, as well as their course. The author has sought to answer the questions of whether it was possible to prevent the attacks and what impact they had on social mood, the nature of changes in the shaping of internal security policy in Norway and the improvement in the efficiency of security services in this country. He also attempted to e what level of threat of a similar attack exists in Poland at present. Conclusions from this es have been enriched by reflections on the consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

The aim of this article is to present the characteristics of Anders Behring Breivik, including the influence of his childhood and early youth on the development of his personality, and to describe his activities and preparations for the attacks carried out on 22 July 2011 in Oslo and on the island of Utoya, as well as their course. The author has sought to answer the questions of whether it was possible to prevent the attacks and what impact they had on social mood, the nature of changes in the shaping of internal security policy in Norway and the improvement in the efficiency of security services in this country. He also attempted to e what level of threat of a similar attack exists in Poland at present. Conclusions from this es have been enriched by reflections on the consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

The 2015 immigration crisis became a driving force for movements and parties that negate the current political order, including those that do not conceal their xenophobic slogans and ideas. In retrospect, there are more and more signs that the decision to accept the uncontrolled refugee influx was more an expression of wishful thinking than a rational decision, taking into account the actual political situation. Thus, Europe finds itself in a dangerous situation with far-right movements on the one hand, and radical Islam on the other. Each of these formations legitimises its existence and methods of operation by the existence of the other side, trying to polarise society and create a situation that will somehow force citizens to opt for one of the two options. Paradoxically, Chancellor Merkel’s decision to admit immigrants significantly increased the risk of such a scenario, hence the perception of Islamic and right-wing extremism by the German authorities as posing an equal threat to state security. However, it was only the recent terrorist attacks in October and November 2020 in France and Germany that changed the political narrative.

The 2015 immigration crisis became a driving force for movements and parties that negate the current political order, including those that do not conceal their xenophobic slogans and ideas. In retrospect, there are more and more signs that the decision to accept the uncontrolled refugee influx was more an expression of wishful thinking than a rational decision, taking into account the actual political situation. Thus, Europe finds itself in a dangerous situation with far-right movements on the one hand, and radical Islam on the other. Each of these formations legitimizes its existence and methods of operation by the existence of the other side, trying to polarize society and create a situation that will somehow force citizens to opt for one of the two options. Paradoxically, Chancellor Merkel’s decision significantly increased the risk of such a scenario, hence the perception of Islamic and right-wing extremism by the German authorities as posing an equal threat to state security. However, it was only the recent terrorist attacks in October and November 2020 in France and Germany that changed the political narrative.

The purpose of the article is to briefly characterize ecoterrorism, which is based on a specific ideology. Some of the content proclaimed by its promoters might merit support were it not for their overly dehumanizing rhetoric, and especially the practice motivated by it. The phenomenon of ecoterrorism, or environmental terrorism, is associated with the use of violence by extremist pro-environment groups and radicalized individuals. Ecoterrorism is divided into pro-environmental terrorism and pro-animalism. Environmental terrorism can also be divided into terrorism by environmentalists and terrorism by animal rights activists. The greatest development of ecoterrorism has occurred in the United States. Animal Liberation Front, ALF was the most dangerous pro-environmental organization, while the group with the most members was Earth First, EF! Violence by eco-terrorists has occurred in many countries on our continent, most notably in the United Kingdom. The ideology of ecocentrism, which motivates the activities of many groups in the West, has penetrated Poland, but in our country it has not had much influence on the activities of organized groups of environmentalists and individuals. On the other hand, incidents of violence were recorded in a series of events directed against specific companies and institutions that threatened the environment. The research shows that there is a slow but steady decline in the number of ecoterrorism incidents worldwide. It is too early to predict its decline, but there is certainly evidence of declining violent activity. Several circumstances contribute to the downscaling of aggressive environmental activities. Above all, there has been an increase in the environmental awareness of societies and governments. A large impact on the decrease in the number of ecoterrorist events is also due to the tightening of legislation, as well as the activities of environmental organizations.

The purpose of the article is to briefly characterize ecoterrorism, which is based on a specific ideology. Some of the content proclaimed by its promoters might merit support were it not for their overly dehumanizing rhetoric, and especially the practice motivated by it. The phenomenon of ecoterrorism, or environmental terrorism, is associated with the use of violence by extremist pro-environment groups and radicalized individuals. Ecoterrorism is divided into pro-environmental terrorism and pro-animalism. Environmental terrorism can also be divided into terrorism by environmentalists and terrorism by animal rights activists. The greatest development of ecoterrorism has occurred in the United States. Animal Liberation Front, ALF was the most dangerous pro-environmental organization, while the group with the most members was Earth First, EF! Violence by eco-terrorists has occurred in many countries on our continent, most notably in the United Kingdom. The ideology of ecocentrism, which motivates the activities of many groups in the West, has penetrated Poland, but in our country it has not had much influence on the activities of organized groups of environmentalists and individuals. On the other hand, incidents of violence were recorded in a series of events directed against specific companies and institutions that threatened the environment. The research shows that there is a slow but steady decline in the number of ecoterrorism incidents worldwide. It is too early to predict its decline, but there is certainly evidence of declining violent activity. Several circumstances contribute to the downscaling of aggressive environmental activities. Above all, there has been an increase in the environmental awareness of societies and governments. A large impact on the decrease in the number of ecoterrorist events is also due to the tightening of legislation, as well as the activities of environmental organizations.

The series of terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 in the USA, the largest in the history of the world, was carried out by 19 people. Among them were 15 Saudis, two UAE nationals, a Lebanese and an Egyptian. Three of the four formed the Hamburg cell, which was the backbone of the entire plot. It was led by the Egyptian Muhammad Atta el-Sayed. He flew Boeing 767 aircraft American Airlines Flight 11, which first struck the North Tower of the WTC. Marwan al-Shehhi was the pilot of Boeing 767 aircraft United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the South Tower of the WTC. Hani Hanjour sat at the controls of the Boeing 757 aircraft American Airlines flight 77. It was the third machine to target the Pentagon. The pilot of the fourth plane - Boeing 757 aircraft United Airlines Flight 93 - Ziad Jarrah failed to reach his destination, possibly the Capitol, because the passengers decided to take over the control of the plane from the terrorists. The machine crashed in Pennsylvania. In the events of 9/11, a total of 2,996 people were killed, including 19 terrorists, and 6,291 were injured . Six Poles were among the fatalities. 343 firefighters died in the rescue operation.
The attacks caused enormous material losses. Particularly high costs were incurred by insurance and reinsurance companies, airlines and aircraft manufacturers, as well as the tourism industry. The huge losses related to the destruction of the New York City World Trade Center and the disruption of the financial system had to be covered by insurance companies involved in the operations on the American market.
The terrorist attack on the USA was the impetus for the largest reform of the American secret services since 1947. Washington made a decision regarding the need to create a system that would effectively counteract terrorist threats and effectively warn in the event of their occurrence. This was related to the strengthening of structures with operational and reconnaissance powers, increasing the scope of their tasks and improving their ability to coordinate. Most of the legal regulations were expressed in the document commonly known as the USA Patriot Act of 26 October 2001. The most critical, however, were the international repercussions. By the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon, al-Qaeda influenced world politics by prompting Washington to declare a “war on terror”. Within its framework, American forces, supporting the so-called Northern Alliance led to the collapse of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and then entered Iraq, which in the long run turned out to be one of the most spectacular and deadly strategic mistakes in the history of the military.
At the same time the September 11 attacks sparked many conspiracy theories. Their propagation in the media, in documentaries, as well as in articles, contributed to undermining trust in the American government. An organization called Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth which boasts 3.3 thousand architects and engineers from all over the United States, is still very active in researching the case of 7 WTC. Its mission is to establish the truth that the twin towers did not collapse due to the impact of terrorist-piloted planes, as well as the destruction of WTC 7 was not a result of the detachment of a fragment of the second plane. In the opinion of members of this organisation, the damage caused by the planes was far from sufficient to lead to such a catastrophe. They believe someone must have planted explosives.

Keywords: Al-Qaeda, terrorist attack, Hamburg cell, Pentagon, WTC.

The series of terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 in the USA, the largest in the history of the world, was carried out by 19 people. Among them were 15 Saudis, two UAE nationals, a Lebanese and an Egyptian. Three of the four formed the Hamburg cell, which was the backbone of the entire plot. It was led by the Egyptian Muhammad Atta el-Sayed. He flew Boeing 767 aircraft American Airlines Flight 11, which first struck the North Tower of the WTC. Marwan al-Shehhi was the pilot of Boeing 767 aircraft United Airlines Flight 175, which crashed into the South Tower of the WTC. Hani Hanjour sat at the controls of the Boeing 757 aircraft American Airlines flight 77. It was the third machine to target the Pentagon. The pilot of the fourth plane - Boeing 757 aircraft United Airlines Flight 93 - Ziad Jarrah failed to reach his destination, possibly the Capitol, because the passengers decided to take over the control of the plane from the terrorists. The machine crashed in Pennsylvania. In the events of 9/11, a total of 2,996 people were killed, including 19 terrorists, and 6,291 were injured . Six Poles were among the fatalities. 343 firefighters died in the rescue operation.
The attacks caused enormous material losses. Particularly high costs were incurred by insurance and reinsurance companies, airlines and aircraft manufacturers, as well as the tourism industry. The huge losses related to the destruction of the New York City World Trade Center and the disruption of the financial system had to be covered by insurance companies involved in the operations on the American market.
The terrorist attack on the USA was the impetus for the largest reform of the American secret services since 1947. Washington made a decision regarding the need to create a system that would effectively counteract terrorist threats and effectively warn in the event of their occurrence. This was related to the strengthening of structures with operational and reconnaissance powers, increasing the scope of their tasks and improving their ability to coordinate. Most of the legal regulations were expressed in the document commonly known as the USA Patriot Act of 26 October 2001. The most critical, however, were the international repercussions. By the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon, al-Qaeda influenced world politics by prompting Washington to declare a “war on terror”. Within its framework, American forces, supporting the so-called Northern Alliance led to the collapse of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and then entered Iraq, which in the long run turned out to be one of the most spectacular and deadly strategic mistakes in the history of the military.
At the same time the September 11 attacks sparked many conspiracy theories. Their propagation in the media, in documentaries, as well as in articles, contributed to undermining trust in the American government. An organization called Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth which boasts 3.3 thousand architects and engineers from all over the United States, is still very active in researching the case of 7 WTC. Its mission is to establish the truth that the twin towers did not collapse due to the impact of terrorist-piloted planes, as well as the destruction of WTC 7 was not a result of the detachment of a fragment of the second plane. In the opinion of members of this organisation, the damage caused by the planes was far from sufficient to lead to such a catastrophe. They believe someone must have planted explosives.