Our pre-emptive war on terrorism

Our gratitude to the Bahraini Interior Ministry is measured by the number of lives saved by the pre-emptive operation it recently announced. Every soul that survived - it is as if it saved all mankind.

Thank God that the weapons and explosive materials were seized before they were used, otherwise there would have been catastrophic human losses. The amount of weapons and explosives seized gets larger with every crackdown, and they are often enough to kill hundreds if not thousands.

As evidenced by the explosive materials found, the scope of targeting has expanded, extending to military targets and not only security services, mechanisms and men.

The quality of the weapons and the location for training and recruiting agents, imply that our war with Iran, through its proxies, is taking a more dangerous turn.

Iraqi and Lebanese roles

In light of the role that the Iraqi and Lebanese parties play in training and smuggling weapons for members of terrorist cells, like the one recently busted and previous ones, we must work with Arab countries on the diplomatic and security fronts to address this dangerous security chaos.

ALSO READ: Is eastern Ghouta another East Aleppo?

First, there must be direct action such as dispatching a delegation to Iraq and Lebanon to communicate with them and reach an understanding. Then, collective action could be taken by submitting a complaint to the Arab League and the United Nations.

These large quantities of weapons do not only target Bahrain, but they also target Saudi Arabia as the former can be used to smuggle arms into the latter.

Bahrain has saved itself and Saudi Arabia by taking this pre-emptive measure.

Iran’s role

Secondly, our issue now is with Iran’s recruitment of Bahrainis that has been going on for forty years. The problem is with those whom Iran convinced that smuggling explosives into their country has to do with Allah, religion and faith. If it weren’t for those who believe that Iran and al-Husayn are one, no explosives would have been smuggled into Bahrain.

OPINION: Great opportunity for UK, Saudi Arabia to cooperate in countering extremism

Our problem is with this conviction. Iran has clearly realized that it is impossible to spread these convictions inside Bahrain like it did in the past 30 years. Laws have now obstructed it from mobilizing and recruiting people and from spreading hate speech. Iran thus did not find a religious platform within Bahrain. However, there are three places where Iranian “snakes” and Bahraini fugitives operate from to recruit those who perform religious rituals. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards hunt their preys there and recruit them to serve the Iranian state.

They convince them to join the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and to return to Bahrain to recruit more. Those recruited are trained in camps outside Bahrain. Electronic communication helps them to continuously communicate, but training takes place outside Bahrain.

OPINION: On Lebanon’s parliamentary elections: A statelet is not destined

These are not opinions. Those arrested actually confessed that there are Lebanese, Iraqi and Iranian training camps.

Given these facts, we can say that our pre-emptive war on terrorism is now in those cities outside Bahrain as we must make security, intelligence and diplomatic efforts to stop the exploitation of these religious rituals there.

Finally, parents should monitor their children and save them before it is too late, instead of lamenting the loss of their future after they are arrested.

This article is also available in Arabic.

_______________________
Sawsan Al Shaer is a Bahraini writer and journalist. She tweets @sawsanalshaer.