Ahmad Khan Rahami-Manhattan bombing
Breaking News
Osama Bin Laden and other terrorist members inspired Ahmad Khan Rahami, the suspect behind the last week’s Manhattan bombing, into conducting the brutal act (Santora & Goldman, 2016). This comes amid initial investigation reports that described the Manhattan neighborhood attack as an “intentional act” rather than a terrorist attack. It has emerged that Ahmad Rahami carefully planned the attack for months before orchestrating the heinous crime. Ahmad regarded Osama bin Laden as a brother from whom he drew inspiration. Reports also emerged that Ahmad Rahami was on FBI’s terrorist watch list. About two years ago, his father had reported him as having an intent to commit an act of terrorism (Santora & Goldman, 2016). The Federal Bureau of Investigation launched investigations but did not find any leads to warrant an arrest of Ahmad Khan Rahami. No further investigations were conducted following this incident.
It is interesting to observe and learn about the history of terrorist masterminds since it can help curtail possible future attacks. Ahmad Rahami, just like other terror masterminds, are motivated by a deep Islamic ideology which, if well investigated can offer leads about possible future attacks (Santora & Goldman, 2016). A closer look at Ahmad Rahami’s lifestyle reveals a man who harbored deep Islamic ideology that he often professed in one of his notebooks. This means that had the FBI conducted proper investigations, they most probably would have been able to prevent the Manhattan attack. In one of his several journals, Ahmad had made a plea to Allah that authorities should not catch him before orchestrating his attacks, which he describes as killing of the “kuffar”, or the unbelievers. Investigators could have used such leads to nail him before he committed the attack.
Reference
Santora, M., & Goldman, A. (2016, Sept. 20). Ahmad Khan Rahami was inspired by bin Laden, charges say. The New York Times.
