Scores of Web sites dedicated to serving as jihadist organs of information aim to radicalize individual Muslims and then equip these radicalized individuals with information on how to conduct terrorist attacks. In many ways, the radical Islamist world also has embraced this operational model and the Internet technology. Of course, in 1992, Beam likely never imagined how the Internet would become an almost perfect medium for the organs of information to disseminate information to the detached, anonymous lone wolves. These people were to remain low-key and anonymous, with no connections to the above-ground activists. The second tier would be made up of individual operators and small "phantom" cells that would conduct attacks. One tier would be the above-ground "organs of information," who would "distribute information using newspapers, leaflets, computers, etc." The organs of information were not to conduct any illegal activities but rather to provide direction for lone wolves, as well as issue propaganda for recruitment purposes. In his essay, Beam envisions a two-tiered approach to revolutionary struggle. Beam's 1992 essay, "Leaderless Resistance," has been widely embraced by many on the radical right as the definitive work on the subject and has been translated into many languages. For many years now, domestic radicals such as neo-Nazi Tom Metzger and former Klansman Louis Beam have championed the "leaderless resistance" model of operation.
The flames of fear regarding lone wolves are fanned by the near-constant bantering about such operatives in radical circles, in movies and books and even in analyses pertaining to domestic and international terrorism. However, with the road from desire to actual destruction fraught with obstacles, the lone-wolf terrorist - one capable of causing mass casualties - is a rare individual indeed. Because of their unique traits, "lone wolves" present very real challenges to the law enforcement and security professionals charged with guarding against such threats. The idea that a lone individual will appear seemingly out of nowhere to launch a horrific terrorist attack sends shivers down the spines of public security planners and law enforcement officers - not to mention average citizens.
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