【美國(guó)記者詹姆斯·弗萊遭恐怖分子毒手的畫面令人震驚。兇手的英國(guó)國(guó)籍更是讓歐洲國(guó)家坐立不安。不過源自英國(guó)的伊斯蘭圣戰(zhàn)分子卻并不是最近才突然才冒出來的。英國(guó)時(shí)評(píng)人道格拉斯·穆瑞詳細(xì)回顧了近20年有關(guān)英國(guó)籍伊斯蘭圣戰(zhàn)分子的案例。原文發(fā)表于《旁觀者》（The Spectator）網(wǎng)站，原題“Britain’s beheaders —— how we came to export jihad”，觀察者網(wǎng)李晽譯?！?/p>

這是一張最近人們所熟悉的夢(mèng)魘般的圖片。一名下跪的俘虜，在他身后，一名穿戴黑色罩帽的男子對(duì)著攝像機(jī)講話。站著的男子指責(zé)西方并且宣稱他所信仰的那種伊斯蘭正在遭到攻擊。隨后他對(duì)人質(zhì)執(zhí)行了斬首。為什么周三這部早晨的影像會(huì)如此受人矚目？因?yàn)檫@回的俘虜是一名美國(guó)記者——詹姆斯·弗萊——而且謀殺他的人毫無疑問說的是一口倫敦腔。

作者道格拉斯·穆瑞《旁觀者》博客截圖

近期伊斯蘭主義者暴行所引起的強(qiáng)烈反響毫無疑問是可以理解的。不過，這并非是一次性的偶發(fā)事件，當(dāng)然也并不能說是反?，F(xiàn)象。倒不如說這是一種完全可預(yù)見潮流的延續(xù)。英國(guó)長(zhǎng)久以來恐怖事件輸出的中心，正如美國(guó)政府高官表明的那樣：下一次針對(duì)美國(guó)本土的攻擊有可能來自英國(guó)公民。所有國(guó)家——從澳大利亞到斯堪的納維亞——都和伊斯蘭極端主義者關(guān)系不佳。不過如果整個(gè)世界懷疑英國(guó)已經(jīng)成為國(guó)際反圣戰(zhàn)主義中薄弱環(huán)節(jié)的話，那么這么說并沒有什么太大的過錯(cuò)。一名來自倫敦的英國(guó)人斬首美國(guó)記者，類似事件甚至并非首次出現(xiàn)。

2002年，27歲的奧馬爾·沙克在巴基斯坦逗留。作為一名生于倫敦北部的私立學(xué)校和倫敦經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)院的畢業(yè)生，他于20世紀(jì)90年代奮戰(zhàn)在巴爾干和克什米爾。94年，他因涉嫌在印度綁架三名英國(guó)人和一名美國(guó)人而遭到逮捕。為了挽救印度航空航班IC-814的機(jī)組人員和旅客，作為交易，奧馬爾于94年得到釋放。隨后他又涉嫌于2002年一月在加爾各答，實(shí)施了美國(guó)文化中心的爆炸案，還于同月策劃了綁架《華爾街日?qǐng)?bào)》記者丹尼爾·珀?duì)柌㈦S后將其斬首。

如果回到那時(shí)，人們也許還可以說，奧馬爾·沙克不過就是個(gè)一次性的偶發(fā)事件——一樁恐怖的意外。到底有多少生于倫敦的學(xué)生參與到伊斯蘭極端主義中去或者接受激進(jìn)伊斯蘭布道者的影響，奧馬爾的母校對(duì)這些并不理會(huì)。這種不理會(huì)雖然后來變得更難于維持了——不過校方還是繼續(xù)不理會(huì)——甚至當(dāng)兩名英國(guó)人，21歲，來自豪恩斯洛的阿斯夫·哈尼夫和27歲的奧馬爾·汗·沙立夫——他們實(shí)施了位于特拉維夫碼頭區(qū)一家酒吧的自殺性炸彈襲擊的時(shí)候。奧馬爾·沙立夫曾經(jīng)是倫敦國(guó)王學(xué)院的學(xué)生，國(guó)王學(xué)院就坐落在倫敦證券交易所對(duì)面。這場(chǎng)襲擊造成3名以色列人喪生，超過50人受傷，哈馬斯宣稱對(duì)這一事件負(fù)責(zé)。

隨著英國(guó)出生的圣戰(zhàn)分子人數(shù)逐漸增長(zhǎng)，他們的行動(dòng)也隨之和英國(guó)本土發(fā)生更為緊密的關(guān)聯(lián)。2005年7月7日，英國(guó)出生的穆斯林第一次制造了在英國(guó)本土自殺性炸彈襲擊事件。兩星期以后，又發(fā)生了4起自殺性炸彈襲擊未遂事件。2009年圣誕節(jié)，倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院的伊斯蘭社團(tuán)領(lǐng)袖在一架飛機(jī)于底特律著陸時(shí)，試圖起爆一枚炸彈。去年，兩名伊斯蘭教改宗者在倫敦南部于光天化日之下將鼓手李·瑞格比斬首。必須值得注意的是，上述只不過是那些最受到廣泛關(guān)注的案件。不過被優(yōu)秀安全部門或者純?nèi)贿\(yùn)氣所忽視的案例數(shù)量令人震驚。除開持續(xù)的定罪結(jié)案，每年至少尚有一件大規(guī)模針對(duì)英國(guó)公眾的暴行企圖被忽視。至于小規(guī)模的暴行企圖就更不用說了。大家都還記得對(duì)李·瑞格比的謀殺，可是還有幾人記得帕維斯·汗位于伯明翰的恐怖分子監(jiān)獄？由于之前曾綁架一名英國(guó)穆斯林士兵并將其斬首，汗于2008年被判有罪。

所有的這些時(shí)間，隨著圣戰(zhàn)分子人數(shù)的增長(zhǎng)，他們可以進(jìn)行訓(xùn)練的場(chǎng)所也在增加。預(yù)計(jì)有4000人從英國(guó)前往阿富汗接受訓(xùn)練或是加入戰(zhàn)斗。根據(jù)其他來源，英國(guó)公民前往敘利亞和伊拉克參戰(zhàn)的人數(shù)預(yù)計(jì)可能在500到1500人之間。如果如果前面那個(gè)較大的數(shù)據(jù)是正確的話，這個(gè)人數(shù)規(guī)模將會(huì)比當(dāng)前在英國(guó)武裝力量中服役的穆斯林人數(shù)還要多。其中的一些圣戰(zhàn)分子從國(guó)外返回；還有一些則在戰(zhàn)斗中被殺。不過現(xiàn)在明確的是，無論我們喜歡還是不喜歡，這都是英國(guó)的大問題。

極端分子對(duì)敘利亞戰(zhàn)事的參與正在英國(guó)境內(nèi)擴(kuò)散。類似于其他的一些沖突，在敘利亞參加戰(zhàn)斗的英國(guó)人似乎——正如殺死詹姆斯·弗萊的兇手那樣——來自倫敦。這和其他的一些情況是一致的，包括聯(lián)合王國(guó)境內(nèi)有據(jù)可查的恐怖主義判決，這些判決表明過去十年內(nèi)，針對(duì)英國(guó)本土的近半數(shù)受伊斯蘭極端主義而引發(fā)的恐怖襲擊，都是由被捕時(shí)居住在倫敦的一些個(gè)人所犯下的。

不過上述對(duì)敘利亞戰(zhàn)事的參與同時(shí)正在向伯明翰和其他一些擁有大量穆斯林人口的地方擴(kuò)散，以及一些會(huì)讓廣大民眾感到吃驚的一些區(qū)域。今年二月份，有消息稱，來自西蘇塞克斯郡克羅利的阿卜杜拉·瓦利德·馬吉德成為了一名自殺性炸彈襲擊者。2月6日，還有一名英國(guó)人針對(duì)敘利亞阿勒頗的一處監(jiān)獄，制造了一起卡車炸彈襲擊事件，這名英國(guó)人卻并不說阿拉伯語。

5月份，一名據(jù)信是來自倫敦的英國(guó)人在社交媒體Instagram上，發(fā)布了敘利亞境內(nèi)圣戰(zhàn)分子的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)罪行，其中就包括謀殺一名據(jù)信是巴沙爾·阿薩德支持者的囚犯。其中一名向俘虜發(fā)射子彈的人已經(jīng)被確認(rèn)為一名英國(guó)人，這名英國(guó)人在另外一部視頻中還嚴(yán)厲指責(zé)英國(guó)穆斯林沒有為圣戰(zhàn)提供足夠的支持。“你知道你是誰”，他說道，“從首都、中部到北部，無論你可能處于何處……這都是恥辱，兄弟們知道這些主婦們?cè)谀睦铮@些家庭在哪里，但你們?nèi)匀粸槟銈兊淖又顿徺IPS4或者帶著他們?nèi)ando餐廳。”

伊拉克與黎凡特伊斯蘭國(guó)中出現(xiàn)大量來自歐洲的成員，這令歐洲國(guó)家驚恐萬分

這樣一份名單還在繼續(xù)不斷增添著名字。有來自卡迪夫的年輕人。還有一些來自普茲茅斯。這個(gè)月的早些時(shí)期，來自倫敦西部的阿卜杜勒-馬吉德·阿卜杜勒·巴里出現(xiàn)在一張他發(fā)布在推特上的照片里。在圖中，他拎著一顆被斬下的頭顱，自己還為圖片配了一個(gè)標(biāo)題“和我的老伙計(jì)一起放松，或者和他剩下的部分一起”。這是敘利亞成為英國(guó)圣戰(zhàn)分子奇怪聯(lián)接的部分表現(xiàn)而已——一種街頭耍酷、伊斯蘭極端主義和極度殘暴的混合。甚至這些人在社交媒體上進(jìn)行交流的語言方式也是令人熟悉的。例如來自普茲茅斯19歲的馬蒂·哈桑，發(fā)布了自己的一張媒體圖片，手中拿著一罐慕斯，以此來安慰前來的英國(guó)人，他們不會(huì)缺少樂子。

當(dāng)然，有一類說法聲稱如果我們只要離開所有這些地方，那么所有的這些就不會(huì)奔著我們來了。但是我們離開了巴爾干卻創(chuàng)造了整整一代的圣戰(zhàn)分子。我們還沒有離開阿富汗和伊拉克——卻已經(jīng)創(chuàng)造了另一代的圣戰(zhàn)分子。如今我們很大程度上已經(jīng)離開了敘利亞——瞧瞧看，我們大概又創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)圣戰(zhàn)分子的世代。很顯然，無論離開還是不離開，你都被詛咒了。不過很明顯，很少有人似乎意識(shí)到了這一切并不是真的與我們有關(guān)。

盡管如此，這些事情還從未像今天這般離本土如此之近。近幾周，伊拉克與黎凡特伊斯蘭國(guó)所使用的黑色圣戰(zhàn)旗幟公開地在倫敦飄揚(yáng)——伊拉克與黎凡特伊斯蘭國(guó)的支持者已經(jīng)在牛津街頭出現(xiàn)——以及在其他的一些地方。就在這周，一座威爾士主要清真寺的伊瑪目決定辭職，之前一名親伊拉克與黎凡特伊斯蘭國(guó)的布道者受邀在這座清真寺發(fā)表演講。

這場(chǎng)戰(zhàn)斗正在這個(gè)國(guó)家的家庭與清真寺里持續(xù)進(jìn)行著。我們害怕把這些點(diǎn)連接起來。比起進(jìn)行反擊，我們更為懼怕來自國(guó)際社會(huì)的批評(píng)。

這個(gè)曾帶給世界大部分地方以自由的國(guó)度，如今正在向世界的大部地方出口恐怖主義。這周斬首視頻令人難過，如果我們不想未來再繼續(xù)出現(xiàn)更多這類恐怖主義影像的話，那么英國(guó)需要進(jìn)行自我反省，并且致力于解決這一問題。

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It is the now familiar nightmare image. A kneeling prisoner, and behind him a black-hooded man speaking to camera. The standing man denounces the West and claims that his form of Islam is under attack. He then saws off the head of the hostage. Why did Wednesday morning’s video stand out? Because this time the captive was an American journalist —James Foley— and his murderer is speaking in an unmistakable London accent.

The revulsion with which this latest Islamist atrocity has been greeted is of course understandable. But it is also surprising. This is no one-off, certainly no anomaly. Rather it is the continuation of an entirely foreseeable trend. Britain has long been a global hub of terror export, so much so that senior US government officials have suggested the next attack on US soil is likely to come from UK citizens. All countries — from Australia to Scandinavia — now have a problem with Islamic extremists. But the world could be forgiven for suspecting that Britain has become the weak link in the international fight against jihadism. And they would be right. This is not even the first beheading of an American journalist to have been arranged by a British man from London.

In 2002, 27-year-old Omar Sheikh was in Pakistan. A north London-born graduate of a private school and the London School of Economics, he had gone to fight in the Balkans and Kashmir in the 1990s. In 1994 he was arrested and jailed for his involvement in the kidnapping of three Britons and an American in India. Released in 1999 in exchange for the passengers and crew of the hijacked Air India flight IC-814, he was subsequently connected to the bombing of an American cultural centre in Calcutta in January 2002 and that same month organised the kidnapping and beheading of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Back then it was possible to dismiss Omar Sheikh as a one-off — a macabre fluke. His alma mater shrugged off concerns about the number of London-based students who had got involved in Islamic extremism or the radical preachers touring the country. The shrug became a little harder to maintain — though maintained it was — the next year when two British men — Asif Hanif, 21, from Hounslow in west London and Omar Khan Sharif, 27 — carried out a suicide bombing in a bar on the waterfront in Tel Aviv. Omar Sharif had been a student of King’s College London, just across the road from LSE. That time the glory of killing three Israelis and wounding over 50 was claimed by the terrorist group Hamas.

As the list of British-born jihadists grew, their activities also got closer to home. On 7 July 2005, British-born Muslims carried out the first suicide bombings on British soil, with four more attempted a fortnight later. On Christmas Day 2009, the former head of the Islamic Society at University College London attempted to explode a bomb on a plane as it landed in Detroit. Last year, two converts decapitated Drummer Lee Rigby in broad daylight in south London. It is important to keep in mind that these are just the most high-profile cases. But the list of cases which were thwarted by good security work or sheer luck is astonishing. As well as the constant stream of convictions, at least one large-scale mass atrocity attempt on the lives of the British public was thwarted each year. As were smaller attempts. Everybody still remembers the killing of Lee Rigby, but how many people recall the case of Parviz Khan’s Birmingham terrorist cell? Khan was convicted in 2008 for a plot the previous year to kidnap and behead a British Muslim soldier on video.

All the while, as the list of jihadists grew, so did the number of places where they could train. Perhaps as many as 4,000 people from Britain are thought to have gone to train or fight in Afghanistan. Estimates of the number of British citizens who have gone to fight in Syria and Iraq range from just over 500 to 1,500 (a figure from Khalid Mahmood, a Birmingham Labour MP). If the larger figure is correct, it would be significantly higher than the number of Muslims currently serving in Britain’s armed forces. Some of these jihadists have returned; some have been killed fighting. But it is now obvious that whether we like it or not, this is Britain’s problem.

Involvement in Syria spreads across Britain. As with other conflicts, a large proportion of the Brits going to fight in Syria appear to be — like the murderer of James Foley — from London. This is in line with other work, including a list of all terrorism convictions in the UK to date, which shows that almost half of Islamism-inspired terrorism offences and attacks on UK soil over the last decade were perpetrated by individuals living in London at the time of their arrest.

But involvement in the Syrian conflict has also spread to Birmingham and other places with large Muslim populations, as well as some places that will have surprised the wider public. In February of this year it transpired that the 41-year-old Abdul Waheed Majid from Crawley, West Sussex, had become a suicide bomber. On 6 February the non-Arabicspeaking Brit carried out a truck-bombing against a jail in Aleppo, Syria.

In May, the Instagram account of a British man believed to be from London shows other jihadist war crimes from Syria, including the killing of a prisoner believed to be a loyalist of President Bashar al-Assad. One of the people shooting bullets into their captive is identified as a British man who in another video berates British Muslims for not providing enough support to the jihad. ‘You know who you are,’ he says, ‘from the capital, the Midlands, up north, wherever you may be… it’s a disgrace, that brothers know where these wives are, where these families are, and yet you are buying your nephew or your child a PlayStation 4 or taking them out to Nando’s.’

The list goes on. A cell of young men from Cardiff. Others from Portsmouth. Earlier this month, Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary from west London appeared in a photo he himself posted on Twitter. He is pictured holding a severed head with the caption ‘chillin’ with my homie, or what’s left of him’. This is all part of the strange juncture that Syria has become for British jihadis — a meld of street cool, Islamic extremism and ultra-violence. Even the register in which these men communicate on social media is familiar. For instance Madhi Hassan, 19, from Portsmouth, sent out a media image of himself holding a jar of Nutella, to reassure Brits coming over that they would not lack all comforts.

Of course, one line of argument claims that if we just left all these places alone then none of this would come to us. But we left the Balkans alone and created one generation of jihadists. Then we didn’t leave Afghanistan and Iraq alone — and created another generation of jihadists. Now we have very much left Syria alone — and lo and behold, we seem to have created another jihadist generation. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, apparently. Yet remarkably few people seem to realise that this isn’t really about us.

Nevertheless, it comes ever closer to home. In recent weeks the black flag of jihad as used by Isis has been flown openly in London — supporters of Isis have appeared on Oxford Street — and elsewhere. Just this week, the imam of a leading Welsh mosque resigned after a pro-Isis guest preacher was invited to speak at his mosque.

This battle is going on in households and mosques up and down this country. We fear joining up these dots. And we fear giving offence more than we fear the international opprobrium that is coming our way.

The country that brought liberty to much of the world is now exporting terrorism to large parts of it. Britain needs to look to itself, and address this problem, if there are not to be many more videos like this week’s.