For a nation that has remained relatively insulated from the terrorist violence that roiled the continent in recent years, the sight of British troops patrolling mainland UK streets — one consequence of the terror threat level rising to “critical” — will come as a particular shock. It will raise the spectre of 2003, when Tony Blair sent 400 soldiers with armoured vehicles to Heathrow, and the dangerous years that followed, when security services feared that they were losing their grasp on the problem. The bombing of Manchester Arena on Monday night is redolent of that period. It is the worst terrorist attack on Britain since the July 7 London bombings more than a decade ago and the worst-ever attack on Manchester and the north. But how new and advanced was this atrocity?
对于一个与最近几年搅动欧洲大陆的恐怖暴力活动相对隔绝的国家而言，看到英国军队在英国本土街头巡逻——这是把恐怖威胁级别提高到“危急”的一个后果——特别令人震惊。这让人想起2003年，托尼•布莱尔(Tony Blair)向希斯罗机场(Heathrow)派出400名士兵和装甲车，以及之后危险的几年，那时安全部门担心他们正在丧失对恐袭的掌控。本周一晚曼彻斯特剧场(Manchester Arena)的炸弹爆炸事件让人想起那段日子。这是自2005年7月7日伦敦爆炸案以来英国遭遇的最严重恐怖袭击，也是曼彻斯特乃至英格兰北部史上最严重的恐怖袭击。然而，这一暴行有什么新的特点和技术升级呢？
Former officials of the National Counter Terrorism Office (NCTO) have suggested that the attack was “sophisticated”. This is true, insofar as it represents a step up from the low-technology vehicle and knife attacks seen in the UK over the past 12 years. Building a bomb is significantly harder than procuring a van or a blade, and entails several steps — research, acquisition of materials, and perhaps collaboration — that increase the probability of detection by the intelligence services.
英国国家反恐安全办公室(NaCTSO)前官员暗示，此次袭击是“复杂”的。这一点没错，因为相比过去12年英国看到的低科技的车辆和刀具袭击，它在技术上更高一筹。制造炸弹比购买一辆货车或一把刀要困难得多，而且涉及多个步骤：研究、购买原材料，还可能需要合作，这些都加大了引起情报机构注意的几率。