Waiting ... Waiting ... Waiting

"The group has certainly been decimated in terms of territorial ownership, but the ideology is ... thriving."
"The Islamic State affiliates, wannabes, inspired, are still around and they're going to do what they can, whenever they can."
"We have a tendency to think that current events dictate future events. But I see nothing to suggest this is the new normal."
Phil Gurski, former senior strategic analyst, Canadian spy agency CSIS

"[The Easter Sunday Sri Lanka attacks represented one added manifestation of ISIL's opportunism to spread terror to] whatever venues are available."
"The fact of the matter is that [ISIL] suffered grievous setbacks in Western Iraq and Syria. But severely damaging a terrorist group is not the same as undermining its ideology or destroying its raison d'etre."
Revenge and retaliation for the lost caliphate has now infused [ISIL] with newfound purpose and energy."
Bruce Hoffman, terrorism analyst, Georgetown University

"I think that what our security systems have to really get on top of is that, if you have small groups ... they can mobilize quickly nowadays."
"It's such an interconnected world, and once they believe this poison, it's very virulent."
Anne Speckhard, head, International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism

"[Extremists inspired by terror groups such as ISIL and al-Qaeda remain the No.1 national security danger to public safety in this country."
"[ISIL] has lost significant amounts of territory due to the military actions of an international coalition which includes Canada. It has now shifted away from a focus on statehood to rebuilding its capacity and influence, and conducting insurgencies in both Syria and Iraq, and CSIS assesses that [ISIL] will continue its efforts to inspire and encourage operations abroad."
"The phenomenon of radicalization to violence, both offline and online, remains a great concern to Canada and its allies."
John Townsend, CSIS spokesman

A statue is pictured next to shrapnel marks at St. Sebastian's Church in Negombo on April 22, a day after the building was hit as part of a series of bomb blasts targeting churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka. Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images

According to Kamran Bokhari, director of the Center for Global Policy in Washington, sole focus on ideology and radicalization diverts from an equally vital issues eluding intelligence analysts and law enforcement: tradecraft. An entire "middle management layer" and funding stream that operates behind the scenes has not yet been fully comprehended, much less explored. "We haven't mapped out the ISIL creature, this entity."

"We don't have a good map of who's who. We don't know how this thing operates", he insists. Perhaps he could direct them to re-read Dore Gold's Hatred's Kingdom for starters, and then peruse the Koran, go to the Hadiths, sit on on Friday prayers at any local mosque....

What terrorism analysts are saying is that the central command of ISIL is taking credit for at the very least, inspiring the Sri Lankan Islamist group that carried out the massive co-ordinated bombings at three mosques and three hotels on Easter Week Sunday, killing up to 250 people and injuring another 500, as yet another victory in their jihad against Christianity and the West. More to come. Wherever opportunity leads.

Islamic State is, in essence, celebrating its new, re-energized brand, its virally lethal repudiation of all that is not strictly in adherence to an original Islamic code of exclusion, domination and conquest. Sleeper cells, loyal to and dedicated to the martyrdom ideology are everywhere. Just as the Muslim Brotherhood and arms loyal to Hamas and Hezbollah have infiltrated civilized societies manifesting their presence during occasional 'protests' where their flags are seen, ISIL's influence is also present.

"I think it's fundamentally true we will be encountering much more than lone wolf attacks in the coming years in Canada and beyond", cautioned Amarnath Amarasingam, senior research fellow at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. For just as Islamic State succeeded in drawing thousands of recruits from abroad to their caliphate sites in Syria and Iraq to its front lines, additional thousands absorbed by their strident militarism remain in situ to eventually disclose their presence through terrorist attacks.

Captured ISIS wives in Syria. What will become of the radicalized children? (Photo: DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Its propaganda machine will not be silenced. Defying the success of the international military coalition that managed to erase its regional geography, its ideological attraction has no boundaries and many receptors. According to a November report issued by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, as many as 230,000 Salafi-jihadist and allied fighters around the world are in place, in 2018 figures representing an 270 percent increase from 2001.

That's an impressive number of the ideological faithful favouring martyrdom and mass slaughter. Those numbers representing broad constituencies linked to the Islamic State, al-Qaeda and affiliates, assorted other Salafi-jihadist and allied groups, their inspired networks and loyal individuals. But not to be too concerned; most of the bloody damage is being done within countries of the non-West where global intelligence levels are low as is intelligence-sharing.

"We have to be worried about those who have come back", cautions Kyle Matthews, executive director of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University. "Are they prepping the next generation of young Canadians to their cause? Have they given up their world views? I'm not too sure". CSIS figures have it that about 190 "extremist travellers" from Canada travelled abroad.

The 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada stated that close to 60 of that greater number had returned. And how to "contain" them? "The real battlefront is on the ideological level", states Matthews, with Canada and its allies urgently required to be more aggressive in the prosecution of ISIL fighters, domestically and through an international tribunal.

And . good . luck . to . that.

An American citizen and former college student, Hoda Muthana, left the US four years ago to join ISIS. She is currently being held in a refugee camp in northeastern Syria. President Donald Trump has tweeted that he had directed Mike Pompeo “not to allow Hoda Muthana back into the Country!” Hoda Muthana’s story is not unique – it reflects a widespread issue around the world, as democratic nations try to figure out how to deal with hundreds  of returning ISIS fighters.