Interpol at last

The simple truth of the matter is that the government and the law enforcement agencies under its control do not command the resources and expertise necessary to tackle such a major investigation on their own, and international assistance in such matters is long overdue.

It has long been this newspaper's editorial policy that the government should seek outside assistance to deal with the escalating security threat in the country. The government should have sought outside assistance long before in cases such as the massive arms haul in Chittagong earlier this year, and the fact that it has finally -- albeit belatedly -- accepted the reality that it needs help and that there is no shame in asking for it, comes as a welcome relief.

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Indeed, the international nature of the security threats that the nation faces from groups that very likely have links outside the country and most definitely receive their deadly weaponry from abroad makes the cooperation of Interpol not only useful, but absolutely imperative.

Of course, while we welcome international assistance and also applaud the government's apparent endorsement of the benefits of such assistance, there can be no question of such reliance being anything more than a temporary measure, and no question that the government must urgently turn its attention to building the investigative capacity necessary to handle such crises itself.

The news that the CID utterly lacks the forensic capacity to investigate the recent attack with anything like the thoroughness and expertise that is necessary comes as something of a shock, and must be rectified forthwith. That the domestic law enforcement agencies must possess the manpower, training, and equipment needed to investigate threats to the nation's security is an urgent necessity.

Ultimately, a fully trained and equipped police force would not only be able to get to the bottom of acts of terrorism such as last Saturday's, but would also go a long way to preventing such atrocities before they occur in the first place. Resources must be allocated to this -- we can no longer afford to spare any expense to protect our national security.