Jihad made in Europe

"There is no satisfying, expeditious answer to Europe's Muslim problems. If Olivier Roy is right--European Islam, for better and for worse, is now independent of the Middle East--then democracy could come to Muslims' ancestral homelands even as a virulent form of Islamic militancy persisted for years in Western Europe. But the intellectual and family ties with the Middle East are probably still sufficient to ensure that if the Middle East changes for the better, the ripples will quickly reach Europe. The democratic discussion in the Middle East, which is often broadcast through media headquartered in Europe, is becoming ever more vibrant and powerful. If Hosni Mubarak's regime in Egypt begins to give way to democracy, it's a very good bet that the discussion in every single mosque in Western Europe will be about the popular triumph and the democratic experiment beginning in the Arab world's most important country.

Amid all the ensuing political and religious debates and arguments, in the expectant hope that other dictators would fall, al Qaeda and its allied groups might find it even harder to attract recruits who would incinerate themselves for a revolutionary ideal increasingly at odds with reality. If the Bush administration wants to help Europe, it should back as forcefully as possible the rapid expansion of democracy in the Middle East. It would be a delightful irony if the more progressive political and religious debates among the Middle East's Muslims saved their brethren in the intellectually backward lands of the European Union."

The web of terror

“There are no excuses,” said a senior security official. “Nearly 60 people are dead and it can’t be allowed to happen again. If it turned out that one of the bombers was someone we actually knew about then, I agree, that would be extremely difficult.”

Fouad Ajami

"It would have been nice to think that in the new lands of the West, a more tolerant version of Islam might have taken root. Instead, a neurotic zealotry has made its appearance. In Scotland the leaders of the industrialized world had assembled to discuss disease and poverty. Then a more deadly animus struck, reminding all of us of more atavistic furies still on the loose."

Melanie Phillips- the Lethal moral madness

"No-one in the Muslim or wider community in Leeds apparently had the slightest suspicion that any of them would ever have done such a terrible thing. They appeared to be utterly normal, regular young men. Their fanaticism was utterly invisible.

A truly appalling vista has now opened up before us. For if these four were able to hide their religious extremism so completely, fooling everyone who came into contact with them, how many more such young men may be harbouring similar feelings in total secrecy and may commit further such atrocities against their fellow Britons?"

London bombers have ties to the U.S.

Salim Mansur

"But as Stewart Bell has documented in his invaluable study, Cold Terror: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terrorism Around the World, the more insidious aspect of global jihad (war) is the ideological indoctrination, recruitment and effective mobilization by Islamists of Muslims born in the West.....

Any seriously credible explanation -- essential for eventually eliminating the scourge of Islamism, as was done with communism -- must take into account the deep-seated pathology in this culture now imported into the West.

The London bombings illustrate how urgent this task is for liberal democracies. "

WSJ- London and Guantanamo

"The argument seems to be that closing Gitmo will make the Arab world think better of us, thereby causing Islamic terrorists to stop killing Americans. This overlooks the small detail that they were willing to kill us, even on American soil, long before Guantanamo was up and running. What critics also don't mention is the dozen detainees released from Gitmo who have already rejoined the fight against the U.S. The Pentagon says that several Gitmo veterans have been killed in combat with U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. Imagine the uproar if it had been the other way around."

"National defense is one of the cardinal duties of a statesman." --John Adams

Canadian security still takes a back seat- a case of too little ,too late

CBSA is undermanned by about 1200 people- hiring 55 people/year is a tepid response to the immediate dangers. CSIS is short about 700 people and the RCMP are short at least 2200 "0fficers".It would have been preferable if the government understood the immediate threats but apparently they still don't. It's more like a financial shell game with that $10 billion for security. As for the undermanning- the terrorists, the crooks, the police and the government are all aware of the shortfalls in manpower. Everybody knows about it but the Canadian public.It would have been preferable if the government had taken some bold steps years ago on plugging the security gaps. They didn't then and with this announcement they still haven't.It's not like they were short of any money or anything.

Ressam was caught by an alert ,experienced U.S. Customs agent when she saw him sweating- he wasn't caught by a computer.This looks like a mighty lean bone was thrown out so the media can go back to sleep.

Not a very impressive track record since 9/11- all talk , no action

What do the terrorists want?

"How can one "solve" the problem of Islamic extremism? The problem is this: To Islamic extremism, democracy is toxic. Al Qaeda-affiliated Abu Musab Zarqawi, just before the January Iraqi elections, gave a speech in which he listed seven reasons to condemn democracy: Democracy requires obedience to man, not Allah; democracy allows freedom of religion, even to convert from Islam to another religion; under democracy, the people, rather than Allah, rule and pass judgment; democracy's freedom of expression would allow condemnation of Allah; separation between religion and state calls for secularism, totally inconsistent with Islam; democracy's freedom of association would allow one to join an unacceptable party; and finally, majority rule is "totally wrong and void because truth according to Islam is that which is in accordance with the Koran and the Sunna [i.e., the tradition of the Prophet], whether its supporters are few or many."

Michelle Malkin- The curse of the language corrupters

A man like Gen.Hillier who puts his life on the line for his country deserves more respect than potshots from the peanut gallery but it's still a

free country and we'd like to keep it that way, the terrorists wouldn't and that's just the point.

There are terrorists out there who enjoy killing innocent people. Hillier made some rather mild comments about them considering the circumstances but he speaks in a blunt fashion which is refreshing when there is danger on the horizon. Would Canadians prefer a milquetoast as leader of the armed forces when their ass is on the line? The troops certainly wouldn't nor would most Canadians.

Perhaps some in the media prefer the usual bafflegab that is spun daily in government circles but these aren't ordinary times. Innocent people were killed by terrorists recently in the heart of London basically minding their own business. The authorities haven't given the grisly blow by blow report of what happened to some victims but rest assured they are probably trying to identify some by DNA . Rather than take pot shots at the General, perhaps some in the media should be asking the necessary questions to make sure they get the proper equipment for their mission.After all the government reduced their funding by $20 billion over the years.They might also ask a few questions about the fact that 4 years after 9/11 there is still a lot to be desired on the disaster preparation home front.If they want to make themselves useful, why don't some enterprising reporters ask the government some direct questions about their laxity in preparations and drills for first responders.After all, they and their families or their co workers take the public transit to work and to the sports events.After a terrorist attack would they be able to look themselves in the mirror and say to themselves that they asked all the right questions beforehand to get the government to improve security and disaster preparation in atimely fashion or were they lax?It's too late afterward to ask the tough questions.

Despite such fears, federal and provincial ministers hadn't sat down to discuss wide-scale emergency planning for more than a decade, until earlier this year.

"Don't you think that's rather shocking?" Ms. McLellan said in a speech to the conference yesterday. "I was stunned by that........."

Perhaps some in the media could let the great unwashed know why it took 10 years before they even got together .Canadian lives weren't important? Time was not of the essence, especially after 9/11? Doing nothing or the absolute minimum is not an option when it comes to saving Canadians' lives in an emergency. They should have been working at double time not bureaucratic time. The first duty of a government is to protect its citizens.

Also read

Also read the Senate Report that Sen. Colin Kenny chaired-National Emergencies: Canada's Fragile Front Lines Canadians should be thankful there are some blunt people around like Gen. Hillier and Sen. Kenny when it comes to their lives. Instead of trying to massage their messages into drivel, some in the media might be quizzing the government why they haven't made disaster preparation and security a priority.There's been much talk but little action.

Hands off the Net

"A notoriously inefficient, corrupt bureaucracy wants to regulate the world's fastest-growing industry. Note to Internet companies: Start worrying.

The U.N., home to the ever-burgeoning oil-for-food scandal, among other fiascoes, has a task force that last week outlined four possible options for the future of the Internet"...................................