Eric: But the MAIN concern is that (because of
your internal policies) Islamic terrorists will
use Europe more and more as staging grounds for
attacks on the US.
Simon: It's interesting that the blame is being
passed across. As I remember it, European
intelligence organisations gave the US countless
warnings in the Summer before 9/11. . . . . Yes
Europe has a Muslim population, yes there are a
small minority of extremists amongst them, but
there a lot more in Pakistan living under a
military dictatorship that the US counts as an ally.
Eric: You misunderstand me. I'm not talking blame
to you, I'm talking about perceived threat. First,
remember that "Londonistan" is a name given by the
French counterterrorist people, not by the Yanks.
The sheer numbers (and until recently) the
relatively little cross-border oversight of the
Muslim diaspora combined with poor national
assimilation strategies created a potential,
ongoing security problem. I'm sure you will agree
that our shared concern should be on fixing
problems (if they are indeed problems) rather than
on assigning blame.
Most of the US counterterror online poobahs, print
pundits, opinion toffs, and televised goliards
view Europe as the locus of future attacks on the
US. Large unassimilated populations to hide
extremists, easy access to US via customs and
jet...mostly our worry of course, but you did have
your tube terror.
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