Posted on 07/08/2005 7:42:07 AM PDT by Wiz
Rome, 8 July (AKI) - After the coordinated bombings of central London's transport system on Thursday, Italy - one of the countries with the largest number of troops in Iraq - could be al-Qaeda's next target, Italy's interior minister Giuseppe Pisanu said on Friday. Anti-terror surveillance of military, government buildings, tranport hubs, strategic industries, as well as schools, hospitals and other "soft" targets has been stepped up since the attacks on the British capital, he said.
"We need nerves of steel, and to have faith in the force of democracy, in the knowledge that the terrorist threat has returned to menace Europe like a gathering storm cloud," said Pisanu. "I can assure you that the government will do everything it can to guarantee public safety in Italy," he continued.
The attacks "have naturally led to heightened security in all European countries, including Italy," Pisanu stressed, noting that Italy had remained on high anti-terror alert since the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States and the bomb attack on the Italian military barracks in Nassiriya, Iraq, in November 2003, in which 17 Italian soldiers and two civilians died.
On Thursday, immediately after he received news of the bomb attacks in London, Pisanu convened the Strategic Anti-Terrorist Committee, to sit in "permanent session". He set up the committee at the beginning of this year to "adapt our intelligence to new terror threats facing European targets", he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at adnki.com ...
ping
The terrorists have had Italy in their sights for awhile; this is nothing new. My daughter studied in Italy last semester and this was one of our greatest concerns. Lots of Americans and Europeans study and vacation there. The terrorists hate Berlesconi and he comes up for re-election IIRC in Spring '06. Italy has the potential for another Madrid, I'm afraid. The people tend to be anti-American, at least anti-Bush, so an attack could affect their elections.
Use some not PC action and deport all of them in Italy back to the sand box they slithered out of.
I have to wonder if their opinion has changed regarding those CIA agents they want to arrest.
Arab Muslims don't have to be here; the West doesn't have to welcome them in so that some can easily target our own children and women. If Arab Muslims can't activley police their own communities, and often in fact give their radical elements at least tacit support, then it's time for Arab Muslims to go back and live off the fat of their own medieval economies. Would it be worse
I don't doubt the Holy Father and the Vatican would be targets. What an awful thought. I hope the authorities are being very vigilant.
none of these countries want to do anything to crack down on their domestic populations of islamic extremists - and to be honest, the US is doing only a slightly better job inside this country.
Arab Muslims don't have to be here; the West doesn't have to welcome them in so that some can easily target our own children and women. If Arab Muslims can't activley police their own communities, and often in fact give their radical elements at least tacit support, then it's time for Arab Muslims to go back and live off the fat of their own medieval economies.
that's a perfect example of the problem. the left is paralyzing the West into taking action against this - when you have elected US Senators more worried about the thermostat setting at Gitmo, and whether a Koran got wet, and judges issuing arrest warrants for CIA agents - you've already got one foot in the grave.
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