THE MOROCCAN CONNECTION

A nondescript apartment bloc in Tangiers has been transformed into a must-see spot in that sleepy Moroccan outpost.

The reason for the interest in the semi-derelict bloc is that the family of Jamal Zougam are thought to live there. Zougam is believed to have masterminded the 3/11 terrorist attacks. Within days, the Spanish authorities had arrested 11 people, all but two of them, Moroccans.

Great background and insights into The Salafi Group for Preaching and Combat, which explains why Democrat charges that capturing Osama will destroy the terrorism threat to the US are specious.

Meanwhile, scenes we might have seen, and almost did:
"And, when Richard Clarke was briefed, he winced as if he had never heard the name Salafi before -- but should have. Still, it would be mere distraction from his counter-terrorism plans to fly US fighter jets over Libya and have rubber dinghies wash up on the shores of Tripoli in an elaborate scheme Clarke had hatched to scare Qaddafi into surrendering his nuclear weapons and WMD ambitions."

to act as human time-bombs that can affect the politics of the Western democracies, as in the Spanish election.

But none of that would have happened without the enthusiastic encouragement of Spain's left-wing parties and pressure groups.

Personally, I think without the purely secular left-wing domestic support that these Islamic nutballs have in most European and American countries, they'd really be unable to have much long term impact.

It's the fifth column that we've got to worry about. They are what keeps civilized countries from either resisting or striking back definitively.

The wife and I visited Portugal and Spain in 2002. We flew into Lisbon and waited on an endless line to clear customs and immigration. Actually there were about a dozen windows, and some people were checked through in a few seconds, while others took several minutes, which held up that particular line. Apparently, having a set-up like a bank or airline, with one long line and then a clerk announcing "next" would have upset their sense of order, or something.

So, having the bad luck to have several of the "suspicious" entrants on our line, we waited about an hour for our turn. Then, the clerk waved us through with barely a glance at our American passports.

We were met by a pleasant, English speaking limo driver, who had been waiting all that time. I told him how we had been stuck on an interminable line, and asked him if he knew why some folks were waved right through, and others took forever.

He said that they were concerned about entrants from North Africa, both for reasons of terrorism, and (like our Mexicans) the fact that they don't leave. Americans and most Europeans are not viewed as a problem, and are allowed in after only a cursory inspection.

I mentioned that, since Americans and Europeans are hurried through, they ought to have separate windows, so that we are not delayed behind the slow-moving Moroccans, Tunisians, and Algerians. He laughed and said that it wouldn't appear "fair," whatever that means.

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