Posted on 07/11/2005 1:03:43 AM PDT by John Filson
AMSTERDAM, July 8 (Reuters) - Nearly half the citizens in the Netherlands expect the country to fall victim to an attack like Thursday's bombings in London, according to a new poll.
The poll, conducted by TNS NIPO for RTL television, found 97 percent of the population thought more terror attacks were likely somewhere and half said the Netherlands would be the next target in Europe.
Nearly 90 percent believed an attack could not be prevented.
Anxiety in the Netherlands -- which last month ordered three radical imams to leave the country after its intelligence service said they represented a security threat -- is also higher now than after the 2004 Madrid bombings.
Fifty-one percent of respondents were rather concerned or extremely concerned over the likelihood of an attack and were growing more willing to give up certain freedoms if it would mean more security.
The survey did not specify why the Dutch expected to be targeted, but concerns cited in the past included the fact that the country has troops station in Iraq and was part of the U.S. "coalition of the willing" there.
Tensions with the one million strong Muslim community in the Netherlands have also been high since the murder last year of Theo van Gogh, a filmmaker critical of Islam.
A Dutch-Moroccan man suspected of being a member of an Islamic militant group goes on trial for the murder on Monday.
And Holland is the most liberal, tolerant country in all of Europe, if not the world. Why would they be afraid of Islamic terrorists? < /sarcasm>
Hirsi Ali, the brains behind the film that van Gogh was directing when he was killed. She requires continual protection in what used to be one of the most open and free societies in Europe. Her creation was a film criticizing Islam for its treatment of women. For this she has been marked for death by fundamentalist believers.
Sounds like the perfect time for some fireworks.
Which is why I salute their courage. I understand that the Dutch people are changing their attitudes toward Muslim immigrants. I hope Americans can learn from the lessons of van Gogh's death and Ali's persecution.
You are right, Western nations have been begging for some more terrorism for too long. They think that they can give demons some money to appease them, some idiots even think some land will appease them, but demons have other goals, and that is complete takeover, and the Western nations are even willing to let them in the country and allow them so set up shop. So just what to these nations think? They think that the demons will learn to love them, if they give them enough.
Yes, the demons will love them when eventually they are all dead.
Is America or the UK any different? CFR argues that America's Muslims are assimilating better.
Is that what 9/11 proved?
I think you're right. Meanwhile, we continue to trade our strategic technical knowlege to China as we finance the buildup of their military with unchecked imports. We're handling the war on terror inconclusively while setting ourselves up for the next war with the Chinese. All this is happening while America's workforce continues to decline in skill and literacy due to offshoring. When will we turn around? How can we get people to change?
They might expect to get hit but they don't have the stomach to do anything about it except blame America and smoke some more dope.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.