Be afraid, very afraid (book review: Al Qaeda in Europe by Lorenzo Vidino)

Telegraph (UK) ^ | 27 November 2005 | Alasdair Palmer (Lorenzo Vidino)

[Lorianne]

The MPs who recently rejected the Government's proposal to allow suspected terrorists to be held without charge for 90 days should read this absorbing and frightening book. It provides a powerful indictment of Britain's failure to enact laws that would increase the likelihood of preventing the next set of bombs from Islamic terrorists.

Lorenzo Vidino has amassed a wealth of detail on the ferocity of the threat we face and the fanaticism of the terrorists. He quotes one British-born devotee of achieving Islamic theocracy through mass-murder as saying 'I would like to see Mujaheddin coming into London and killing thousands, whether with nuclear weapons or germ warfare. And if they need a safehouse, they can stay in mine.'

Nevertheless, many of our political representatives and our judges continue to believe that the threat posed by Isalmic terrorism is greatly exaggerated by the Government. Lord Hoffman, the Law Lord who insisted that the indefinite detention of the suspected terrorists in Belmarsh was incompatible with the Human Rights Act, insisted that 'the real threat to the life of this nation' comes not from Islamic fundamentalists but from the laws the Government has passed in the attempt to protect us from them.

It was difficult to maintain anything like Lord Hoffman's view after the bombings of July 7. But it is just about impossible after reading Al Qaeda in Europe. Transcripts of conversations between some of the terrorists reveal not just their determination to kill, but their contempt for what they see as the feebleness of the laws of most European countries, Britain included - as well as their dedication to exploiting those laws to put their plans into practice. Vidino maintains that France is the only European country to pass legislation that is effective in dealing with the threat. Suspected terrorists there can be held without charge for three years.

Is this excessive? Most of us in this country believe it is. Vidino argues that it is not, because it has helped the French authorities frustrate several attacks (a massive bomb attack in Strasbourg is among them), and has diminished the country's vulnerability to new outrages.

Ninety days is a more sensible compromise between civil rights and the nation's security than three years or 14 or 28 days. The MPs who opposed 90 days' detention prior to charge do not stress that an increased risk that more Britons will be murdered is a price worth paying for protecting the rights of suspected terrorists. That, however, is what they must actually believe. According to the opinion polls, most Britons do not share their conviction. When you see the faces of those who lost relatives to the bombs of July 7, you understand why.

[DoughtyOne]

It will take less than thirty seconds to support a fellow Freeper who is doing a great job.  Thank you.

[Tzimisce]

You don't need Al Quada operatives in Europe, most of the nations over there are sympathic to the terrorist cause.

[Fixit]

[SteveSpeaking]

Maybe if we were to offer them seventy THREE virgins, they would all convert?

[Fixit]

Or maybe just the right kinds of virgins...

http://www.stentorian.com/politics/terror/virgins.html

[SteveSpeaking]

That's really funny. Very funny when you consider that the Qua ran states that it ok to have sex with a goat as long as you don't eat it for dinner after your act of intimacy with it.

[SteveSpeaking]

So there were two Muslims talking, one pointed at a camel saddle and said, "See that saddle? I made that saddle with my bare hands. In fact, I have made over a thousand saddles. But when people see me, do they say 'Hey, there goes Yassar the saddle maker'?...No. See that suicidal bomb vest, I have built over a hundred of those things, but when people see me, do they say, 'hey there goes Yassar, the suicide vest maker'? No, they don't."
He shuffles and kicks the sand in frustration, then adds,"But just ONCE..ONE TIME! I get caught fooling around with a goat..."