Terrorists, 'Big Surprise' for US, Theft-Vancouver Airport, Security, Borders, Immigration Enforcement, Drugs, A Failed European Policy

Iraqi insurgents threaten attack inside United States -- 'Big surprise' planned: 'We will give Americans a taste of what civilians in our country go through'

Iraqi insurgents threaten attack inside United States Ned Parker, AFP with files from The Daily Telegraph, Jan. 4, 05

[. . . . ] But the Islamic Army has shown a willingness to bend when it has felt its political ends are being met. It chose to spare French journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot in December after holding them captive for four months.

Why? Think. But of course, France which was desperately trying to keep America from Iraq, has had a very different relationship with Saddam Hussein than the Americans--remember the UNSCAM-oil-for-food scandal, and the whole greedy bunch.




Airlines note theft by baggage handlers at Vancouver airport -- after Canada's Auditor-General's report -- nothing on the security front. The talk of $7.7 billion? It's more BS.

Airlines note theft by baggage handlers at Vancouver airport Jan. 4, 05

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Theft by baggage handlers is a "significant problem" at Vancouver International Airport, a newspaper reported.

The Vancouver Sun said it obtained an internal Royal Canadian Mounted Police report detailing the theft through a public records request.

"Several airlines have noted significant problems with theft from passenger luggage prior to its arrival at the luggage carousel," the report read. "Recent thefts have resulted in a number of arrests and employee terminations."

The internal report, a "strategic threat assessment" used to help the force set priorities for the 2004-05 fiscal year, was prepared by the RCMP's criminal-analysis section. [. . . . ]

Richmond RCMP spokesman Cpl. Peter Thiessen said [. . . .] "The bigger problem is the luggage theft by organized groups on the public side of things," he said. "That's a far larger problem than anything by the airline employees." [. . . . ]

How to be an illegal -- Mexico government publishes guide to assist border crossers

How to be an illegal

[. . . . ] The Mexican consul general of Phoenix, Carlos Flores Vizcarra, said the reality is many migrants will try to cross the border illegally, and the book appears to be a means of protection.

"This is nothing new. It's a way to put it in very simple terms so people will understand the risks," he told the paper. "The intention is out of concern for human rights. People are doing it anyway. We cannot ignore that there is a very big migration between our two countries, and people who are coming to work need to understand the risks." [. . . . ]

Get serious about immigration enforcement

Get serious about immigration enforcement Dec. 30, 04, Dallas Morning News, Heather Mac Donald.

[. . . . ] Nothing compromises our domestic defense against Islamic terrorism more than our failure to control who enters the country. The alien-smuggling trade is the "sea in which terrorists swim," explains David Cohen, the New York Police Department's deputy commissioner for intelligence and an ex-CIA expert on al-Qaeda.

Yet fear of offending the race and rights lobbies has trumped national security at DHS. This spring, for example, Asa Hutchinson -- the department's undersecretary for Border and Transportation Security and now a contender for the top job -- shut down a successful border-patrol initiative to catch illegal aliens.

A specially trained team had apprehended about 450 border trespassers in several Southern California cities. The Los Angeles Times, La Raza and every other advocacy group for illegal aliens protested that the arrests were racially motivated and that they were "scaring" illegal aliens.

The White House promptly called the team off, and Mr. Hutchinson appeased the race hustlers by denouncing the initiative as "racial profiling." He followed up with a memo to every U.S. immigration, border patrol and customs agent declaring that "preventing racial profiling is a priority mission of this department." [. . . . ]

Drug prohibition is a terrorist's best friend

Drug prohibition is a terrorist's best friend Ted Galen Carpenter, National Post, January 4, 2005

Under pressure from Washington, Afghan President Hamid Karzai is urging his people to fight narcotics as ferociously as they fought the Soviet occupation in the 1980s. Such a struggle seems destined to undermine the campaign against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Karzai and his American patrons can prevail against the country's opium growers or its terrorists, but not both.

Afghanistan has been one of the leading sources of opium poppies, and therefore heroin, since the 1970s. Today, the country accounts for more than 75% of the world's opium supply. It is clear that some of the revenues from the drug trade -- at least 10% to 20% -- flow into the coffers of al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

That is obviously a worrisome development. But it is hardly unprecedented. For years, leftist insurgent groups in Colombia, principally the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and right-wing paramilitaries have been financed largely by that country's cocaine trade. [. . . . ]

The harsh reality is that terrorist groups around the world have been enriched by prohibitionist drug policies that drive up drug costs, and which deliver enormous profits to the outlaw organizations willing to accept the risks that go with the trade.

[. . . . ]




Radical Islam in The Netherlands: A Case Study of a Failed European Policy

Radical Islam in The Netherlands: A Case Study of a Failed European Policy Manfred Gerstenfeld, Institute for Contemporary Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief, Vol. v, No. 14, Jan. 2, 05

On December 23, 2004, the Dutch Ministry of the Interior published a 60-page report entitled From Dawa to Jihad. Prepared by the Dutch general intelligence service (AIVD), it describes radical Islam and examines how to meet its threat to Dutch society.

Among the close to one million Dutch Muslims, about 95 percent are moderates. This implies that there are up to 50,000 potential radicals.

Since September 11, 2001, phenomena such as the growth of radical Islamic groups, polarization between Muslims and the surrounding society, limitations in the process of integration, and Islamist terrorism have increased in The Netherlands.

The capability of Dutch society to resist the threat of radical Islam is considered low, though recently a greater desire has become apparent among the Dutch population to become more resistant. Also within the Dutch Muslim community resistance against radical forces is low. The moderate organizations and individuals are not able to counterbalance the radical forces.

An earlier AIVD report dealt with Saudi influences in The Netherlands, mentioning a number of mosque organizations that originated from Saudi missions and financing. The Amsterdam Tawheed mosque, which in the past has put extreme anti-Semitic statements on its website, is linked financially, organizationally, and personally with the Saudi Al Haramain Foundation. Several other mosques are supported financially by Saudi charities.

The Dutch report places the blame for the origins of the problem squarely on the deeply-rooted ideology of fierce opposition to the Western way of life among certain Muslim groups. It does not claim that the problem of radical Muslims would disappear if there were peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel and Jews are not mentioned in the report. [. . . . ]

Lengthy and worth reading in its entirety.