Al Qaeda Murders London Commuters

More than a year ago, Sir John Stevens, commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, said, “there is perhaps an inevitability that some attack will get through.” Yesterday, it did. While London was on its way to work on 7/7, at least four explosions occurred within minutes of one another. The number of casualties is in the hundreds, and the fatalities will rise as time goes on. Londoners have been inoculated against the panic other places might have experienced thanks to years of IRA bombings. But there is cause to worry beyond today.

The group that claimed (ir)responsibility for the attacks calls itself, “The Secret Organisation Group of al-Qaeda [literally the base] of Jihad Organisation in Europe.” No one in security circles has ever heard of them. However, it is unlikely that such a coordinated attack was a one-off by a lone bomber. Perhaps, a marketing expert would encourage them to call themselves “Al Qaeda of Europe.” What is troubling is the likelihood that these murderers did not infiltrate Britain in recent days. An article in the July/August 2005 issue of Foreign Affairs by Robert S. Leiken (Harvard AB, Oxon PhD, the Nixon Center and the Brookings Institute), suggests that Europe has a problem with native-born Muslim radicals.

The difference, Dr. Leiken says, between American Muslim immigrants and those who entered European societies is rather stark. America’s melting pot, though deeply flawed, resulted in a Muslim population that is “geographically diffuse, ethnically fragmented and generally well off.” Europe’s more homogenous societies with much less experience in assimilating foreigners have caused “Europe’s Muslims [to] gather in bleak enclaves with their compatriots: Algerians in France, Moroccans in Spain, Turks in Germany, and Pakistanis in the United Kingdom.”

A great many second, if not first, generation immigrants in these nations do assimilate well enough to be assets to their new nation. But nothing is 100%, and those who have trouble finding their way are ripe for recruitment by Al Qaeda and other such groups. Alienated youth in the 1970s and 1980s resulted in Bader-Meinhof, Red Brigades, and Action Direct; today, it’s Fascislam.

This suggests that Europe is not just on the front lines in the battle against Fascislam but that some of its people are Fifth Columnists. If so, the situation poses a huge threat to both security and freedom in the world’s more liberal societies. The attacks on London’s commuters yesterday morning will challenge Britain’s centuries old freedoms just as the September 11 attacks in the US undermined American liberties. One hopes that Britons, and all Europeans, remember Benjamin Franklin’s observation, "They that give up liberty for security deserve neither.”

And for the record, Ahmed Versi, editor of the UK's The Muslim News, said right after the attack, "We unequivocally condemn these terrorist attacks. We express our deep condolences to the families, relatives and friends of the victims." The British Muslim Forum stated, "Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected and we express our sympathy to their families and friends. This is clearly a day of great disappointment coming after a day of great joy as our city of London only yesterday won the bid for hosting the Olympics 2012.” [Emphasis added].


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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