In London, Islamic Radicals Found a Haven

WaPo reported Today, al Qaeda and its offshoots retain broader connections to London than to any other city in Europe, according to evidence from terrorist prosecutions. Evidence shows at least a supporting connection to London groups or individuals in many of the al Qaeda-related attacks of the past seven years. Among them are the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania; the assassination of Afghan militia leader Ahmed Shah Massoud on Sept. 9, 2001; outer rings of the Sept. 11 conspiracy, involving Moussaoui and the surveillance of financial targets in Washington and New York; Reid's attempted shoe bomb attack in December 2001; and the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002. The evidence in these and other cases describes al Qaeda connections here as remarkably diverse, ranging from the core organization's early formation through its phase of elaborately planned global strikes between 1999 and 2001, to its more recent period of diffuse franchises and younger volunteers to an attack this week that authorities here said bears al Qaeda's stamp. In the 1980s and 1990s, between 300 and 600 British citizens passed through Afghan training camps, officials here have acknowledged. Today, several recent cases suggest the seeding of a new generation of British residents who traveled as volunteers to fight with the insurgency in Iraq. On June 15, 2002, at an Islamic community center in Milan, Italy, a cleric with alleged ties to al Qaeda was overheard in conversation with an Arab from Germany, according to a transcript of the wiretap later published in Italy. The Arab spoke of his 10-person cell in Germany and the group's "interest" in Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, Egypt, Italy and France. "But the nerve center is still London," he reported.

We woke up after 9/11. Hopefully the British will respond as we did after 7/7

Marc @USSNeverdock blogged This is a war like no other we have ever seen. For far too long Britain has been too tolerant of the enemy within.... Have you ever seen Muslims marching against terrorism, carrying pictures of bin Laden or any of the other terrorists leaders, condenming them by name and calling them non-Muslims? No. Here is what you do see.

Cori Dauber blogged A spectacular front page article from the WaPo detailing the community of Islamists London has been harboring, the links between the city and virtually every major terrorist operation of the last decade.

Dan Darling blogged Rohan Gunaratna is even more emphatic in his section of the UK in Inside Al-Qaeda, stating up-front that "... British attempts to neutralize the infrastructure of Al Qaeda and related groups have been gravely inadequate. Without a doubt, London was Al Qaeda's spiritual hub in the Western world." So while the British chattering classes are pondering whether or not their part in the invasion of Iraq has led to an increase in the terrorist threat, they might also want to ponder why their insane immigration and asylum policies made hitting the UK such an easy target for bin Laden's acolytes to hit to begin with.