Ken Layne's got some great commentary on this Observer article about the al Qaeda training camps:
This article is proof that much more is happening in Europe than politicians and pundits complaining about the U.S.-led war. The police and intelligence services of Europe's many countries are working constantly to prevent the next attacks. Europe's leaders know Europe is next. Bin Laden's terrorism-school graduates do not care about U.S.-European political differences. They don't even care about Muslims (some 800 followers of Islam died at the World Trade Center, nearly a third of the victims). France sure won't be spared because the newspapers have been critical of the War...The reason we had to go to Afghanistan is simply because that wrecked country was occupied by Osama bin Laden, who used it as the administrative and training center for his organization. Privately, Europe's leaders understand this. If the Eiffel Tower or the Vatican or Brussels or Oslo is next on the hit list, Europe will rush to war with near unanimous public support.
Meanwhile, from Singapore to Washington to Berlin, police and spies are desperately trying to prevent the next attack. You don't prevent it with op-ed columns or protests or policy changes. You prevent it by finding the people who are in place, awaiting orders or nervously following orders given months or years ago. You prevent it by destroying the bases, training camps and ability for the terrorists to do business. You prevent it by choking the money supply at every level. And finally, you prevent it by scaring the hell out of wannabe Qaeda boys.
Layne's comments aside, it's really worth reading the whole article, which focuses on the recruiting procedures and the emerging "structure" of the post-Afghanistan al Qaeda network.
Posted by Dr. Frank at March 12, 2002 11:59 AM | TrackBack