5 Men in Belgium Guilty of Sending Fighters to Iraq, (the weak Euro shows up again)

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Five men were convicted Thursday on charges of belonging to a terrorist group that sent fighters to Iraq, including a Belgian woman who blew herself up in an attack on U.S. troops north of Baghdad in November 2005.

Bilal Soughir, 34, who prosecutors said was the leader of the group, was given a maximum 10-year sentence by the court's three judges.

Police and prosecutors said Soughir was responsible for communicating with terrorists in Iraq. The other four were given sentences of 28 months in jail. A sixth member of the group who did not face terrorism charges was found guilty of falsifying documents but received no punishment.

The court found that Soughir and his small Belgium-based group, which included his younger brother, Souhaieb, helped recruit and send fighters to Iraq, including 38-year-old Muriel Degauque, who died in an attempt to attack a U.S. military convoy when her explosives went off prematurely on Nov. 9, 2005. No one else died.

Well,

They have a huge Muslim population and many are radicals. It’s to be expected. It’s not the first time BTW. There have been several cases like this and even in the US we have a few that sympathize with the radical Islamic Jihad movement.

We have less of them as a percentage of population and total numbers than Europe, so we have a bit of an advantage. Europe years past was flooded with immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East. In part they were imported as guest workers as with the Turks in Germany.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslims_in_Western_Europe

France alone has nearly as many Muslims as we do in the entire US (France with 1/5 our population)! I assure you, that one of the considerations in 2002-2003 when France decided to go against the Iraq intervention was this reality. In 1991 when France stood by our side against Saddam Paris was rocked with several bombings, and what the media calls “disenfranchised youth” lighting the suburbs ablaze are Muslims which comprise over 8.5% of their population.

While many in Europe sit and wait, some hoping we fail in Iraq and even the GWOT, they do not realize that their fate is more closely tied and linked to what the outcome in the Middle East, Persia, and North Africa is. They are geographically closer (In range of some systems), they have larger Muslim populations, they are more dependent on energy from this region, their Eastern and Southern boarders are wide open with little control, they have more history with the crusades etc (Which in the Islamist mind matters). Europe is a mess, and while they see themselves as intellectual or paint themselves as moral by focusing on the schadenfreude of the war, they inherently stand more to loose long term if we fail than we do- true irony. The European is in his usual convenient denial of the obvious reality, at least some. However, perceptions are changing and even those trying their hardest to minimize the significance of this ideological threat and the rouge states behind it, are more and more being forced to the realization of the danger lurking out there.

If you think about, and most won’t see the obvious proof in the argument here, Iraq is achieving EXACTLY what its intent was; to bring the fight to the enemy.

“First, we’re determined to prevent terrorist attacks before they occur. So we’re taking the fight to the enemy. The best way to protect America is to stay on the offense. Since 9/11, our coalition has captured or killed al Qaeda managers and operatives, and scores of other terrorists across the world. The enemy is living under constant pressure, and we intend to keep it that way — and this adds to our security. When terrorists spend their days working to avoid death or capture, it’s harder for them to plan and execute new attacks.” George Bush

By planting a US flag and democratizing Iraq (Which is good for the people there too), we have created a giant $hit magnet for the Islamist. We’re not the only ones spending a lot of money or loosing people. In fact, the bad guys are loosing many many more people than us, and that I know from personal experience. Iran is under pressure as well, although that does not appear as a reality right now. However, as time progresses, and especially as Iraq begins to stand up (and they are), Iran will feel the pressure. They know this, why do you think they are doing everything in their might to destabilize Iraq?

Back on the point of this thread- The fact that you have had several EU citizens caught or killed in Iraq as part of the radical insurgency is not a statement about the policies of the governments these people come from. It’s a simple consequence of having so many Muslims and such a great number of them being radicals in the countries of origin.

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