Cleric says Qaeda will strike back

ONDON - A radical London-based Islamic cleric said yesterday that Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network was active in Britain and Europe and would retaliate in the event of a US attack on Iraq.

Syrian-born Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, leader of Al Muhajiroun, Britain's most radical Islamist group, also said Al Qaeda members had recently handed out leaflets in Britain saying bin Laden was alive and urging Muslims to stand firm against a US attack on any Islamic country.

I s'pose there's a fear factor you have when dealing with evil people. You can't really "deal" with them unless you are ready to kill them, and that's a line decent people have a hard time crossing...face to face.

I don't understand why there aren't decent Arabs of all levels in the hierarchy condemning this guy and others like him. I don't get why there aren't decent Arabs around the world calling for such people to be muzzled and for regime changes in a number of key countries.

Despite quisling leaders, eventually, European rank-and-file warm bodies are likely to resent being used as bobos. At that time, you might see a forced migration of Arabs, even those born in Europe to the Middle East. Is that what they want?

Fear is one of those emotions that plays so well in the humanities. When cultures clash, it is interesting to see shifts in attitudes of all people...and to see what it is that people fear the most.

It's obvious that many European quisling leaders (in this case I don't include Blair who has been a stalwart) don't care enough about such rhetoric to try to cut it off at the head. I wonder if those rank-and-file warm bodies would like to revisit the concept of "Second Amendment - type" protections?

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