Blair's Rock and Blair's Hard Place

[ThomWV]

As Tony Blair rushes home to repair damages he's faced with a tough problem. What to do? A renewed crack down on any group in Great Britain says loudly that his Government was not doing enough before the attack. He can not take it to the terrorists, he already has troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere around the world with little to no effect. In short if he blames it on the war on terror he admits defeat in the war on terror. Then there is the question of the money already spent. Just what did the British get for their defense tax Pounds Sterling? Finally, what international help can he expect that his is not already getting? None.

Up a creek without a paddle.

[Wetzelbill]

1. Europe has a big target on their backs

It was inevitable that an attack would happen in either London or Paris, especially. London was a more viable target because of Blair's involvement in Iraq. But, both countries, France and Britain, have large Muslim populations with radical elements within them. Some clerics in the radical underground in London have been advocating violence against Britain and the U.S. for the last few years. Iraq made it rabid and fervent. Recruitment to fight what is known as a defensive jihad has been at an all time high for two years now. It correlates with our Iraq invasion. In 2003 there was 175 terrorist attack worldwide. This was a 2 decade record high. However, in 2004 there were 625 significant terrorist attacks around the world. Up quite a bit since our invasion. Interestingly enough, bin Laden for years has been advocating a singular purpose of focusing violence mainly on the U.S. He even convinced the nationalist groups in Algeria to state fighting the U.S. in a defensive jihad as there main goal. That's important, as his influence has taken on epic proportions. Bin Ladin commands a heroes respect over their, not seen since the time of Saladin. It's remarkable that this awful man can become so formidable. Since late 2001, Al-qaeda has expanded to over 70 countries, our only small successes have in the corridor around Islamabad. Basically, we've failed miserably. But, since Iraq, bin Laden, who would rather not attack Europe, has taken to utilizing opportunities such as the one in London today and the attack in Madrid on March 10, 2004. I believe he's adapted into fighting an opportunistic jihad, now that Iraq has become such a big catalyst for him and his preferred target, the U.S., has increased it's personal security. In short, our soldiers in Iraq and our allies in Europe, make a much more convenient opportunity than U.S. homeland itself. He's utlizing his spread out cells and recruits. Likely, he's doing it in an inspirational capacity, because he's holed up in a cave, but he and his lieutenant, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, are master tacticians and strategists. They don't need to plan an operation themselves in order to make it work. Al-qaeda has morphed into a well-oiled, decentralized machine.