November 5, 2007:
European nations, finally
realizing that their social welfare policies were being exploited by Islamic
terrorists, and Islamic radicals in general, are increasingly responding to
extradition requests from Moslem countries that are trying to retrieve
terrorists wanted for murder and mayhem in their homelands. In the past,
European nations (and the United States) had refused these requests because
they believed, with some justification, that the men faced torture (to extract
information about other terrorists) and execution (for terrorist acts).
Events of the past few years have changed minds.
Dozens of actual (a few) and attempted (many) terrorist attacks in Europe have
led to dozens of successful extraditions. The torture and execution issues are
still there, but have assumed less prominence in the face of hundreds of
Europeans killed by Islamic terrorists, and thousands of additional deaths only
narrowly averted. European intelligence agencies, and journalists have also
publicized how Moslem "refugees" exploit the European social welfare system,
and abuse European hospitality in general, in order to have a safe place for
their families (who are subject to imprisonment back in the old country, as
"hostages" that encourage terrorists to surrender). The terrorists themselves
often live off welfare benefits, while working on terrorism projects, or
engaged in criminal scams to raise more cash for the cause. As a practical
matter, the terrorists often get carried away with the gangster lifestyle, and
their terrorism efforts suffer. But local police are still glad to see these
guys gone, if only to lower the crime rate. Many Islamic radicals are being
expelled, even though they are not wanted for crimes in their homeland, for
encouraging terrorism in Europe.
The torture issue has been diminished by the
European realization that such practices are common throughout the Middle East
and are often more effective than Western interrogation methods, in obtaining
useful information. It's become fashionable in the West to believe that torture
does not work in intelligence work. But the long history of torture in the 20th
century, especially during World War II, demonstrates that it does work, as
unsavory as it might be to modern sensibilities.