Only Politics

Since the invasion of Iraq five years ago, Europe was concerned about the radicalisation of its Muslim-dominated societies mounting a serious challenge to long standing European democratic values. Countries such as France, Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy feared that the Iraq war would result in young European Muslim boys getting attracted to the call of Jihad in the Islamic world. While Britain and Spain faced the consequences of a radical Islamic threat over the past few years, French and other European security agencies are claiming for the very first time that the threat of Muslim boys travelling to Iraq and returning home to launch attacks on western interests has subsided. According to French security agencies, the number one deterrent for would-be Jihadists has been the immense logistical challenges involved in travelling to Iraq. There is no fixed transit point for these men to travel to Iraq and wage a suicidal war against coalition troops. Due to immense international pressure and serious economic consequences, countries such as Syria and Iran are not in a position to entertain foreign fighters. Secondly, the war in Iraq has proved to be a confusing one for European radicals who feel that the war is all about killing fellow Muslims rather than Americans. Due to lack of fighting skills and good Arabic language skills, many of these would-be insurgents are unwelcome in Iraq. Having said this, the European intelligence officials have warned that the threat of radical Islamic terror attacks are always possible given Europe’s moderate democratic values. Most of the ethnic Muslim citizens in Europe have roots in North Africa and Pakistan. Their failure to settle among the normal European societies in addition to respective government’s failure to address the ethnic situation have always posed an immense ideological threat to the continent. Yet European politicians and security agencies are confident that tough immigration laws and sweeping law-enforcement rules have led to a decline in terror threat. According to Armando Spataro, Italy’s senior counter-terrorism magistrate, It’s impossible to give numbers, but fewer young people are leaving Italy and other European countries to wage jihad in Iraq. I’m convinced part of the reason is that we’ve been successful in arresting and prosecuting people, even before they go to Iraq.Yet political and security analysts believe that Europe, particularly France, Italy and Britain would always be under a cloud of terror threats due to political and military involvements in Islamic countries. Moreover, the threat would be more of a social nature in the coming days until and unless Europe’s Muslims are able to adjust themselves to the continent’s moderate social and democratic values.