March 03, 2008
Al Qaeda Arrests in ..... IRELAND UPDATE: False Alarm?
Reliapundit notes this story about three suspected al Qaeda terrorists in picturesque County Kerry. In fact, terror support is much higher in Ireland than most would suspect and is based on two unrelated problems.
First, Ireland's lax immigration enforcement and liberal laws on allowing refugees, even when those "refugees" are Islamic extremists who demand "political asylum". The unrelated second problem is that Irish Republicanism often uses the language of "resistance" and "Imperialism", the same language adopted by Islamist militants. Such language inevitably leads to a certain number of idiots unable to distinguish between their own struggle for independence and, say, al Qaeda's struggle to "free" Iraq for "Western Imperialism" so that Iraqis will be "free" to chop off the heads of adultresses.
MI5 has set up a dedicated team to monitor suspected al-Qaeda activists and supporters in Ireland.Update: Suspects released the next day. False alarm?The Observer has learnt that an eight-strong unit is spying on Islamists based in Belfast, Lisburn and mid-Ulster, but is also liaising via the Police Service of Northern Ireland with the Garda Siochana across the border.
The revelation coincides with the arrest yesterday of a suspected Islamist terror unit in Co Kerry. Three Afghans were in custody after the Garda swooped on an apartment in Tralee and found devices they believe could be used to make bombs.
