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Europe’s New “Anti-Terror” Alliance

Europe’s New “Anti-Terror” Alliance

Can we prevent another Charlie Hebdo?

The wake of the attacks on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo have drawn all of Europe into the debate over how to best collaborate to prevent similar terror attacks in what is becoming a more culturally divided Europe.

Responses by the various countries to the terror threat have ranged from rolling back anti-free speech laws, to cracking down on free speech, to tracking and eliminating terror threats. In France, prosecutors have been ordered to prosecute “hate speech”; meanwhile, the UK Parliament finds itself in a gridlock over whether or not to pass new, restrictive “anti-terror” legislation. Belgium has already tracked down one terror cell, and is on the ready should another rear its head.

If this leaves you thinking, “something’s gotta give,” then you’re of the same mind as some European Union officials who are pushing for a new alliance with Muslim countries. They believe that if the two regions cooperate and share information, they’ll be able to prevent terrorist attacks before the occur.

Via the AP:

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said Monday that “we need an alliance. We need to strengthen our way of cooperating together.”

Mogherini later met with Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby. She also attended a meeting of the EU foreign ministers who are preparing for a summit of EU leaders in February focused on terrorism.

Some ministers emphasized the importance of working with Muslim countries, rather than blaming them for the problem.

“They will continue to be in the front line, and we have to work closely with them to protect both those countries and the European Union countries,” British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said.

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said the police raids launched in his country last week to break up a suspected network of foreign fighters demonstrate that information-sharing is the key to success.

“We have to exchange information in Europe and outside Europe to really follow what is going on and to prevent any acts that could be launched on our territory,” he said.

In theory, it could work; take Yemen, for example. Yemen’s al-Qaida cell claimed responsibility for the attacks on Charlie Hebdo; we also know that many detainees in Gitmo (including some detainees who have been released) hail from Yemen. I don’t think anybody is under the illusion that full transparency will ever be achieved between countries like Yemen and the west, but if you can get the Arab League member states on board with this, you may achieve a higher level of intelligence about what’s going on in Yemen with their help, as opposed to focusing just on Yemen.

The problem isn’t with one particular country or group; the problem is widespread and organized radicalization. A new EU alliance may not provide immediate relief from events that have already been set in motion, but it could, as Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem hopes for, “address the root causes of terrorism and radicalization” that lead to the widespread massacre of innocents.

Or, it could go down in flames. There’s only one way to find out.

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Comments

“Can we prevent another Charlie Hebdo?”

Sure can. It’s called Napalm. And the best part? It sticks to kids.

“Can we prevent another Charlie Hebdo?”

Another silly, ambiguous question, Amy.

The literal answer is…prospectively…no. We can’t prevent every such atrocity.

The larger answer is we have, we are, and we will. Many “Charlies” have been prevented. Others have been aborted. Some have just been unsuccessful (think of the Times Square bombing that WAS executed but failed because the ordinance was a dud. In all other respects it was “successful”).

But we will NEVER be as successful in this fight as we should be, given our advantages, until we FIRST call the issue what it is in clear language, because the first weapon of war is ideas, and ideas are expressed in language.

Can we prevent another ‘Charlie Hebdo?’

No – not with Barry Hebdo as president.

Henry Hawkins | January 19, 2015 at 4:29 pm

The EU is incapable of coordinating intelligence with each other, let alone with the Arab League or some other assortment of ME countries.

What sounds like a ‘theory that could work’ is just standard European appeasement, their go-to strategy when faced with existential threats from without. And no, it won’t work. The current threat level in Europe comes after decades of appeasement.

Bottom line is that if you are not Muslim you must convert or die. THAT is ‘the root cause of terrorism and radicalization’.

Facing threats from the Middle East and from Russia, the EU needs to pray the Dems don’t win the White House in 2016. By buying/trading for American energy (oil & gas), the EU can achieve energy independence from Arabs and Russia, plus US & Canadian companies would make boatloads of money.

    Estragon in reply to Henry Hawkins. | January 19, 2015 at 4:55 pm

    Quite right.

    Islam had made a grudging accommodation with modernism during the latter stages of the Ottoman Empire. It served to prolong the long decline, but in the end was blamed by the fundamentalists for the fall (which was of course inevitable even if they didn’t keep picking the wrong side in European wars).

    We’ve all seen the Afghan young women in Western business attire attending college lectures with male professors in the ’60s, and Teheran in the ’70s was a functional modern city. But the fundamentalist mullahs won out, and islam is in full retreat with a goal of the 7th Century and the determination of a fanatical true believer.

    Ultimately, it will be them or us. The key is whether or not the West finally wakes up in time, continues in the path of self-delusion and denial of the threat.

    Henry, it is worse than you think. It is not just “Convert to Islam or die.” You have to be the right brand of Islam, and you have to be sufficiently devout, and even then, the terrorists will plant their bombs in cafes and pizzarias and schools.

    I fear that there is no solution except the death of all the terrorists, but the forces of evil are training many of the Palistinan youth to become the next generation of terrorists.

Why do these idiots seem surprised at the attack?

Muslims have been anything but quiet about their threats and intent.

The answer to the question is NO they can’t prevent it. That ship sailed a long time ago.

    Henry Hawkins in reply to Andy. | January 19, 2015 at 7:22 pm

    Terrorists announced loud, proud, and often that they were going to take revenge on CHebdo for blasphemy. And then they did it. Who was to stop them?

gonna be a long time before we can, the first thing they will do is crack down further on free speech trying to placate.
it will take a long time for them to learn that won’t work.

either islam needs to change or we need to eradicate it. those are the only 2 choices no matter what anyone tries to tell you.

“address the root causes of terrorism and radicalization”

As clear a call for total inaction as I’ve read lately.

I have full confidence that Europe will continue to live down to our expectations.

Freddie Sykes | January 19, 2015 at 5:44 pm

The idea of preventing terrorism or any other crime is as ludicrous as outlawing war. The best we can hope for is minimizing its occurrence and making it very costly for the perps.

How about preventing another Donbass in Latvia.

Bury any terrorists killed in pig skin. Kind of limits their entry into the muslim afterlife bordello. Might cool them down a bit.