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Europe
French Judge warns of Iraq 'black hole'
2005-10-20
France's top anti-terrorist judge has warned that Iraq is a black hole which has helped to radicalise some young Muslims and drawn them into violence.
The fact that thousands were attending training camps in Afghanistan before 9-11 seems to escape him and a lot of other people
In an interview with the BBC, Jean-Louis Bruguiere says some Muslims are receiving training in Iraq before returning to Europe to carry out jihad. He also warns that the terror threat facing Europe remains very high. Combating Islamist terrorist cells is becoming harder as they are fragmenting in unpredictable ways, he says. Judge Bruguiere is one of Europe's most experienced anti-terrorism investigators, who has specialised in tracking Islamist groups since the 1980s.
Not that they did much about them
In his interview with the Today programme, he says he is pessimistic about the immediate future - saying the terror threat in Europe and the rest of the world remains very high. He says Iraq has helped to draw some young Muslims into violence. "It's quite a black hole sucking up all the elements located in Europe, and pushing them to leave Europe and go to Iraq," Mr Bruguiere said. "Some of them come back to Europe with the need and the intention of committing jihad... in their home country in England, France, Spain, other country in Europe.
Yes, and a great many disapear into that "black hole", never to be seen again
"Some of them have training for non-conventional weapons such as chemical and biological weapons and that were quite new in 2002, 2003."

However, Judge Bruguiere warns that combating the threat is becoming more difficult. He likens terrorist cells to a virus which continually mutates - making co-operation on intelligence-gathering more important than ever. Judge Bruguiere says one of the most worrying developments is evidence that some cells are now acquiring non-conventional weapons, with French intelligence foiling a would-be chemical attack in 2002.
Posted by:Steve

#11  It's actually a pretty funny statement, in Russian...
Posted by: mojo   2005-10-20 17:16  

#10  Why bother to say anything, France and Germany are the peoples who made Iraq a bigger difficulty than it should have been. France has no say what so ever since they were not part of the solution by their own choice.

Have fun with your home grown islamofacist soon to be majority.
Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom   2005-10-20 14:10  

#9  It's only the BBC lying again and finding someone to propagate the lies.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2005-10-20 11:59  

#8  Why in the hell would Irak be a good place to train?

It isn't. It's a horrible spot for training -- too many people on the look out and ALLOWED to use force against terrorists. Sudan is better; Saudi Arabia is better; Virginia's better.

But worrying about jihadis training elsewhere doesn't fit anyone's political goals, so Iraq is the place to talk about.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-10-20 10:52  

#7  There is a thing I don't understand. Why in the hell would Irak be a good place to train? It is much easier to train in the NWFP, in Saudi Arabia or in failed state/terrorist sympathising state than in Irak where there is constant danger of US or Iraki troops knocking at the door or death raining from the sky. Even the French banlieues are better for some type of training than Irak.

The real problem is that instead of depicting Al Quaida as fascist murderers and islamism as a veil for a racist arab supremacist project (or more exactly Arabian, north-african arabic speakers are not part of the herrensvolk) the press is doing its possible for increasing Al Quaida sympathies between youngs from North African origin. And Al Quaida will kill French with as much gusto than Americans. Just a bit later (perhaps).
Posted by: JFM   2005-10-20 10:45  

#6  So far it seems to me that the "black hole" is in Europe. There are more Europeens born terrorists caught fighting in Irak than the other way around.
Posted by: SwissTex   2005-10-20 10:41  

#5  In an interview with the BBC, Jean-Louis Bruguiere says some Muslims are receiving training in Iraq before returning to Europe to carry out jihad.

And yet no one's FOUND any terrs who trained in Iraq and returned to other nations. So far, Iraq appears to be more of a Roach Motel than a breeding ground.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-10-20 10:13  

#4  Just to add : the threats faced by the USA are much less serious than thoses faced by Europe (unless the terrs gets their hands on WMD, in which case terrorism can become a strategic force).
It's the USA who are trying to do the roll-back, by democratizing muslimland and dragging it screaming and kicking into modernity, but it's Europe which is on the brink and is the juicy target of the jihad.

The USA are "just" the vanguard of what's left of western civilization and thus the main ennemy to be defeated, but the euros are the prize that can be had and conquered.
That's what I think, but I've been wrong so many times on so many subjects.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2005-10-20 09:19  

#3   "Some of them come back to Europe (from Iraq) with the need and the intention of committing jihad..

So fixing Iraq and removing a source of terrorism is a good thing and you are happy to help, right?
Posted by: SteveS   2005-10-20 09:13  

#2  Again no disrespect to Bruguière, who is a media hound but does a swell job, but IMHO terrorism is the least islamic threat to France and Europe.

If I'd look at the "larger picture", with the euro-establishment and powers-that-be (from the local to the national) bowing to islamic pressure, with muslim populations expanding rapidly through incontrolled immigration and higher birthrates, and with well-financed and well-thought orgs bent on radicalizing said populations (not hard), I'd say terrorism is only the stick to the islamic (not islamist!) global conquest plan of Europe.
And I'd add that having the USA shoving Turkey down our threat for geopolitical reasons certainly doesn't help, but then again so are our euro-elites.

Eurabia, coming to you circa 2050, but already very much in its way in a generation only.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2005-10-20 09:12  

#1  "..Iraq is a black hole..."
Does that mean Iraq draws terrorists in to something from which neither they nor the light from their candles can ever escape? Sweet!
Posted by: Glenmore   2005-10-20 08:58  

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