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. |