Terror Threat to Europe Nothing New

The United States State Department issued a travel alert on October 3, 2010, for the potential of terrorist attacks in Europe. No specific countries were name by the State Department and no specific threats identified.

The British government issued travel alerts for France and Germany on the same day. The British alerts quote French authorities as believing that there is a "high threat of terrorism".

The Associated Press cites a Pakistani intelligence source as stating that foreign militants trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan are planning a Mumbai style series of attacks in Europe. this information has been revealed by the questioning of a German national currently held by the United States in Afghanistan. A second AP story states that the German was captured in July in Afghanistan.

To date, Islamic terrorism in Europe has not resembled the Mumbai attacks. Both suicide and planted bombs have been the weapons of choice. Terrorists have been arrested while attempting to create chemical weapons. None of these attacks or attempted attacks resemble Mumbai.

The Mumbai attacks were carried out by a group called Lashkar-e-Taiba. This group has focused its attacks almost exclusively on India and Indian interests. The 2008 attacks were carried out by a group of young men who were transported to Mumbai by fishing boat. It is a trip of around 800 miles.

In Mumbai, the terrorists attacked tourist hotels, a railway station and a Jewish center. About 174 people were killed, including nine terrorists. Only one terrorist was captured.

The Mumbai terrorists were able to bring their weapons and explosives with them, by ship. Upon landing, they were at their target, without having to travel to reach it. They faced an urban police force that was unarmed, and trained anti-terrorist troops were some hours away.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is very unlikely to carry out general attacks in Europe. Any attacks by that group would almost certainly be against Indian targets and there has been no sign of any such being planned.

Europe, in general, and the United Kingdom, France and German, in particular, are hard targets for terrorists. All three nations have generations of experience fighting terrorism at home. The British had the IRA. The Germans had a number of Communist terror groups. The French have experienced terrorism from Algerians, Basques and others. All three nations have well trained anti-terror forces and their police are armed or have rapid access to firearms.

July 7, 2005, is often considered England's Seprtember 11th. A series of bombs went off in the London subway and bus system, killing over 50. Since then, the British have uncovered several plots and arrested dozens. The latest notable arrests occurred during the visit of Pope Benedict to England in mid-September.

In 2004, the Spanish underwent a similar terrorist attack. A series of bombs went off on commuter trains in Madrid, killing nearly 200.

The use of weapons in terror attacks is very, very rare in Europe. Bombs are the easiest terror device to obtain or produce. Obtaining firearms and grenades or other military weapons has not been a technique used by Islamic radicals in Europe.