November 22, 2005: For years, Al Qaeda has been aggressively trying to recruit terrorists from among Moslem populations in Europe. It's hard to get numbers, but the effort has not been very successful. Nine British Muslims are known to have died in Iraq, while serving the terrorist cause. Three of them died as suicide bombers. At least 40 are believed to have gone to Iraq, and perhaps a hundred, over the last five years, have gone off to be active terrorists around the world. That's about ten people per million British Moslems per year. Most of those are actually not British, but men born in the Middle East or Pakistan, and seeking political asylum in Britain. Many of these men were found to have had a terrorist background, and had fled from their native countries, and sought refuge in Europe. Until recently, most European countries, and particularly Britain, were quick to grant asylum to these terrorists. While most of the terrorist "refugees" simply lied about their backgrounds, some admitted to their disagreements with their home governments, and got asylum anyway, or simply refused to show up when the immigration authorities called them in to explain exactly what they were fleeing from. Although many Europeans still back easy asylum policies, the trend is towards taking a closer look at those trying to get in. When this is done, it is often found that many of the refugees are basically criminals or terrorists looking for a place to hide out.
