Is London the New Afghanistan? Underwear Bomber Groomed in London

According to the Times Online the Christmas day bomber was groomed by al-Qaeda in London. While attending the University College London he became very active in the student organization London Student Islamic Society. His involvement actually turned to activism as he became the president of the society. While acting as the President he organized a seminar called "Jihad vs. Terrorism", A lecture on the Islamic positions on Jihad. This seminar was done in January of 2007; it also included such topics as torture at Gitmo, and the US War on Terror. Two of the speakers at this conference were former detainees at Gitmo.


Four presidents of this organization have been recruited by al Qaeda. Two have been convicted of terror related charges in Britain, two, including Adbulmutallab, are presently in jail awaiting trial. The reality is we have as much to fear from Britain as we do from Yemen, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The nickname "Londonistan" is becoming more and more deserved. 

The British Police are beginning to find that the radicalization of Muslims at their colleges is commonplace. The question becomes, what are they going to do about it? This directly affects the United States. The EU and The United States have a very liberal visa policy with each other. Citizens from the EU are basically just let into the United States with little to no scrutiny. While Adbulmutallab was not a citizen of the United Kingdom, many of the people being recruited at the college campuses in and around London are. It will be very easy for them to get a ticket and come to the United States with a legal visa for 90 days up to one year. Some of these visas would allow them to get drivers licenses in the U.S. It is going to be much more difficult to realize who is friend or foe when they are coming with passports from The European Union.


The United States is going to have to make some difficult choices. Do we continue to allow the citizens of The European Union to have free reign with visas into our country or not? It may get to the point, which not will have to be the answer.