http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny- ... -headlines

Can we learn from Britain's mistake?

James P. Pinkerton

July 12, 2005
The London bombings show the end result of a disastrous social experiment in Great Britain: the bringing in of large numbers of barely assimilated, barely patriotic and sometimes openly hostile foreigners into that country.

Now the question is whether or not the United States will learn from Britain's mistake.

Hundreds of thousands of Muslim immigrants are turning London into "Londonistan." According to The New York Times, the Syrian-born, London-based Sheik Omar Bakri Muhammad said last year that if Western governments did not change their Middle East policies, Muslims would give them "a 9/11, day after day after day."

Summarizing the impact of the Muslim influx, the newspaper continued, "If London became a magnet for fiery preachers, it also became a destination for men willing to carry out their threats. For a decade, the city has been a crossroads for would-be terrorists who used it as a home base, where they could raise money, recruit members and draw inspiration from the militant messages." Does that sound like good national policy?

It's ominous that, five days after the bombings that killed at least 52, the British police have made no arrests and apparently have no suspects. If, as seems likely, the still-loose bombers are Arabs or Muslims, the lack of success in catching them makes it painfully apparent that queen and country have a low-priority claim on the loyalty of the Arab/Muslim community.

Yes, Muslim leaders have formally disavowed the violence, but what really matters is what they do, or don't do, informally. In such tight-knit communities, if the patriarchs and clerics were truly committed to rooting out the killers, a few suspects, at least, would have been identified by now. Some might say that Muslim community leaders are intimidated, too, by the killers. To which the proper response is: If a group can't be made, one way or another, to abide by the rules of its adopted home country, the group ought not to be living freely in that country. If that sounds harsh, the alternative, which is national breakdown, is even harsher.

Meanwhile, the United States confronts problems, too. A warning sign is the noisy existence of a New York City group called the Islamic Thinkers Society. According to the New York Observer, its members set up street displays and then enter into yelling spats with passersby as they promote anti-gay, anti-female and anti-American propaganda. Sample sign: "Your Terrorists Are Our Heroes." As one woman who had been verbally assaulteddeclared in the story, "To me, it's synonymous with the Nazis recruiting on 42nd Street during World War II."

Are the Islamic Thinkers just exercising their right to free speech, however hateful? Maybe. Although, of course, there's a fine line between speaking freely and inciting violence.

Meanwhile, the United States faces a continuing terror threat. On Sunday's "Face the Nation," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff was asked if al-Qaida terror cells exist in the United States. Pointing to individuals convicted of terrorism-related charges in Oregon, Virginia and elsewhere, Chertoff answered, "We've seen these cells. And we're continuing to conduct active investigations of other cells."

Here's a safe bet: Most, if not all, al-Qaida-related terrorists will be of either Arab or Muslim descent. Yes, America has produced many home-grown terrorists from other ethnic groups - Ted Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh, Eric Rudolph - but in the wake of 9/11, 3/11 and now 7/7, it's clear the main terror threat to the United States and the West can be traced to one region.

Which means we must get serious about homeland security, which means getting serious about immigration, especially from certain countries. Let's not let New York become "New Yorkistan."

Nobody should be able to get into this country illegally. All entrants should be legal, which is to say, identified and screened. Only then can we make an intelligent decision about whom to let in, whom to keep out - and whom to lock up.