Sensible leader in today's Telegraph, in response to the attempted poisoning of the wells in Rome:
The arrest in Rome of four Moroccans, suspected of planning to poison the water supply of the area around the American embassy, was an ominous reminder that Europe remains every bit as vulnerable as the United States to the possibility of terrorist attack...Posted by Dr. Frank at February 21, 2002 12:54 AM | TrackBackIn stark contrast to the United States, some European countries are still planning to cut their military spending, while the proposed European Rapid Reaction Force remains largely a figment of Brussels' political imagination. If America's allies are prepared to do so little to share the burden, eventually they may well become an "optional extra"- but it will be their fault for doing too little, not the United States' for doing too much.
The threat from al-Qa'eda and its like has been much diminished, thanks mainly to American action, but it has certainly not been eliminated. Nor is there any doubt that there are still regimes, some rogue, some not-so-rogue, that will aid terrorists and try to obtain weapons of mass destruction, if they think they can get away with it. It is high time that Europe's leaders recognised that we, on this side of the Atlantic, are just as likely to find ourselves the target of such people as is the United States. This carping at America for taking the lead against a menace that we all face is demeaning and weakening.