President Elect Obama and Britain

[Rob Thornton]

Come to think of it, almost anything is deeper than politicians

I'm beginning to think power point is deeper than politicians

[jmm99]

was a blank to me, I thought it best to look him up. His bio is here; he pundits on a number of different issues (e.g., here); and is basically a media-business consultant with BGR Group - and a former media flak and current lobbyist.

Connection (if any) with Obama administration, I did not see in a very cursory search.

[davidbfpo]

Not startling news, but The (UK) Independent returns with a long article on the briefings that British accents have been heard in Afghanistan: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...n-1631347.html

Not that it is just a UK issue, after a Somali from the USA went back to fight:

http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/...n-somalia.html

Could be a seperate thread, but fits in here too.

davidbfpo

[jmm99]

Both the UK and US have had their share of soldiers of fortune, who went forth to far-off lands with their swords - sometimes for adventure, sometimes for money and sometimes for a cause. So, in that sense, what we are seeing in these two articles are not exactly novel events.

I was a bit surprised by one factoid in the UK Independent article (if the number 4000 is near correct):

MI5 has estimated that up to 4,000 British Muslims had travelled to Pakistan and, before the fall of the Taliban, to Afghanistan for military training. The main concern until now has been about the parts some of them had played in terrorist plots in the UK. Now there are signs that they are mounting missions against British and Western targets abroad.

So, they (AQ and affiliates) have managed to recruit something akin to brigade strength. I suppose that reflects the relatively large Muslim population in the UK.

The Somali issue in the US has been noted in the past. The US News article illustrates some of the problems in dealing domestically with the Muslim communities. It is interesting to note that:

Shirwa Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen, was radicalized and recruited into a Somali militant group near his hometown of Minneapolis, according to the FBI.

I am not contending that the Minneapolis area is some "hot bed" of radical Islamic terrorist activity, but it does have its share of activists (e.g., the Imams on the airliner and their consequent civil law suit). The Minneapolis Muslims also have a political voice, US Rep. Keith Ellison. Some, however, still want to go beyond pursuing recognized civil rights (the Imams) and political action (Mr. Ellison) to unlawful armed conflict (the Somalis).

The very difficult problem for US and UK law enforcement is to identify those "some" before the terrorist event. Whether Mr. Obama's multi-ethnic experience will help in that regard is so far unknown. In his campaign statements, he kept his opinion of Muslims pretty close to the vest, other than the expected political-type statements. Perhaps, he was more candid in his books, which I confess not to have read.

[davidbfpo]

The BBC News item on the "love in" today as UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown visits President Obama: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7918345.stm

Much spin on our enduring special relationship.

davidbfpo