Losing Europe in the War on Terror

If the U.S. expects its allies to continue to lend a hand in the war on terror, it's high time we stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Two recent court decisions certainly will deepen the already serious differences between the United States and Europeans in dealing with terrorism.

On Tuesday a U.S. appeals court upheld a law that strips federal courts of jurisdiction over foreign prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay. Among those detainees are European terrorist suspects, who will continue to be denied due process. This will not sit well in Europe.

More damaging, an Italian judge has decided to go ahead with the trial of 25 CIA employees, an Air Force officer, and six Italian intelligence officials for kidnapping an Egyptian cleric. The Americans aren't going to show up for the trial. And it's unclear whether the Italians really are going to end up in jail. But you can count on the Italian intelligence service thinking twice before helping the Americans with another sensitive counter-terrorist operation.

A Western intelligence official put it this way to me: "What intelligence officer in his right mind would go out on a limb for the Americans and risk going to jail? I, for one, wouldn't."

Let's hope things aren't really that bleak. Because the fact is Europe and Canada are our first and best lines of defense. A terrorist cell in Europe planned and executed 9/11. And today, with 14 million Muslims, Europe remains our Achilles' heel. An alarming number of European Muslims identify with Islam more than they do with their adopted countries. And Europeans do not need visas to enter the United States.

Here's a worst-case scenario: A European Muslim decides Islam would be served by his martyrdom — a suicide attack on the United States. He takes the first plane to New York, buys all the bomb components he needs at a hardware store, and heads off to blow himself up in the middle of a concert at Madison Square Garden. Our first and probably only warning would come from a cooperative European intelligence service.

The Madison Square Garden scenario is not an abstract threat. In 2003, a British-born Muslim blew himself in front of a nightclub next to the American embassy in Tel Aviv, killing three. A second bomber's device failed to go off. Perhaps more alarmingly, it turns out one of the bombers had worked at Heathrow Airport as a security guard. Only the British authorities can tell us whether he had the capacity to slip a bomb on an American airplane — or help us stop the next British suicide bomber.

The point is that we can't do without the Europeans, so we need to address their legal concerns: close Guantanamo, renounce extraordinary renditions, and do whatever else it takes to get them back on the team — before it's too late.