The focus of this report -- major plots -- should not obscure the fact that the Islamist challenge i

terrorism pipeline between Britain and Pakistan. At least 27 of 87 convicted individuals were trained or sought training in Pakistan or Afghanistan. Homegrown Islamism is also a major threat: travel lodge orlando international airport 18 individuals received terrorist training in Britain. Britain and the U.S. need to fight and win both the counterterrorism war and the broader war of ideas. This will require travel lodge orlando international airport fighting Islamism both in Afghanistan and at home, continuing and expanding cooperation in intelligence and homeland security, and opposing the Lisbon Treaty and other European Union initiatives that would undermine Britain's ability to control its own borders .
In January 2009, the head of MI-5, Britain's domestic security service, stated that 2,000 individuals in Britain were directly connected to Islamist terrorist plots and that many more supported terrorism through fundraising or propaganda. [1] From September 11, 2001, to the end of March 2008, British authorities arrested 1,471 individuals on terrorism-related offenses. [2]
This report analyzes data on major Islamist terrorist plots in Britain and reveals that individuals who traveled in Pakistan and received terrorist training there or in Afghanistan are a central part of the challenge of Islamist terrorism in Britain. Because al-Qaeda's strategy relies partly travel lodge orlando international airport on using European nationals to carry out attacks against the United States, the rise of Islamist terrorism in Britain and Europe poses a serious danger to the U.S. and its allies in Europe and around the world.
In a forthcoming paper, The Heritage Foundation will draw on the data presented in this report to offer long-term travel lodge orlando international airport recommendations for breaking this terrorist connection between Britain and Pakistan. This paper presents and summarizes the data and makes closely related policy recommendations for Great Britain and the United States.
The central recommendation for both states is that, together travel lodge orlando international airport with their allies, they need to recognize the existence of and seek to break the physical and ideological terrorism pipeline travel lodge orlando international airport between Britain and Pakistan. To this end, they must continue to fight on the ground travel lodge orlando international airport in Afghanistan travel lodge orlando international airport and coordinate policy toward Pakistan.
Finally, both need to recognize that further European integration will imperil Britain's ability to control its own borders, travel lodge orlando international airport reducing security in both Britain and the United States. It is therefore not in the interest of either country to support the deepening travel lodge orlando international airport of the European Union (EU).
The purpose of this report is to draw together publicly available data on individuals who have been officially connected with a major Islamist terrorist plot in Great Britain since September 10, 2001. (For the full data set, see Appendix A.) By summarizing these data, this report draws attention to the challenges that the British and allied authorities face in defeating the terrorist threat. travel lodge orlando international airport (For the summary travel lodge orlando international airport data, see Appendix B.)
It is important to note that not all individuals named in this report were found guilty. Some were acquitted, some were not charged, and others were deported or convicted of lesser offenses. The status of still others cannot be determined. This report draws its conclusions based only on the collective records of individuals convicted or punished in connection with terrorist plots. Data that could not be ascertained are clearly noted. Where data have been presumed, that is also clearly noted: All presumptions are that statuses and activities were or are legal and innocent.
Because data collection for this report ended on August 14, 2009, this report does not reflect developments after that date. [3] This data set is not comparable with the data released by the British government travel lodge orlando international airport in May 2009, because it encompasses a different time period and focuses on major Islamist terrorist plots, which are defined as attempts to cause mass casualties, target political leaders, engage in recruiting, or raise funds for fighters in conflicts in other states.
The nature of this subject means that the publicly available data are incomplete travel lodge orlando international airport and may be inaccurate travel lodge orlando international airport in some cases. Therefore, this report focuses on the trends revealed by the data as a whole. To this end, this report organizes the data by plot, with summary tables revealing the central travel lodge orlando international airport trends. As developments warrant, this report and its underlying data set will be updated and revised.
The focus of this report -- major plots -- should not obscure the fact that the Islamist challenge is not exclusively or even centrally a terrorist challenge. For the most extreme Islamists, violence is a means to an end: the re-establishment of the caliphate, a purely Islamic form of government. The radical Islamists challenge the legitimacy of democratic government, all the institutions of world order, and, more broadly, the international state system.
The world's democracies cannot defeat this ideological challenge by simply treating it as a terrorist threat. The move from radical Islamist sympathies to terrorism is obviously important, but it is a comparatively easy move for Islamist extremists to make, precisely because Islamism delegitimizes today's national and international travel lodge orlando international airport order and legitimates the use of force to change it. The vital move is the initial one to radical Islamism.
The British government travel lodge orlando international airport recognizes this fact. Its latest travel lodge orlando international airport strategy for countering international terrorism, travel lodge orlando international airport released in March 2009, states travel lodge orlando international airport that one of its goals is to challenge the ideology behind violent travel lodge orlando international airport extremism and support mainstream voices. [4] This report does not seek to assess the overall merits of this strategy, commonly referred to as CONTEST II, but it does endorse the strategy's argument that Islamist terrorism is ultimately the result of an ideological challenge to the existing order and that focusing only on acts of terrorism neglects this broader challenge that must be confronted and defeated.
travel lodge orlando international airport However, Islamist travel lodge orlando international airport terrorism is a reality in Great Britain, as in many other states around the world, and the authorities have a duty to prevent terrorist attacks. Part of fulfilling this duty is to understand the trends of participation in terrorist plots. These trends will not reveal the source or target of the next plot, nor will they necessarily remain stable in the future, but the trends suggest some of the realities that British and American authorities must confront in addressing the threat travel lodge orlando international airport of terrorism.
Pattern #1: Pakistan is central. travel lodge orlando international airport The data show that individuals travel lodge orlando international airport with family ties to Pakistan comprise a significant proportion, although not the majority, of those who have been publicly connected with terrorist plots. Of the 87 individuals in the data set who have been convicted or punished in some way, at least 19 had family ties to Pakistan, at least one was a Pakistani citizen, travel lodge orlando international airport and at least 61 were affiliated with al-Qaeda. Finally, a minimum of 27 had sought or received training travel lodge orlando international airport in Pakistan or Afghanistan -- more than in any other region of the world.
Pattern #2: Pakistan does not stand alone. Taken as a region, North Africa -- defined as the states of Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, and Egypt -- was a significant contributor to terrorist plots in Great Britain. [5] At least 13 individuals with family ties to North Africa were connected to terrorist plots. Six were Algerian citizens.
Pattern #3: Participation travel lodge orlando international airport from the Middle East is comparatively insignificant. Only three individuals convicted or punished in connection with terrorist plots were born in, were citizens of, or had family ties to states in the Middle East. Taken together, the entire Middle East is less important than sub-Saharan Africa as a source of individuals travel lodge orlando international airport who have been convicted or punished for Islamist plots in Britain.
Instead, the terrorist travel lodge orlando international airport threat has come notably from individuals affiliated with al-Qaeda. The Islamist threat in Britain reflects the fact that al-Qaeda, the most active Islamist terrorist organization, is based in Pakistan and has been able to influence individuals in Britain from this safe haven. In short, Islamist terrorism in Britain is another front in the war that al-Qaeda is waging now in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
travel lodge orlando international airport Pattern #4: Homegrown Islamism is a major threat. A striking disconnect in the data is that, while at least 19 individuals with family ties to Pakistan have been convicted or punished in some way, only one Pakistani citizen has been convicted or punished. A substantial number -- at least 48 individuals -- of those punished were British citizens, of which at least 18 have family ties to Pakistan and at least 18 were born in Britain. Even more serious, at least 18 individuals received terrorist training in Britain -- more than in any other country except Pakistan. [6]
These figures do not indicate that individuals of Pakistani origin, whether British citizens or not, are predisposed to acts of terrorism. However, they do suggest that al-Qaeda's safe haven in Pakistan's tribal areas enables its leadership more easily to gain access to and to influence individuals travel lodge orlando international airport with family ties to Pakistan.
Pattern #5: Border control and verification of legal status present travel lodge orlando international airport serious challenges. Of the individuals punished, two entered Britain on student or work visas, one was granted asylum, three were denied asylum but given permission to remain in the country, and 15 had entered illegally. Thus, at least 21 of the individuals had entered Britain legally, but under false pretenses, or illegally.
Controlling national borders is a basic responsibility of any sovereign state. The fact that 21 of the 87 individuals punished in connection with Islamist terrorist plots in Britain entered the nation by various forms of deception demonstrates that British border controls are too easily evaded. This is not a question of immigration policy or the size or composition travel lodge orlando international airport of immigration. It is a matter of ensuring that all entries into Britain, for whatever travel lodge orlando international airport reason, have been effectively verified as legal.
Britain has recently embarked on a reform of its border controls. As it has an