It does not always pay to capitulate

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

Al-Qaeda 'in plot to attack France'

FRENCH intelligence has produced a dossier alleging that al-Qaeda plans an attack on the country during forthcoming presidential elections.

The Arabic-language al-Hayat daily newspaper has reported there were "several indications of a plot to copy the Spanish scenario in France", a reference to the explosions that rocked Madrid in March 2004.

The London-based daily quoted mainly "messages posted on internet sites close to al-Qaeda carrying threats against France, accompanied by pictures from the campaigns for the presidential elections", which are slated for April and May.

And threats from bin Laden:

The newspaper said the eight-page intelligence report took three months to prepare and included contributions from different French intelligence services which identified "four sources of threat".

One came from "Iraqi networks", including returnee volunteers from European countries who had fought with the Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda.

"The north African networks linked to Algeria's Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat" (GSPC) are another source of threat, the report said.

Al-Hayat also published a letter attributed to al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden addressed to a GSPC leader referred to as Abu Qassem, in which he recommends targeting France "to hit where it hurts most".

French technical assistance to Iran and other fringe states is casually transferred to acolytes, as we now see with IED's in Iraq. If the French learn any lesson from this alleged plot, it should be that advanced technology does not easily transition benignly to the third world. Furthermore - pleas for diplomacy, appeasement and feigned ambivalence do little to sheild your country against Islamic fascists.