REAL WORLD ALERT

Posted at 8:43 a.m. ET

Britain's Telegraph has gotten hold of a document outlining the seriousness of the terror threat against the U.K.  (I am speculating here, but I wonder if this extraordinary leak wasn't directed at president-elect Obama, reminding him of what conditions are like in the real world.)

Secret enclaves of al-Qaeda extremists based in London, Birmingham and Luton are planning mass-casualty attacks in Britain, according to a leaked Government intelligence report.

The document, which was drawn up by the intelligence branch of the Ministry of Defence, MI5 and Special Branch, states that "some thousands" of extremists are active in the UK. They are predominantly UK-born and aged between 18 and 30, and many are believed to have been trained in overseas terrorist camps.

Virtually all assessments we've seen at Urgent Agenda say that Britain and Europe are far easier targets for terror attacks than the U.S. because travel here for potential terrorists has been made far more difficult than it was before 9/11.

The Telegraph quotes the report:

"For the foreseeable future the UK will continue to be a high-priority target for international terrorists aligned with al-Qaeda. It will face a threat from British nationals, including Muslim converts, and UK-based foreign terrorists, as well as terrorists planning attacks from abroad."

A recent statement by a major American intelligence official noted that a very high number of terror attacks, going back decades, are made in the months following a presidential election or in the first year of a new presidency.  An attack, of course, could well be made on a British or other foreign target both as a greeting to a new president and a possible way of splitting an ally from the United States. 

Since 2001, over 1,200 terrorist suspect have been arrested, over 140 have been charged and more than 45 have been convicted of terrorism offences, according to Home Office figures. It is also estimated that there are some 200 terrorist networks functioning in Britain today who are involved in at least 30 plots.

But this latest security assessment appears to suggest that the number of individuals who now pose a threat to the UK is even higher.

And...

The report continues: "The majority of extremists are British nationals of south Asian, mainly Pakistani origin but there are also extremists from north and east Africa, Iraq and the Middle East, and a number of converts. The overwhelming majority of extremists are male, typically in the 18-30 age range.

The converts are particularly worrisome because they could be native-born British citizens, indistinguishable from other Britons. 

It adds: "The availability of training/guidance and the necessary components to build improvised explosive devices (IED), allied with extremists' known targeting preferences, mean that IED attacks against crowded places, intended to cause mass casualties, are the most likely form of attack in the UK."

And please note this:

It is also made clear in the report that al-Qaeda cells are planning further attacks in UK with the so-called Government Security Zone (GSZ), an area which covers the Houses of Parliament, Whitehall, Buckingham and St James' Palaces, as a possible target. The threat level in the GSZ is described in the report as "severe".

Security officials are convinced that UK-based al-Qaeda cells will attempt to carry out another "spectacular" inside the UK with major transport termini, such as airports and train stations, being the most likely targets.

Welcome to reality, Mr. Obama.  We hope you'll take this British paper into account when naming your foreign-policy and national-security teams, and that we won't see the likes of John Kerry or Chuck Hagel on either one of them.  This is a time for vigilance, not fashionable theory. 

I'd like to just note that, despite the heavy presence of politically correct adolescents in both Britain and Europe, other elements in these areas take terrorism more seriously than we do.  No country is more sensitive about internal security than is France, and the U.K. has superb operatives protecting its homeland.  We have great people too, but we must wonder about the commitment of the incoming, liberal administration.  Ease our concerns, Mr. Obama.

November 9, 2008.