Right to Opine

For years western Europe has been quietly allowing an increasingly radical Muslim population to cause serious societal problems. The conflict has been most notably covered in Belgium and the Netherlands, but the U.K. has certainly had its share of issues, particularly with homegrown terrorism. Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron today signaled that his country’s slumber may be coming to an end.

Speaking at a security conference in Munich on Saturday, Mr. Cameron condemned what he called the “hands-off tolerance” in Britain and other European nations that had encouraged Muslims and other immigrant groups “to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream.”

He said that the policy had allowed Islamic militants leeway to radicalize young Muslims, some of whom went on to “the next level” by becoming terrorists, and that Europe could not defeat terrorism “simply by the actions we take outside our borders,” with military actions like the war in Afghanistan.

“Europe needs to wake up to what is happening in our own countries,” he said. “We have to get to the root of the problem.”

The full text of his speech can be read here. It’s well worth your time.