How Europe Bankrolls Terror

Europeans have knowingly bankrolled Islamist radicals in Africa with ransom payments since 2003, argues Nasser Weddady in The New York Times. The same nations that until very recently had troops in Afghanistan fighting terrorism have been turning over cash to terrorists in Africa, Weddady wrote. Over the past decade, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands have paid more than $130 million to terrorist groups to free European hostages. Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa have grown accustomed to ransom payments and seek to capture as many Europeans — from aid workers to volunteers to tourists — as they could. In contrast, terrorists know that America won’t negotiate with hostage-takers and is much more likely to use force to free its citizens.