Next Terrorist Attacks in America Could Come from British, European Muslims Without Visas

The next terrorist attacks in America on a scale like the September 11, 2001, attacks, could come from radical Muslims in Great Britain and Europe who will be allowed to come to the United States temporarily without visas, the U.S. Homeland Security Chief today was quoted as saying by the website, www.worldnetdaily.net. The comments by Michael Chertoff were originally reported in the London Telegraph.

Chertoff will arrive in Great Britain tomorrow for talks with John Reid, the Home Secretary, and he said in an interview with the London Telegraph that the United States is determined to build "layers of protection" against such attacks.

Chertoff, a formal federal prosecutor, said he is concerned that "unknown terrorists," such as the terrorists that attacked buses in London with bombs nearly two years ago. He noted that the people responsible for those bombings that killed more than 50 people were British citizens with no criminal history or intelligence traces. He said he is concerned radical Muslims might use the system that allows people from Britain or other European countries to use the "visa waver" to come to America for 90 days without a visa and commit acts of terrorism.

A total of 27 countries participate in the program, which allows visitors to enter the United States for 90 days without a visa. A total of about 18 million people enter the country every year under the system.

Chertoff said many American Muslims are different than Muslims in Great Britain and other European countries.

"Our Muslim population is better educated and economically better off than the average American," Chertoff explained. "So, from a standpoint of mobility in society, it's a successful immigration population. To a degree, the whole country is a country of immigrants."

He thinks that, on the other hand, many Muslims in Europe came in as a "colonial legacy," and have always felt like they were second-class citizens. He said many of the immigrants have been clustered in certain areas.