THIS MUST BE A MISUNDERSTANDING – AT 8:47 P.M. ET:  I'm sure this is simply a failure to comprehend the multicultural aspects of international events and initiatives.  Yeah, right.  From AP:

A Hamburg mosque once frequented by some of the Sept. 11 attackers was shut down Monday because German authorities believe the prayer house was again being used as a meeting point for Islamic radicals.

The Taiba mosque was closed and the cultural association that runs it was banned, Hamburg officials said in a statement.

"We have closed the mosque because it was a recruiting and meeting point for Islamic radicals who wanted to participate in so-called jihad or holy war," said Frank Reschreiter, a spokesman for Hamburg's state interior ministry.

Look, if the fellas need a mosque, there's one being built in New York that may be open to moving.

He said that 20 police officers were searching the building and had confiscated material, including several computers. He was not aware of any arrests.

Authorities have said the prayer house, formerly known as the al-Quds mosque, years ago was a meeting and recruiting point for some of the Sept. 11 attackers before they moved to the United States.

Reschreiter said it was the first time the mosque had been closed, and that it had been under observation by local intelligence officers for quite a long time.

COMMENT:  As a general rule, Europeans, with the possible exception of the Brits, tend to take internal security more seriously than we do.  Closing a mosque, especially in a country with a large number of Muslim immigrants or guest workers, is a serious step, open to legal challenge.  I'd imagine the German authorities have quite a dossier on these touchy-feely moderates, who probably just wanted to play a little table tennis.

If the mosque has indeed been used as a meeting point for radicals, it certainly points to the probability that Islamic radicalism in Europe is becoming increasingly brazen.  And why not?  There is a powerful European left that protects the radicals, if for no other reason than both the left and the radicals despise the United States.

We're far from out of the woods.

August 9, 2010