More in our ‘Invasion of Europe’ series….
From Stars and Stripes yesterday:
NAPLES, Italy — The U.S. Joint Chiefs chairman and Italian officials said Monday that Washington and Rome share concerns about the flood of migrants into Italy from the Middle East and Africa amid heightened terrorism fears in Europe.
The U.S. has warned in the past about the possible flow of foreign fighters through Europe’s southern borders as refugees flee Syria, Libya and other warring nations. European governments are increasingly worried about their own citizens who have traveled abroad to train with terrorist groups and then return home. The recent attacks in Paris and the thwarted attacks in Belgium have underscored those concerns.
Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey met with Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti and Chief of Defense Adm. Luigi Binelli Mantelli on Monday. He was joined by U.S. Ambassador to Italy John R. Phillips.
The meeting included discussions about U.S. and allied operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
Both sides expressed concern about foreign fighters, according to a Defense Department release, and Dempsey said countries that migrants are leaving should be a part of any discussion about extremism.
Federal refugee contractor, the International Organization for Migration (the agency that processes refugees abroad for resettlement to your US cities), downplays concerns. You have to be a complete idiot to not assume Jihadists are using the refugee flow as cover to get into Europe.
More than 170,000 migrants have entered Italy in the past year, crossing the Mediterranean Sea. That’s roughly four times the number in 2013, according to estimates released last week by the International Organization for Migration.
But an IOM official said those trying to cross into Italy are refugees and asylum-seekers escaping war or impoverished conditions.
“We don’t have any reports of infiltration or what we think would be characterized as al-Qaida or something like that using this as a launching point,” spokesman Joel Millman said.
Go here for our ‘Invasion of Europe’ series, and for more on poor Italy’s migration mess, click here.
I wonder when (if!) Joint Chiefs Chairman Dempsey will speak about Muslim migration to America as a security threat? Not holding my breath!