I think only Japan and the U.S. have implemented fingerprinting, right? So Astroboy's comment...
Japan passport control must check well Fingerprints of visitors from EU nations because EU has not yet implement fingerprinting.
...doesn't make sense. That is, why check only the EU nations? It would seem that all countries except Japan should be checked, then, right? At least, that's what Astroboy's logic would dictate. And, conversely, that would mean Japanese
don't need to be checked by the U.S.
Ok, now let's deal with that video interview.
1) The interviewer asked "where does the biggest threat (to the U.S.) come from?" Be mindful of this specific question --
biggest threat. Chertoff said, "
One of these [indistinguishable word] we've been concerned about lately is the
possibility of Europe becoming a platform..." Note the emphasis I placed here because it does not denote answering the question itself.
2) The 2004 Madrid bombing mentioned by Chertoff did not stem from a European, but from a Moroccan, whose ties to al Quaida have not been established, despite earlier thoughts to the contrary.
3) The 2006 Madrid bombing may have been caused by "homegrown" terrorists in the form of ETA members, who were arrested. So, which one of these bombings was Chertoff referring to? He's 50% off.
4) The 2005 London bombing has received a ton of press about who actually did it. Several people were arrested; some were even released. It is not clear whether any of these people were truly working for al Qaida. The only thing that seemed clear was the blatantly obvious fact that this bombing was carefully planned and took time to prepare. So, "homegrown"? The supposed ringleader Khan was born and raised in Leeds, although is father was born in Pakistan, so I guess this could be a homegrown label that sticks, but the bigger question is, what can any country do about it? Khan was raised and educated in the British system all the way through university. Anything he may have learned from his Pakistani roots is just not something the local government can monitor or control.
5) The failed bombings in Germany were not homegrown. The suspects are students from Lebanon. One actually attended a Christian school in Tripoli, not an Islamic extremist school.
6) Chertoff acknowledges that stopping the visa waiver program in the US would be detrimental to business and tourism, but even so, if we are talking about
European terrorists, the information from the bombings mentioned by Chertoff himself shows that the U.S. is looking in the wrong place. Chertoff even said, "...that suggests to us that the terrorists are looking to Europe both as a target and as a platform for terrorist attacks." Where does he get the platform focus?
7) Despite Chertoff's remarks about increased security in the U.S., he completely avoided answering the question about fingerprinting on the Mexican border. Not cool.
8) Chertoff then states several other countries as targets of terrorism (e.g., Bali, Somalia), but these are not the U.S.!
And, one final thought here. Terrorists are not always Islamic extremists.
So, Astroboy, you wrote:
As Europe may be a Terrorist-base, Japan must prepare well.
Why? The above article and interview really didn't indicate anything pointed at Japan in the least.
