Will the jihadists really leave you alone if you play isolationist?

There's no need for us to answer the question when the terrorists do it for us.

Al-Qaida Joins Algerians Against France

PARIS Sep 14, 2006 (AP)— Al-Qaida has for the first time announced a union with an Algerian insurgent group that has designated France as an enemy, saying they will act together against French and American interests.

Current and former French officials specializing in terrorism said Thursday that an al-Qaida alliance with the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, known by its French initials GSPC, was cause for concern.

"We take these threats very seriously," Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said, adding in an interview on France-2 television that the threat to France was "high" and "permanent," and that "absolute vigilance" was required.

Al-Qaida's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, announced the "blessed union" in a video posted this week on the Internet to mark the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

France's leader have repeatedly warned that the decision not to join the U.S.-led war in Iraq would not shield the country from Islamic terrorism. French participation in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon could give extremists another reason to strike.

After becoming the land of dhimmitude, via the great French pasttime se rendre, France is still a target for the terrorists. Who's really surprised? You don't win by capitulation, and the jihadists are an enemy who are only emboldened by increasing signs of weakness.

How about putting the story in another context?

Mexican Group Joins Japan Against U.S.

Washington, D.C. December 7, 1942 (AP)— For the first time, a group of Mexican border bandits has announced a union with Japan, saying they will act together against American interests.

Current and former Department of War officials specializing in terrorism said Thursday that Japan's alliance with the Sons of Pancho Villa, known by the Mexican government by its initials LHDPV, was cause for concern.

"We take these threats very seriously," Secretary of War Henry Stimson said, adding in a radio broadcast from the White House that the threat to Americans was "high" and "permanent," and that "absolute vigilance" was required.

LHDPV's number two, Eduardo Gonzalez, announced "this union blessed by Our Lady" in a letter sent to several major American newspapers on the first anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Several members of President Roosevelt's administration have repeatedly warned that with the country's focus on the Axis Powers, it has ignored the threat from Mexican guerrillas. These groups have previously raided border towns only to finance their fighting against the Mexican government, but they apparently have gained courage by the U.S. war effort going badly.