From Captain’s Quarters comes news that the makers of highly accurate firearms and watches, as well as some tasty chocolate, have just discovered that their nose high “Bot weer nootraal” attitude towards warfare isn’t going to save them from those with the message “Praise Allah or Die!”
For centuries, this Alpine nation has successfully relied on a strict policy of political neutrality to insulate it from the wars, invasions and revolutions that have raged outside its borders. These days, a new threat has emerged: one from within.
As they have elsewhere in Europe, Islamic radicals are making inroads in Switzerland. Last month, Swiss officials announced the arrests of a dozen suspects who allegedly conspired to shoot down an Israeli airliner flying from Geneva to Tel Aviv. In a related case, a North African man has been charged with organizing a plot from Swiss soil to blow up the Spanish supreme court in Madrid.
For years, even after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, Swiss officials assumed that their country was one of the last places Islamic radicals would look to attack. Long considered a slice of neutral territory in a world full of conflicts, Switzerland trades on its status as home to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other diplomatic institutions.
Sorry to have to bother you there, Sepp, but we’re picking sides here and your skills would be appreciated on this team. The other team just wants to cut off your head.
Your choice.