If we were to abandon Iraq, can anyone doubt that the flow of jihadists to those other regions, and more, would increase?

And here's MI5 on the Iraq connection to the recent terrorist attack in England:

MI5, Britain's domestic intelligence agency, said on its Web site that some Britons had joined the insurgency in Iraq. "In the longer term, it is possible that they may later return to the UK and consider mounting attacks here," it said.

While I think it's a bit of a stretch to call British al Qaeda terrorists who travel to Iraq part of an "insurgency," I'm more interested in precisely what mechanism apparently allows them to travel so freely to the UK (and elsewhere).

And what are the implications of "in the longer term"? Does that mean when the war is over? Presumably, the Jihadist/Islamists/Islamofascists are going to Iraq to win the war. Remember, these people are fanatic supporters of al Qaeda. The ringleader (Abdullah) seems to have had a penchant for making collegues he considered insufficiently Muslim watch Zarqawi's beheading videos, warning that it could happen to them:

Born in Britain but raised in Iraq, Abdullah was known by others as intense militant Muslim at the University of Cambridge. His status at the university is unclear but records show he graduated in Baghdad in 2004.

He also allegedly rented an apartment in Cambridge and frequently visited the city where his grandmother and an uncle lived, according to his friends.

Shiraz Maher, himself a former member of a radical Islamic group, said he remembered Abdullah berating a Muslim roommate for not being devout enough, showing him a beheading video and warning that could happen to him.

Maher said Abdullah also claimed to have a number of videos of the then-leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed by a U.S. air strike last year.

If I didn't know any better, I'd swear that either no one is watching these people, or at least they don't especially care when and wear they come and go.

Fortunately, for now Iraq seems to be the focus of their wrath. What I don't like seeing is the MI5 speculation about where they might go later. (After they presumably win in Iraq, perhaps?)

Remember, Abdullah lived quite openly as a terror supporter -- even to the point where his online fanaticism actually interfered with his job performance:

"He was certainly very angry about what was happening in Iraq. ... He supported the insurgency in Iraq. He actively cheered the deaths of British and American troops in Iraq," Maher told British Broadcasting Corp. television.

It was in Cambridge that Abdullah is believed to have come to know suspect Mohammed Asha, when Asha worked at the Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. Asha was arrested June 30 with his wife, Marwa, on a highway in central England.

Details have emerged to show that Abdullah seems to be the key link between the suspects arrested in connection with the failed attacks. He reportedly had links to radical Islamic groups on the MI5 database, British security officials said speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

At the time of the attacks, Abdullah was working under supervision at the Royal Alexandra Hospital outside Glasgow.

He had been disciplined by his employers for spending too much time on the Internet, according to hospital staff, suggesting the plot may have been planned in cyberspace. Police said they seized several computers from hospitals in Glasgow and other cities.

Hmmm.... Let's look at the root cause of the doctor's problem. Might he have been suffering from an "Internet addiction"?

I hate to say it, and I know this will sound cynical, but I prefer the old-fashioned kind of doctor who spends too much time on the golf course. How times have changed!

Even the meaning of the term "links" has changed so that it no longer means golf.

What, you think it's silly for me to be making a moral comparison like that while yearning for the old days? After all, these foreign terrorist doctors hopping back and forth from Iraq and England are a grotesque medical aberration, are they not? Just because guys like Che Guevara, Josef Mengele and Ayman al Zawahiri (and England's suicide bombers) were doctors, most doctors believe in healing the sick and not murdering civilians.

Besides, it would never happen here, right? Surely, we have procedures in place.

Yes we do. And one of them is in place to help foreign doctors get into this country. Right here in Philadelphia.

FBI spokeswoman Nancy O'Dowd said Mohammed Asha and another suspect had contacted the Philadelphia-based Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, as first reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer. She said Asha, a Jordanian of Palestinian heritage, contacted the agency within the last year, but apparently did not take the test for foreign medical school graduates.

Is that supposed to be a reassuring statement of how the safeguards are supposed to work?

"He was applying, (but) we don't believe he took the test," she said.

O'Dowd could not immediately confirm the name of the second suspect.

The FBI this week visited the ECFMG's office in West Philadelphia, O'Dowd said.

Obtaining certification from ECFMG is a first step for foreign medical school students seeing a medical residency in the United States. The organization reviews and verifies each applicant's credentials, the newspaper reported.

"We verify medical documents, credentials, diplomas and transcripts. The doctors we certify are not guaranteed of anything. It's just another step in the process," Stephen S. Seeling, vice president of operations for the educational commission, told the newspaper.

Seeling added that roughly 46,000 people applied to take one of the three exams last year.

Agents found records related to applications by Asha and Haneef, officials said. The education commission verifies foreign doctors' credentials and administers required exams. It does not issue visas.

Stephen Seeling, the commission's vice president, who was visited by FBI agents this week, said he could not comment on any applicant.

ECFMG is always interested in providing more information on visa possibilities on our website. Currently, we have links to the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service website, as well as to the United States Department of State Exchange Visitor site. Both of these sites offer a wide array of information on J01 and other visa options. We also provide a link to the American Immigration Lawyers Association website which is the premier professional organization in this country for attorneys specializing in immigration and naturalization law. It features legislation updates and other news of interest. Links to three immigration law firms are included because each site includes background information on immigration matters that might be helpful to individuals seeking ECFMG certification. If you have suggestions for additional information on links regarding visa matters, we would be pleased to consider the material.

Let's assume that Dr. Asha had decided to come to Philadelphia -- for the purported purpose of taking the test. ECFMG offers a streamlined process to help him get a visa (including a money-back guarantee):

When candidates complete the registration process for CSA they are sent notification that they are registered, along with instruction for scheduling their actual CSA [Clinical Skills Assessment] session. Routinely included in the packet is a letter which candidates can take to any consulate explaining the nature of CSA, how it relates to ECFMG certification and the necessity for the candidate to travel to Philadelphia in order to take the examination. Consular staff are requested to provide assistance and consideration to applicants presenting to them seeking appropriate travel visas. In the majority of cases, this form letter seems to be adequate.

(Emphasis supplied.)

And, just in case the visas are denied, they'll get a personalized letter from ECMFG -- complete with name, identification number, and date requirements:

In some cases, however, candidates are denied a visa on their first attempt, and then generally notify us and request additional assistance. At that point we routinely provide them another letter which is personalized to include their name, ECFMG identification number and the date requirements by which they must schedule and take CSA. Once again, this letter urges the consular staff to provide assistance and consideration to these individuals.

Unfortunately, in a small number of cases this is also unsuccessful and candidates are unable to obtain the necessary travel documents to take CSA. It is, and has always been, standard operating policy for ECFMG to refund all registration fees to candidates who are unable to obtain visas to travel to Philadelphia.

I say, bring back the old days when doctors neglected their patients by playing too much golf, and when enemies of the United States couldn't freely travel here. Despite the "Iraq is Vietnam" meme, Vietnamese Communists never traveled to the United States to kill civilians. For starters, they'd have had a bit of a problem obtaining visas. But they never considered striking targets inside the United States (this was a job left to underground radicals who now teach at prestigious universities).

Considering that today's enemies have a stated goal of using international travel to slaughter civilians, you'd think it would be harder, not easier, for them to obtain visas. Why are things made so much easier for today's enemies?

I'm thinking it may be another example of the "success is not an option" movement.