The Washington Post takes an in-depth look at what's going on in Tony Blair's country:
The answer is that Britain has become an incubator for violent Islamic extremism, fueled by disenchantment at home and growing rage about events abroad, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Four bombers killed themselves and 52 others in attacks on the London public transit system on July 7, 2005 , followed by an almost identical but failed attack two weeks later. Last month Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair said that at least three "serious conspiracies" had been disrupted in the previous 12 months. Then this week, police said they thwarted a plot to blow up as many as 10 airliners flying from Britain to the United States that could have killed thousands.
In one of Europe's largest Muslim communities, young men face a lack of jobs, poor educational achievement and discrimination in a highly class-oriented culture. Prime Minister Tony Blair is the most outspoken ally of President Bush, and their policies in Iraq and Afghanistan are seen by many Muslims as aimed at Islam.
