Muslims and Free Speech

From Professor Michael Curtis, at American Thinker.

After a review of the free speech debate following the Charlie Hebdo attack, there's this:

The mainstream media with its stance of political correctness argues that the greatest danger now is that “more Europeans will come to the conclusion that all Muslim immigrants are carriers of a great and mortal threat.”  It is unlikely that anyone has ever formulated such a conclusion, but realistic commentators have pointed out that a real threat exists.  Indeed, in her combative book The Rage and the Pride, published soon after 9/11/2001 in New York, Oriana Fallaci warned that Muslim extremists with their swelling hatred for the West would launch another  attack.

One can agree that the two murderous Kouachi brothers and  Amedy Couibaly, who killed 17 people, are not the true representatives of the 1.6 billion Muslims in the world.  But it is equally true that the CH satirical pieces and cartoons, some of which are infantile and obscene, are not the real instigators of the threat to the West.  The threat is Islamic extremism or Islamism, not any result of Western foreign policy in the Middle East.

Nor did violence in France result from the policies of President François Hollande, or from the high rate of unemployment or poverty or because children of Muslim immigrants are said to be caught between two cultures.  Nor is the German group Pegida (Patriotic Europeans against Islamization of the West), which demonstrates against immigration, the cause of violence.  Rather, its members argue, its existence and activity are an attempt to prevent violence.  German security authorities suggest that about 250 of the 4 million Muslims in the country are jihadists, and more than 2,000 are potentially dangerous.

Irrespective of the political views of those making the argument, criticism of Islamists and of certain parts of Muslim behavior – inferior status of women, absence of free expression on political and religious issues, the interconnection between religious and political power – is not correctly described as “Islamophobia.”...

Well, don't go making too much sense, Professor.

Holly Fisher, Army Wife and Conservative Hottie, Busted for Infidelity

This is at Charles C. Johnson's Got News, "BREAKING, EXCLUSIVE: Tea Party Photo Military Wife Caught Cheating On Combat Vet Hubbie."

There's no question this story's legit. Ms. Fisher has a post up at Facebook about how she was all famous and hot to trot once her Twitter fame exploded. She didn't handle it well and now has gotten back to God and family:

I’ve been married since I was barely 20, most of that marriage was in the army life. With deployment, kids, career changes, etc. we’ve had our ups and downs, like most couples. In the overwhelming mess of the political spotlight and trying to find myself and where I belong, I actually completely lost myself. I lost my faith in my marriage, I lost my faith in this life that not only I’ve chosen for myself, but a life that I promote. Happy military wife with kids and church and happy, happy, happy. False. My life crumbled. My marriage crumbled. I lost my faith in God. I didn’t know where I was going to go next or what I was going to do. For a very short period in the middle of that, I actually believed my marriage was over and found someone else.

Day after day, actually week after week, throughout the late fall, I found myself just trying to figure out what I needed to do to make myself happy and to get my life back on track.

I have suffered from depression and anxiety most of my life, only recently telling my family about it, but after being at my lowest, my darkest, and literally about to end it all, my daughter started laughing. My sweet, angelic baby girl toddled into the room while I was sitting on the edge of my bed, and she was squealing with delight.

Right then and there I knew I needed to get off my butt and get on my knees. My daughter, along with God, saved my life. I regained my ability to pray after a few long nights of my husband squeezing me tight and helping me realize that we are a team, we are best friends, we are partners, and no matter how lost we’ve been in the past, we can survive anything...

Well, it's certainly news.

I'll say though, for someone who went viral mocking the hell out of hate-addled leftists, she's fallen pretty hard. But then, we're all fallen. We're human. Owning up to it is the start of getting things back together. Hopefully her husband's going to be forgiving. I'd hate for them to divorce. Their baby would get the worst of it. She's still just a little thing.

@HollyRFisher I am with you always. We crossed this bridge and will walk together now with our heads high. I love you. Matthew 6:14-15
— David Fisher (@DavidIFisher) January 19, 2015

Added: At London's Daily Mail, "Gun-toting Christian mother-of-three who made 'liberal heads explode' admits cheating on her military vet husband with Tea Party member."

L.A. Times: Saïd and Chérif Kouachi 'Craved Belonging', Which is Why They Murdered #CharlieHebdo, or Something

So stupid.

Being orphaned, feeling marginalized, and "craving belonging" are not explanations for the French terrorist massacre. Islamic jihad is the only reason these two Islamic terrorists murdered the innocents. All the rest is psycho-babble.

Occam's razor, folks. Just go with it.

At the Los Angeles Times, "French terrorists were primed for trouble from the start, analysts say":

The gunmen behind France's worst terrorist attack in decades appear to have been easy prey for recruiters to violent jihad.

The children of immigrants, with seemingly chaotic family lives, they were frustrated by injustices they perceived around them and had been trying to make their way with few means, according to court records and experts who study terrorism networks.

"These were people who were marginalized, who broke with society. They went to prison, and they became radicalized because they needed to be heroes," said Christophe Crepin, spokesman for a French police union. "In the end, they're just barbarous assassins."

Their path to radicalization began in the seething immigrant neighborhoods on the edges of Paris.

Said Kouachi, 34, and his brother Cherif, 32, were born to a family of Algerian descent in Paris' 10th arrondissement. Their father appears to have been largely absent, and their mother struggled to raise the family's five children, Crepin said.

The brothers were placed at a young age in a center for orphaned and troubled children outside the capital. Their mother died soon after.

The pair returned to Paris around 2000 and moved into an apartment in the 19th arrondissement, an area heavily populated by migrants from France's former colonies in North Africa. They survived on odd jobs. Cherif Kouachi delivered pizzas for a time and later worked at a supermarket fish counter, according to French news reports.

Long before the brothers stormed the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Jan. 7, killing 12 people, they fell under the influence of a self-proclaimed Islamist preacher they met at a local mosque.

Still in his 20s and working as a janitor, Farid Benyettou became the mentor and spiritual leader of a group of young Muslims who were angered by images of American abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison and wanted to go fight U.S. soldiers in Iraq. French authorities called them the Buttes-Chaumont network, after the picturesque park with its picnickers and hilltop views where they would go jogging.

Benyettou was just a year older than the younger Kouachi, but the brothers looked up to him because he claimed to have studied Islam and had a brother-in-law who was part of an Algerian militant group, said Jean-Charles Brisard, chairman of the Paris-based Center for the Analysis of Terrorism. They attended lessons at Benyettou's apartment, where they discussed the religious arguments for waging holy war.

Even then, Cherif Kouachi would talk about wanting to stage an attack in France, a friend told investigators. But their mentor told them the fight was elsewhere.

Some members of the Buttes-Chaumont group would later be killed in Iraq or return badly maimed, but the Kouachi brothers never made it to the war. Cherif Kouachi was arrested in a 2005 crackdown on the network that was funneling fighters. He had a plane ticket for Syria, then the gateway for fighters hoping to do battle against the U.S. in Iraq. His brother's role in the network, if any, is unclear.

At the time, the younger Kouachi told investigators he was relieved to be caught. He described himself as a "ghetto Muslim," according to the French newspaper Le Monde, a clean-shaven hipster who liked to rap and smoke marijuana with friends. He didn't want to die in Iraq, he said, but was afraid he would be called a coward if he didn't go.

Prosecutors thought he had been manipulated by a cult-like ideology and didn't consider him a serious threat. When the case wrapped up in 2008, he was sentenced to time served.

But the radicalization that had begun on the streets of Paris intensified in prison, experts say. Remanded after his arrest to Fleury-Merogis Prison south of Paris, the nation's largest, he found himself in the company of hardened extremists.

There he met the Algerian-born Djamel Beghal, regarded as one of Al Qaeda's top recruiters in Europe, and convicted in a 2001 plot to bomb the U.S. Embassy in Paris. With them was the Kouachi brothers' future accomplice, Amedy Coulibaly, serving time for one of a string of robberies.

Coulibaly, the same age as Cherif Kouachi, was born in France to parents of West African descent. The only boy in a family of 10 children, he grew up on a housing estate in Grigny, south of Paris, that is notorious for gangs, drugs and violence.

"These guys are looking for something to join, they're looking for something to identify with," said Andrew Liepman, a senior policy analyst at Rand Corp. and former principal deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center. "It could be a bridge club, the Boy Scouts or Al Qaeda — and there aren't a lot of bridge clubs in prison."...

More.

Note: "Craving belonging" is how the hard-copy edition of the story described the Kouachis.

Miss Lebanon Saly Greige Denies Taking Selfie with Miss Israel Doron Matalon

It's come to this.

The international politics of selfies.

At the New York Post, "Uproar after Miss Israel's selfie with Miss Lebanon."

More at JPost, "Miss Lebanon denies taking photo with Miss Israel, says she 'photo-bombed' her," and Time, "Miss Lebanon Criticized After Being Caught in Miss Israel’s Selfie."

Actually, no. That's not a photobomb. She's posing for a selfie, straight up. It's indeed sad that two young women can't enjoy a moment of innocence at beauty contest. Sheesh.

Notice, however, that's it's the Lebanese who're unforgiving here. That tells you something.

VIDEO: #CharlieHebdo to NBC's Chuck Todd: When You Blur Our Cover, 'You Blur Out Democracy'

Watch it here.

And at Bloomberg, "Charlie Hebdo Editor Says Some Media ‘Blur Out Democracy’."

It's Gerard Biard, the new editor at Charlie Hebdo, who should be headlining Memeorandum right now, but is not, predictably.

Sunday Cartoons

At Flopping Aces, "Sunday Funnies."



Also at Reaganite Republican, "Reaganite's Sunday Funnies," and Theo Spark's, "Cartoon Round Up..."

More at Legal Insurrection, "Branco Cartoon – Hang It Up, France," and Lonely Conservative, "Saturday Funnies."

Cartoon Credit: William Warren.

Championship Sunday Rule 5

Let's get things rockin' with the Pirate's Cove, "Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup," and "If All You See……is a horrible wood fire polluting the atmosphere with carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist."

Now over at Gator Doug's, "THE DALEYBABE."

A View From the Beach, "Packers vs Seahawks." And AoSHQ, "NFC Championship Game."

Proof has more, "...the Obligatory NFL Cheerleaders." And at PCP, "NFC Championship: Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks."

Also at Knuckledragging, "Your Good Morning Girl."

Goodstuff's has "Hot Cosplayer Abby Dark Star."

And Dana Pico has, "Rule 5 Blogging: Swiss Misses."

At Egotastic!, "Humpday Huzzah! Jodie Gasson Strips Out of Bikinis for Memorable Shower Time Experience."

At the Hostages, "Big Boob Friday."

More at Ode's, "Good Advertising ~OR~ Rule 5 Woodsterman Style."

And at Drunken Stepfather, "ANNA KOURNIKOVA IN A BIKINI TOP OF THE DAY."

The Last Tradition has "Rule 5 Sunday - Lais Ribeiro."

Crazy Uncle Bubba has, "Today is Leg Day!"

That Mr. G Guy, "An Open Letter to My Tenants: 'I'm not rich you dirtbag flea-ridden deadbeats'."

Diogenes, "I have recently received email from two different regular reader of this blog about the apparent turn to a darker more serious tone. For this I apologize, and I will attempt in as short a way as possible to explain..."

Soylent, "Your Morning Coffee Creamer."

And at 90 Miles from Tyranny, "Morning Mistress."

Drop your links in the comments if I've missed your Rule 5.

Until then...

ADDED: At Ms. EBL's, "2015 NFC Championship Seagals Rule 5 Update: Seattle wins in OT," and "Colts Patriots AFC Championship Rule 5 Update: Pats demolish Colts."

'American Sniper' Busts Out to Record-Breaking Opening Weekend

At USA Today, "'American Sniper' smashes records with $90M weekend."

At Instapundit, "GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT: Box-Office Shocker: ‘American Sniper’ Targeting Massive $75M-Plus Debut."



It's a great movie. Here's my review, ICYMI, "'American Sniper': A War on Terror Masterpiece."

Pamela Geller in Garland, Texas

Pamela headlined a huge free speech really in the Lone Star State yesterday.

At Breitbart Texas, "PAMELA GELLER: MUSLIMS TRYING TO RESTRICT FREE SPEECH IN TEXAS."

Video of Pamela's speech, "Pamela Geller Free Speech Rally, Garland,Texas."

And at iOWNTHEWORLD REPORT, "Success In Garland, Texas":

Pamela’s site is not back and up and running. What you’re seeing online is not a 100% usable site. Pamela is most likely going to abandon it and come back bigger, better and stronger.

This move isn’t entirely due to the attack. She’s been working on a new site prior to the attack (I know this to be true because I’ve been doing some design work on it), so the timing is serendipitous.

Be sure to follow Pamela on Twitter.

Leftist haters gotta hate.

Obama to Propose Tax Increases on Investments, Inherited Property

Hey, now that's a surprise.

Wealth taxes. For leftists, an idea whose time has come.

At the Wall Street Journal, "President Expected to Outline Tax Measures in State of the Union Address":

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will call on the new Republican-led Congress to raise taxes on investments and inherited property and to create or expand a range of tax breaks for middle-income families, laying out an opening position in a debate over taxation that both parties see as a potential area of compromise.

Mr. Obama will outline the measures in his State of the Union address Tuesday night. He will propose using revenue generated from the tax increases—which would fall mainly on high-income households—to pay for a raft of new breaks aimed at boosting stagnant incomes for low- and middle-income households.

Those initiatives include tripling the child-care tax credit and creating a new credit for families in which both spouses work, senior administration officials said on Saturday.

The administration plans to consolidate and expand education tax breaks. It would also make retirement savings programs available to many more people, for example by requiring many employers that don’t currently offer workers a retirement plan to enroll them automatically in an individual retirement account. The administration says its proposals would make retirement saving programs available to 30 million additional people at the workplace.

Mr. Obama’s address Tuesday will start the process of determining where he might find common ground with the new Republican Congress. Both the president and GOP leaders have said that a tax overhaul, along with trade, might yield compromises.

The president’s proposals go well beyond overhauling business taxes, which the White House has previously expressed a willingness to undertake, to include changes to the individual tax code. Republican lawmakers have argued that a tax overhaul should be aimed at both businesses and individuals.

At the same time, the new White House position could complicate the debate, by underscoring deep philosophical differences between the parties. In particular, Mr. Obama’s tax increases are likely to draw opposition from Republicans.

The White House plan would make broad changes to the tax bills of wealthier taxpayers, mainly by raising the taxes they pay on investments. The top capital gains rate would rise to 28% from 23.8%. The plan also would impose capital-gains tax on more inherited assets.

It also would create or expand several significant tax breaks for low- and middle-income households, for instance by establishing a new $500 credit for families in which both spouses work, and by tripling the value of the child care credit to $3,000 per child. The changes also would significantly expand the availability of the child-care credit to more middle-income households.

Republican lawmakers generally have opposed raising taxes on higher-income earners, as Mr. Obama proposes. They also have bridled at some recent Democratic legislative proposals for new tax breaks to expand incomes for moderate-income families. Democrats “are just out buying [people’s] votes” with such plans, Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R., Utah) said in a recent interview. Mr. Obama’s capital gains rate increase is likely to come in for particular criticism, although administration officials argue the 28% rate is still lower than the ordinary income rate for high earners.

The administration said the tax increases would raise revenue by about $320 billion over the next decade, while the new tax breaks and other initiatives would cost about $235 billion. The administration didn’t detail its plans for the additional revenue.

The tax proposals represent a part of the administration’s broader strategy to raise stagnant middle-class incomes, a prominent topic in Washington lately.

More at that top link.

In January 2013, "74% of the French said that Islam 'is not compatible with French society'."

Christopher Caldwell, at the Wall Street Journal, really pours it on at the last few paragraphs of his Saturday essay, "Immigration and Islam: Europe’s Crisis of Faith France and the rest of Western Europe have never honestly confronted the issues raised by Muslim immigration":

What continues [after the Paris attacks] is the deafness of France’s government and mainstream parties to public opinion (and popular suffrage) on the issues of immigration and a multiethnic society. Mr. Hollande’s approval ratings have risen since the attacks, but they are still below 30%. In January 2013, according to the newsweekly L’Express, 74% of the French said that Islam “is not compatible with French society.” Though that number fell last year, it is almost certain to be higher now.

Voters all across Europe feel abandoned by the mainstream political class, which is why populist parties are everywhere on the rise. Whatever the biggest initial grievance of these parties—opposition to the European Union for the U.K. Independence Party, opposition to the euro for Alternative für Deutschland, corruption for Italy’s 5 Star Movement—all wind up, by voter demand, placing immigration and multiculturalism at the center of their concerns.

In France, it is the Front National, a party with antecedents on the far right, that has been the big beneficiary. In the last national election, for seats in the European Parliament, the FN, led by Marine Le Pen (daughter of the party’s founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen), topped the polls. But the ruling Socialists froze the Front National out of the recent national ceremonies of mourning, limiting participation in the Paris rally to those parties it deemed “republican.” This risks damaging the cause of republicanism more than the cause of Le Pen and her followers.

Acts of terrorism can occur without shaking a country to its core. These latest attacks, awful as they were, could be taken in stride if the majority in France felt itself secure. But it does not. Thanks to wars in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, thousands of young people who share the indignation of the Kouachis and Coulibaly are now battle-hardened and heavily armed.

France, like Europe more broadly, has been careless for decades. It has not recognized that free countries are for peoples strong enough to defend them. A willingness to join hands and to march in solidarity is a good first response to the awful events of early January. It will not be enough.

Be sure to RTWT.

One of the reasons that leftist MSM outlets attack populist parties as "far-right extremists" is because traditional nationalist conservatism (populism) is a threat to the left's stultifying cultural hegemony of political correctness and decay. The "far-right" isn't the problem in Europe. It's the left. And the left's capitulation to radical Islam.

Who Today Takes a Proud Stand for Freedom?

Not many sadly.

Or, well, while many talk the talk, few walk the walk. Might be dangerous, you know.

From William Kristol, at the Weekly Standard, "Men With Chests":

Who today takes a proud stand for freedom?

Two who did, men of [John F.] Kennedy’s generation, died last weekend. The achievements of Walter Berns and Harry Jaffa are chronicled elsewhere in this issue. Both understood that freedom was precarious and the American republic was precious. And both were students of Leo Strauss, and therefore understood the weaknesses of the modern accounts of freedom.

The life’s work of both was shaped by the problem identified by Strauss in Natural Right and History: Modern thought, most decisively in Germany, had abandoned the idea of natural right and of any claim that there might be reasonable grounds for an attachment to freedom. Strauss remarked in 1952 that “It would not be the first time that a nation, defeated on the battlefield and, as it were, annihilated as a political being, has deprived the conquerors of the most sublime fruit of victory by imposing on them the yoke of its own thought.”

Berns and Jaffa, each in his own way, sought to preserve that sublime fruit of victory. Whatever differences, important and transient, there were between the two of them, both understood that saving freedom required historical and philosophical rethinking.

Strauss’s discoveries in the history of political philosophy had the effect of liberating his students from the yoke of contemporary thought. But Strauss and his students understood—indeed, emphasized—that such a liberation could not mean simply ignoring the challenges to or wishing away the weaknesses of modern freedom. Berns and Jaffa each tried to work through the arguments and rediscover the history that could deepen our understanding of the conditions of freedom, and thereby inform and strengthen our commitment to freedom. The greatest tribute we could pay to Berns and Jaffa is to rededicate ourselves to the unfinished work that they have thus far so nobly advanced.

RTWT.

Progressives and Islamists — Rooting Out Blasphemy of Utmost Importance for Both

From Darleen Click, at Protein Wisdom (via Memeoradum):

If you’ve ever wondered at why the Left embraces or apologizes for such groups as CAIR, Hamas, the BDS movement, and agitates for legislation like “hate crimes” statutes, this is it.

Leftism is a religious ideology with more in common with Islamism than Judaism or Christianity.

Islamic State Claims Responsibility for Bomb Attack on Algerian Embassy in Libya (VIDEO)

Yet another terrorist attack from the religion of peace.

Funny how radical leftists are mum on how President Obama left Libya a smokin' heap of terrorist murder and mayhem. I mean, getting Bush and Cheney to the Hague remains such a priority.

Fucking morons.

At Modern Ghana, "IS group claims bomb attack on Algerian embassy in Libya":

Tripoli (AFP) - Assailants lobbed explosives at Algeria's embassy in the Libyan capital Saturday, wounding three people, a security official said, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

The IS Libya branch said "soldiers of the caliphate" attacked the empty mission in a message posted on Twitter, together with a photograph of a tree-lined street with a fire in the background.

There was no independent confirmation of the claim -- reported by the US-based monitoring group SITE Intelligence.

The IS posted a similar claim for a December 27 car bomb attack outside the building of a Libyan unit tasked with securing diplomatic missions that left no casualties, SITE reported at the time.

The security official, who works for the unit, said Saturday's attack in central Tripoli seriously wounded a guard and that two passers-by were lightly hurt. Medical sources confirmed the toll.

The assailants threw "a bag full of explosives from a passing car at a police car parked near a guard post", he said, adding that the attack caused damage to the building and parked cars.

But in the brief tweet, the IS said the blast was caused by an explosive device planted by its militants under the guard station.

Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra of neighbouring Algeria condemned the bombing. "Any attack on a diplomatic post is a crime under international law," he said.

Saturday's attack came a day after a coalition of militias declared a ceasefire, hours after an agreement at UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva between Libya's warring factions...

Violent Muslims Scream 'Down with France!' as Charlie Hebdo Protests Rip Through Niger (VIDEO)

It's not like there's a clash of civilizations or anything. Nah.

At the BBC, "Charlie Hebdo: Niger protesters set churches on fire":

At least three people have been killed and six churches attacked in Niger amid fresh protests against French magazine Charlie Hebdo's cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

Protests began outside Niamey's grand mosque and reportedly spread to other parts of the country, a day after five were killed in Niger's second city.

Niger's president condemned the violence and appealed for calm.

More.

Reince Priebus Wins Third Term as RNC Chair

Interesting.

At the Hill, "Priebus gets third term as RNC chairman."

And see Bloomberg, "Reince Priebus Wins His Long War Against MSNBC."

Islam Has Nothing to Do with Islam!

Heh, the latest from Pat Condell.

Checkmate.

High School Girls Basketball Coach Suspended After Running Up Score in 161-2 Blowout (VIDEO)

Er, I guess that was kinda harsh on the losing team's self-esteem.

And remember, the self-esteem movement says we should nourish each and every child. Winning is mean!

And of course, anyone who violates this precious esteem movement catechism shall be mercilessly punished! Winning decisively shall not be tolerated!

At CBS News Los Angeles:



Also at Fox News, "California girls high school basketball coach suspended after 161-2 victory."

British Sports Huntress Rachel Carrie Attacked by Sick Twitter Trolls!

Yes, because the left is all about tolerance, Part Gazillion!

At London's Daily Mail, "The British shooting star hunted by sick Twitter trolls: Markswoman says she's treated 'like a terrorist' by online bullies."

Belgium Deploys Military in Cities After Terror Raids

Well, you think?

At WSJ, "Soldiers to Guard Jewish Institutions, Foreign Embassies After Foiled Terror Plot":

PHOTOS: Belgian soldiers protecting the Jewish community outside Synagogues in Antwerp pic.twitter.com/A9kc4JjQfJ

— IDF Elite (@idfelite) January 17, 2015

BRUSSELS—Belgium on Saturday started deploying soldiers to guard Jewish community institutions, foreign embassies and buildings belonging to the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as governments across Europe stepped up security after last week’s terrorist attacks in and around Paris.

Some 150 troops took up positions across Brussels and the port city of Antwerp, Defense Minister Steven Vandeput said, and their numbers could be raised to 300 if necessary.

Among the sites with special protection are the embassies of the U.S., Israel and the U.K., Mr. Vandeput said. He declined to say whether specific threats had been made against the sites under special protection, saying only that locations had been chosen by Belgium’s National Crisis Center based on a general threat assessment.

The government’s move marks the first time since the mid-1980s—when left-wing terror groups detonated a series of bombs in Belgium—that the government has used its military to help guard civilian sites in its cities. The soldiers are allowed to use their arms, a special arrangement made possible after Belgium raised its general threat level to three out of four.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said earlier on Saturday that some troops could also be deployed outside Brussels and Antwerp, including in the eastern city of Verviers, where police killed two men and arrested several others in an antiterrorism raid on Thursday. Belgian authorities have said the suspects had been on the verge of launching attacks on police.

Meanwhile, Greek police on Saturday said they detained four suspects in connection to those foiled attacks against Belgium police. A Belgian official said later, however, that Belgian authorities had determined the Greek claim to a link wasn’t true. “The people arrested in Athens have nothing to do with the case in Belgium,” Eric Van Der Sypt, spokesman for the Belgian federal prosecutors, said.

Several other European countries have boosted security and raided suspected terrorist cells following the deadly attacks in France.

European security and intelligence officials have said in recent weeks that the terror threat is as high as it has been for many years—in large part because of the fear of radicalized European Muslims returning from the battlefields in Syria and Iraq with military training.

On Friday, France detained a dozen suspects believed to have aided the gunmen who carried out the attacks at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s Paris office and a kosher supermarket. The gunmen—Chérif and Said Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly —were killed on Jan. 9 in police raids, ending three days of violence in and around Paris that left 17 people dead.

Separately, police in Germany on Friday said they had raided 11 sites in Berlin and arrested two people suspected of providing financial support and recruiting fighters for the militant group Islamic State in Syria. Another man suspected of being a member of Islamic State was also arrested, federal prosecutors said.

The Belgian troops deployed on Saturday will focus on “static protection” of buildings and the people inside, freeing up regular police to patrol the streets and do other police work, Mr. Vandeput said. They will operate under the chain of command of the police...

Keep reading.