The British terror invasion

Some European imports have never been welcomed with open arms in the United States, particularly in these days of EU trade wars and Freedom Fries. The rabid tactics increasingly used by a hard core of animal-rights extremists must rank among the least welcome trends to cross the Atlantic in recent times.

A clear sign that something new was afoot came in early June during the Biotechnology Industry Organization meeting in San Francisco. Animal and ecological rights groups, said FBI special agent Philip Celestini, are now the country's leading domestic terror threat. In a talk the Financial Times said left audience members shaken, Celestini said US animal extremists are now using "what we call the European strategy, because it was used first on the continent of Europe and quickly spread to the UK and then the US."

"The FBI was a little slow to respond to the threat," admitted Celestini. "But ...