BRITAIN HAS A PROBLEM with Islam. The British Muslim community is mainly comprised of Indo-Pakistani Muslims. Their mosques are dominated by radical Sunnis, representing Pakistan-based jihad movements, and Saudi-backed Wahhabis. Britain does not want to tackle this problem directly, for a reason seldom perceived. Because the majority of the radical clerics in Britain are from the Indian subcontinent, race as well as religion is a factor in public perceptions of the issue. The U.K. authorities don’t mind cracking down on radical Islam, but they don’t want to be accused of discrimination against South Asians.

That is why in the wake of the London bombings last July, British media focused its attention on marginal Arab radicals rather than the extremist ideology in mosques attended by immigrants from Pakistan. Much of what appeared in British newspapers in the wake of the bombing was not only factually incorrect–an attempt to blame the bombings on sects in “Londonistan” that have no real influence–but also professionally inept because it ignored Pakistani jihadists.