Al-Qaida Declares War on France...

...and France immediately surrenders.

Well, not really, but give it time:

Al-Qaida has for the first time announced a union with an Algerian insurgent group that has designated France as an enemy, saying they will act together against French and American interests.

Current and former French officials specializing in terrorism said Thursday that an al-Qaida alliance with the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, known by its French initials GSPC, was cause for concern.

"We take these threats very seriously," Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said, adding in an interview on France-2 television that the threat to France was "high" and "permanent," and that "absolute vigilance" was required.

Al-Qaida's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri, announced the "blessed union" in a video posted this week on the Internet to mark the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.

And here's the punchline:

France's leader have repeatedly warned that the decision not to join the U.S.-led war in Iraq would not shield the country from Islamic terrorism. French participation in the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon could give extremists another reason to strike.

How long until the French pull out of Lebanon? Won't be long, is my guess.

This story ties in to something that al-Zawahri said in his latest video hit. He stated that the next attacks would come in Israel and the Gulf states. Note - there wasn't any direct threat against the U.S. homeland. Why? Probably because, despite the best efforts of the left, the Bush Administration has made great strides in making it very difficult for groups like al-Qaida to pull off another spectacular attack such as 9/11 in the U.S. They've decided to go for softer targets, and they don't get much softer than France.

And let's not forget that France already has a Muslim 5th column in place and ready to go. Remember the Spring riots? Those weren't pasty-faced Frenchmen running around torching cars every night for weeks.

If there is to be an attack on Americans, I expect it will now come against Americans or American-owned businesses overseas, and certainly anything in France could now be considered a target.