May 15, 2006: The war on terror has had some interesting side effects. For one thing, the search for Islamic terrorists has caused many nations to increase counter-intelligence activity. With the end of the Cold War in 1991, most European nations cut back on their search for unsavory foreigners in their midst. September 11, 2001 changed all that, and the increased security activities turned up more than just Islamic extremists. The Netherlands admitted that last year, it's heightened counter-intelligence efforts discovered an Iranian attempt to obtain technology for developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Russian and Chinese espionage efforts were also uncovered, although most of these were concerned with stealing technology or other commercial secrets. When you cast that dragnet, you never know what you're going to drag in. Other nations in Europe have experienced the same thing, and have been sharing information on these non-terrorist operations (spying) in their midst.