WHY WE ARE LOSING WAR ON TERROR
TWO hundred terror cells, 30 major attacks planned in the UK, 1,600 fanatics plotting chemical, biological and nuclear atrocities.The warning this week about Muslim extremists from MI5 chief Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller - in a speech cleared by the Home Secretary - was stark and terrifying. But was it just scaremongering?
Experts said yesterday the alarmist rhetoric was a sign that the Government and MI5 are losing control of the war on terror - and out foreign policy is to blame.
Terrorism expert Simon Reeve said: "This kind of speech serves only to alarm the public without offering solutions.
"The Government, standing shoulder to shoulder with the US, is losing the war against terror because of our appalling foreign policy - mainly in Iraq - and a failure to understand and address the root causes of terrorism."
He said the Government had consistently failed to tackle those issues: "The security forces have performed near miracles in preventing a number of terrorist attacks. But it's the Government and politicians generally who are letting us down.
"Just trying to address this huge problem from a security perspective, with ID cards or by flooding our mosques with spies, is ludicrous. You might prevent attacks in the short term but not the long term.
"The Government needs to address the root cause, the underlying issue that is making some young British Muslims join radical groups. That issue is our foreign policy."
Dame Eliza admitted in her speech that our foreign policy is part of the problem.
She said it was clear from "martyrdom" videos - such as the one made by July 7 ringleader Mohammed Sidique Khan - that suicide bombers are partly motivated by "their interpretation of UK foreign policy as anti-Muslim, in particular involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan".
Inayat Bunglawala, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: "Pretty much everyone recognises that some of our government's actions have undermined national security and given extremists causes to exploit.
"The only people in denial about that are the Government. All they do is pass the buck to the Muslim community, saying it's their community's issue, they need to resolve this.
"Of course Muslims will co-operate with police but our government must recognise that their actions have made things worse and take responsibility for that before we can start to find solutions."
Former Labour MP Tony Benn said the invasion of Iraq had led many into the arms of terrorist groups.
He said: "We need to not only tackle terrorism but the causes of terrorism. The whole thing is a consequence of an act upon Iraq. The Palestinian question is in the background too.
"The American elections showed that people are realising that if you want to protect your own country, don't attack other people. This government is not waging a war on terror, it's a war against Iraq and a war against Afghanistan."
Crispin Black, former intelligence officer and author of 7/7: What Went Wrong, said: "We need to find out why so many people have become radicalised, not just track them once it's too late."
He said our foreign policy was to blame: "It is to terrorism what prohibition was to the Mafia. We should not have invaded Iraq and we should not have lied about it because our foreign policy has led to radicalisation of many British people.
"The way we're behaving in Iraq and Afghanistan gives terrorist groups a golden opportunity to reach out to new recruits in the UK."
He believes talk of a nuclear threat is questionable. He said: "Is Dame Eliza really suggesting that British Muslim extremists are going to set off an atomic bomb in London or what?
"If that's the case, why are the Navy not patrolling our shores searching for nuclear weapons being smuggled in?
"A lot of people will see this as scaremongering to allow for more extreme policies to come in.
"Also she talks about schoolchildren being radicalised - which schools, where? Don't just warn us about these things, arrest these people if you know they are out there."
Shami Chakrabati, director of human rights group Liberty, said the speech could be used to bring in draconian anti-terror policies.
She said: "Next week some Ministers will no doubt try to hijack Dame Eliza's words when the Queen's Speech promises yet more fighting talk and soundbite legislation. "Tough law - like tough talk - is cheap.
That's why government churns it out so quickly and often. It doesn't put a single extra agent in the field, let alone address the even harder task of recapturing the high ground from those who seek to brainwash young minds with pictures of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo."
She said government policy had only made matters worse: "We have had four major anti-terror bills in the last six years and a host of divisive policies that have alienated young people all over the world and left Britain less safe and less free.
"It is still not too late to respond to Dame Eliza's warning with more resources, less human rights violations ripe for exploitation and a positive message of promoting human rights and democracy as the alternative to hatred and murder.
"Or the Government could go on trying to out-tough the Tories with more statutory graffiti."
Middle East analyst Lawrence Joffey said: "I wonder about the timing of this announcement.
"Perhaps it was a message directed towards potential terrorists warning them we're on to them but the timing is dreadful, especially after the debate about Muslim headscarves. It's very damaging to relations with Muslim communities."
He said foreign policy was the key to wiping out Muslim terrorism in the UK: "The Government must acknowledge that invading Iraq was a huge mistake and that perceived occupation has helped push many British Muslims towards extremist groups. Lessons must be learned."
+ News Source: Mirror
+ Link: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_headline=why-we-are-losing-war-on-terror-&method=full&objectid=18079213&siteid=94762-name_page.html
+ Last Updated: 2006-11-11 15:39:35
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