Divided Britain makes a tempting terrorist target
What follows is a few excerpts, a condensed version , if you will, of a two page op-ed piece written by Michael Portillo in the TimesOnline. Portillo is a journalist, and a broadcaster, and is a former politician serving from 1984 to 1997. He has a college degree in history.
"Why did Al-Qaeda choose Britain as the country from which to launch an audacious and bloodthirsty assault on the United States whose death toll could have rivalled or exceeded 9/11? Some who oppose the Iraq war and criticise Tony Blair’s support for Israel will claim that he has made Britain a target for terror. They will suggest that if Britain repudiated Blair’s policies it could be safer. Around that point hinges by far the most important debate in British politics. Blair’s view must prevail.
Al-Qaeda may regard Britain as a weak link in the West’s security. In 1988 British airport security was criticised when a suitcase bomb brought down a Pan Am plane over Lockerbie. Our security services identified Mohammad Sidique Khan (one of the London bombers) as a threat but failed to keep tabs on him. When police killed an innocent man, Jean Charles de Menezes, and at Forest Gate shot a man who was then not charged, British intelligence looked amateurish. On this occasion we must congratulate heartily those who have smashed the conspiracy.
As 7/7 demonstrated there is a pool of Britons lurking within our sizeable Muslim community who will joyfully commit suicide and mass murder.
Those who argue that Britain has brought terror to its shores by supporting George W Bush should admit that we have imported it unwittingly by recognising our obligations to Commonwealth countries such as Pakistan, by pursuing liberal policies on immigration, by extending asylum to those who faced “persecution” without much reflection on why they found themselves in that position, and by ignoring the activities of “dissidents” based here, despite warnings about them from allies such as France and Saudi Arabia.
In this country discontent with Blair’s foreign policy has reached fever pitch. From a pipsqueak parliamentary private secretary to Jack Straw, the former foreign secretary, Labour politicians vie with each other to wear their conscience on their sleeve and distance themselves from Blair. As Israel fights terror the Tories are mealy mouthed and Gordon Brown is silent.
Might not Al-Qaeda reasonably believe that another massive atrocity could bring Blair’s leadership to an end and usher in a series of less hard-nosed administrations? Might they not also reason that Britain is a tempting target because in vast numbers the British refuse to recognise the nature of the extreme Islamist threat that confronts us?
For these are times when we expect our politicians to metamorphose into statesmen. Blair has never disguised his ambition to play Churchill, and truly his oratorical skills are superb. The problem is that while the words still come to him, his audience has drifted away disillusioned.
David Cameron and Gordon Brown must step forward to give Britain leadership. If the political class does not unite we will be in more danger from terror. Unless our leaders educate the British people on the unavoidable threat that we face we will be more vulnerable. Brown and Cameron, even more than Blair, must become statesmen. Let us hope that they can rise to the occasion." Full op-ed here.
"Why did Al-Qaeda choose Britain as the country from which to launch an audacious and bloodthirsty assault on the United States whose death toll could have rivalled or exceeded 9/11? Some who oppose the Iraq war and criticise Tony Blair’s support for Israel will claim that he has made Britain a target for terror. They will suggest that if Britain repudiated Blair’s policies it could be safer. Around that point hinges by far the most important debate in British politics. Blair’s view must prevail.
Al-Qaeda may regard Britain as a weak link in the West’s security. In 1988 British airport security was criticised when a suitcase bomb brought down a Pan Am plane over Lockerbie. Our security services identified Mohammad Sidique Khan (one of the London bombers) as a threat but failed to keep tabs on him. When police killed an innocent man, Jean Charles de Menezes, and at Forest Gate shot a man who was then not charged, British intelligence looked amateurish. On this occasion we must congratulate heartily those who have smashed the conspiracy.
As 7/7 demonstrated there is a pool of Britons lurking within our sizeable Muslim community who will joyfully commit suicide and mass murder.
Those who argue that Britain has brought terror to its shores by supporting George W Bush should admit that we have imported it unwittingly by recognising our obligations to Commonwealth countries such as Pakistan, by pursuing liberal policies on immigration, by extending asylum to those who faced “persecution” without much reflection on why they found themselves in that position, and by ignoring the activities of “dissidents” based here, despite warnings about them from allies such as France and Saudi Arabia.
In this country discontent with Blair’s foreign policy has reached fever pitch. From a pipsqueak parliamentary private secretary to Jack Straw, the former foreign secretary, Labour politicians vie with each other to wear their conscience on their sleeve and distance themselves from Blair. As Israel fights terror the Tories are mealy mouthed and Gordon Brown is silent.
Might not Al-Qaeda reasonably believe that another massive atrocity could bring Blair’s leadership to an end and usher in a series of less hard-nosed administrations? Might they not also reason that Britain is a tempting target because in vast numbers the British refuse to recognise the nature of the extreme Islamist threat that confronts us?
For these are times when we expect our politicians to metamorphose into statesmen. Blair has never disguised his ambition to play Churchill, and truly his oratorical skills are superb. The problem is that while the words still come to him, his audience has drifted away disillusioned.
David Cameron and Gordon Brown must step forward to give Britain leadership. If the political class does not unite we will be in more danger from terror. Unless our leaders educate the British people on the unavoidable threat that we face we will be more vulnerable. Brown and Cameron, even more than Blair, must become statesmen. Let us hope that they can rise to the occasion." Full op-ed here.
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