WP: Ties to U.S. Made Britain Vulnerable, Report Says

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/17/AR2005071700995.html

Ties to U.S. Made Britain Vulnerable, Report Says

By Glenn Frankel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, July 18, 2005; Page A10

LONDON, July 18 -- Britain's position as a subordinate ally of the United States has been a "high-risk policy" that has left it vulnerable to terrorist attacks such as the recent bombings of London's transportation system, according to a briefing paper released early Monday by one of the country's most prominent foreign affairs research groups.

The British government "has been conducting counter-terrorism policy 'shoulder to shoulder' with the U.S., not in the sense of being an equal decision-maker, but rather as pillion passenger compelled to leave the steering to the ally in the driving seat," said the report published by Chatham House, also known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, which has close ties to the government.


The policy, it added, "has proved costly in terms of British and U.S. military lives, Iraqi lives, military expenditure and the damage caused to the counter-terrorism campaign."

The report, written by two senior British academics who specialize in security issues, also contends that the country's intelligence services and police failed to fully appreciate the threat posed by al Qaeda because they were focused on suppressing terrorism from Northern Ireland.

<</SNIP>>

[Greeby]

1. .............

File this under "Well duh!" :eyes:

[CountAllVotes]

2. lol!!! :)

I was thinking the exact same words ... well DUH!!!!!!

:kick:

[Cha]

3. Anybody that willing hooks up

with bush as the driver has got to be insane.

[UpInArms]

7. friends don't let friends drive drunk

[cliss]

4. I'm willing to bet that the British people......

are asking that very thing, right now. Just for a moment, visualize the hotel managers in London. The department store owners. The youth hostels, the tourish shops that make millions, probably billions in tourist revenue in England.

Now, visualize all that drying up. Why? Because of this insane "alliance" Blair just had to have with Bush. I have no trouble imagining this is going to impact tourism. People do NOT want to go to war zones or terrorist activity. They'll stay home.

Blair is like a rat sitting in a corner. He's got loyalty to Bush: loyalty only because Bush promised him oil revenue and to get to share the black stuff when we start to run out.

On the other hand, he has his own people to think about. And the pressure's about to go up, astronomically. He can blab all he wants about "fighting terrorism" but when push comes to shove, he needs to let go of Bush.

[nolabels]

8. I hope they continue to cling to each other

Without Tony we all never would have had access to imformation about some of those stupid things they were up to.

On edit: Dang them them two to's too's always get me screwed up

[goforit]

5. Have any polls in Britian been conducted on Blair/ Us and Iraq???

[LynnTheDem]

9. Here ya go

Britons Say Iraq Support Left Country Vulnerable

72 per cent of respondents believe Britain’s role in Iraq made the country more vulnerable to attack by Islamic terrorists.
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/8031

Poll: Aussies, Brits, Italians say Iraq war increased terrorism
http://www.startribune.com/stories/1576/5027215.html

UK Government; Iraq war 'increased terror threat'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3451239.stm

Iraq war has swollen ranks of al Qaeda
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1063717,00.html

UK stats included;

China Image Scores Better Than U.S.

Support for the U.S.-led war on terror has dipped in European countries like Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Spain, while it remains low in the Muslim countries surveyed like Pakistan, Turkey and Jordan.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/06/23/national/a110236D49.DTL

'War on terror' losing support

Support for the US-led war on terrorism has been falling even among some of the United States' closest allies, an international poll found.

Support for the Iraq war is even lower.

In most of the countries surveyed, people rejected President George W. Bush's claim that removing Saddam Hussein from power has made the world safer.

http://www.news24.com/News24/AnanziArticle/0,,1518-1785_1726500,00.html

[jmatthan]

6. I covered this report in my post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4125844&mesg_id=4125844

[The_Casual_Observer]

10. "Coalition of the willing" Has a new meaning - willing to let

terrorists blow up your cities.

[dbt]

11. Duh...

[FlashHarry]

12. Backing U.S in Iraq put UK at risk, think tank says (Reuters)

Mods, if dupe, please delete.

DUers: Rate This Highly!

LONDON (Reuters) - An influential think-tank said on Monday that backing the United States in Iraq put Britain more at risk from terrorist attacks, an accusation forcefully rejected by Prime Minister Tony Blair's government.

Security experts said the Iraq war had boosted recruitment and fund-raising for al Qaeda, suspected of being behind London bombings on July 7 that killed 55 people.

The report was issued as Britain's interior minister, Charles Clarke, met opposition party leaders to seek a consensus in drawing up tougher anti-terror legislation, such as outlawing acts preparing or inciting acts of terrorism.

Police probing the London underground train and bus attacks say they have found no indication the bombs carried timers. That would mean they were manually detonated by the four bombers, caught on CCTV camera heading off on their deadly mission.

Link Here


On edit: Possible dupe of this thread