John Gray (London Observer): Look out for the enemy within

[Jack Rabbit]

From the London Observer (Sunday supplement of the Guardian Unlimited)
Dated Sunday July 10

Look out for the enemy within
We in the west have a long tradition of terrorism. Al-Qaeda has simply upped the stakes in its ruthlessness
By John Gray

Along with the death and injury they inflicted, Thursday's bombings were a demonstration of an unpalatable truth. The threat of indiscriminate terror will be with us in any future we can realistically foresee. Terror has causes and it is right that they should be identified. The war in Iraq has given al-Qaeda a major boost, enabling it to link its extremist agenda with grievances that are widely felt in Islamic countries. At the same time, it has resulted in a massive diversion of resources from the real work of counterterrorism and significantly boosted terrorist recruitment.
The 'war on terror' suggests terrorism is a global phenomenon but, actually, it remains almost entirely national or regional in its scope and goals. The Tamil Tigers do not operate worldwide any more than the IRA or Eta. Only al-Qaeda has a genuinely global reach, and it has been strengthened by American policies that have turned Iraq into a terrorist training ground.

Western governments have helped make al-Qaeda what it is today, but it would be folly to imagine that any shift in their policies can neutralise the threat it now poses. No longer the semi-centralised organisation it was before the destruction of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda has mutated into a brand name that covers an amorphous network of groups that are linked together mainly by their adherence to an apocalyptic version of Islamist ideology. This network is the vehicle of a movement that has more in common with Aum Shinrikyo, the Japanese cult whose members planted sarin nerve gas on the Tokyo underground, than it does with any version of traditional Islam.

It is a network that seems to be replicating itself in Europe and other advanced industrial regions, and if it turns out that the London bombings were al-Qaeda-related, the group that committed them could prove to be largely homegrown.

Read more.

[baby_bear]

1. Thanks for the post, Jack Rabbit

What an extremely (and unusually) thoughtful piece about terrorism in history and in general.

I would like to see a Part Two.

b_b

[CJCRANE]

2. Al-Qaeda were "flies"

during Clinton's administration. By allowing them to pull off 9/11, plus the US invasion of Iraq (which had nothing to do with 9/11) the neocons have fuelled Al-Qaeda.

[bpilgrim]

3. "society can be regenerated through violence." - the BUSH DOCTRINE

we ignore that behavior at our peril

Blowback Hits Britain
Londoners Pay Heavy Price for Blair's Deception

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

Do you feel safer now that George Bush's and Tony Blair's barbaric attacks on Iraq have brought barbaric attacks to London?

Coordinated attacks on London's transport system have apparently killed 38 and injured 700. It is a terrible thing but hardly surprising. Did Londoners really think that the British people would not be held accountable for electing and reelecting Tony Blair--a war criminal under the Nuremberg standard--who aided and abetted George Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq on false pretenses?

Did Londoners really believe that Muslims would have no response to the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and the slaughter, torture, and detention of Muslims?

Blair and Bush are on their high horses claiming the morality of "civilized nations" and denouncing the retaliation they have provoked as "barbarism."

more...
http://www.democracyforamerica-ma.com/op_ed.htm

peace

[geek tragedy]

5. Unlike Gray's piece, that op-ed by Roberts is absolutely sickening.

To this warped individual, mass murder is "holding people accountable" and terrorism a justified response to combatting AQ and the Taliban.

Ick. Just what I'd expect from a far-right Paleocon nutter.

[bpilgrim]

6. i'm sure the bush doctrine is sickening to most people in the ME

let alone here in the WEST.

i wonder what you call the slaughter of FALLUJAH?

Children pay price of US offensive

Twelve years old and still deeply in shock, he can barely speak.

Ala's family had fled the Iraqi city of Falluja before last Monday's all-out offensive began. He was happily playing with his brother in the garden of their uncle's house in a village outside the city. Then the rocket hit.

"My uncle died. They took us to hospital," he mumbles, speaking in little more than a whisper.

His brother lies face down on the bed next to him, a bandage around his leg, a tube feeding into his stomach.

Their mother sits on another bed, cradling her now fatherless two-year-old nephew.

Across the room, another two-year-old lies on a bed in a nappy, a blanket covering one tiny leg. The other one was blown off by a shell.

more...
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/110BB55F-6635-4F73-A470-FE1DF9D8ED41.htm

peace

[CJCRANE]

10. I don't agree with the way he's put it

but I think he's correct in that Blair has put innocent Britons in the firing line of a war that many of them didn't agree with. Did he detonate the bombs? No. Not guilty. But did Britons want to be involved in an unnecessary war? No to that as well.

[geek tragedy]

4. An excellent piece that captures the problem very well.

The AQ ideology is viral in nature, and poses great, but different, challenges for the entire world and the Muslim world in particular.

[shiva2999]

7. Aaaargh!

I can't believe the amount of bullshit that's been promulgated about "Al Qaeda" and "international terrorism" over the last few days.

If Americans fall for this crap again you are definitely the dumbest motherfuckers on the face of the planet.

Osama is a Bushco director and Al Qaeda is a subsidiary.

If the thousands of other pieces of evidence aren't enough, surely the Cole bombing just before the 2000 election and Osama's boogeyman video three days before the 2004 election have to tell you something.

Who's the party that's "strong on terrorism and national defense"?

And who's the party that wants to "offer therapy" to the terrorists?

[bpilgrim]

8. Al Qaeda == CIA dataBASE

BUSH DOCTRINE == NEVER ENDING WAR

everything is going according to THEIR plan, bet.

LAT: After Flagging Support, a Second Wind for Bush (from London bombings)

By Doyle McManus, Times Staff Writer


WASHINGTON — The bombs exploded in London, but the repercussions are still rippling across Washington.

A surge in public concern about terrorism means a probable boost in support for President Bush and the war in Iraq.

Renewed fear of terrorist sleeper cells will probably spur increased support for tough law enforcement measures such as the Patriot Act, which is up for renewal. And there's new enthusiasm in Congress for increased spending on domestic security, especially mass transit — an area in which legislators were cutting budgets three weeks ago.

There's no telling how long the wave of concern will last. If the London attack gives way to months of calm, the increased fear — and any gain in popularity for Bush — may well be short-lived. But for the moment, Washington is back in 9/11 mode.

"The bombings will give both Bush and Blair a boost," said Christopher Gelpi, a political scientist at Duke University who studies public opinion in times of war. "I think the attacks may help slow the ebbing of support over Iraq, because the bombings make point about linking Iraq and terrorism."

more...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-assess10jul10,0,3926775.story?coll=la-home-headlines

peace

[bemildred]

9. Interesting, I must disagree somewhat.

He seems to feel that al Qaeda and the like are exceptional in their methods or "ruthlessness", and that they are "apocalyptic" rather than pragmatic in their goals. I think history supports the notion that the Western powers stand second to none in ruthlessness, and al Qaeda has been far more pragmatic and realistic in going about it's business than the Bushites, for example. We won't get far continuing to underestimate the enemy.

The thing about the present situation that governments don't want to deal with is that a combination of factors (population growth, wide dispersal of modern weapons and technology, literacy, wide dispersal of knowledge of guerilla warfare) are working centrifugally against the ability of the modern state to enforce it's will, against the state's claimed monopoly on force. I view it as the decay of the Western technological edge that once allowed the colonization of much of the rest of the World; and also a decay in the relative advantage in force that the state once enjoyed relative to the underclasses. When everyone has access to an AK47, life for a cop becomes much more unpleasant and short.