Blair will say root cause was extremism not Iraq

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/f7614ab6-f7be-11d9-9f64-00000e2511c8,dwp_uuid=46d6f5a8-d260-11d8-b661-00000e2511c8.html

Blair will say root cause was extremism not Iraq

Tony Blair will on Tuesday try to persuade Muslim leaders that the root causes of the London attacks lay in warped versions of Islam, rather than political causes such as the war on Iraq.

The distinction is critical because the prime minister hopes to use Tuesday’s meeting with 20 to 30 representatives of the Muslim community to agree action to tackle religious extremists. Such measures are predicated on accepting that religious extremism can pose a threat – an argument some commentators have rejected. Ken Livingstone, the London mayor, has argued the suicide bombings were not caused by “an ideology . . . or even a perverted faith”.

The argument that the attacks were linked to political factors was bolstered on Monday by the Royal Institute of International Affairs, the think-tank, which said the war in Iraq had boosted al-Qaeda. The government’s ability to combat terrorism was hampered by its position as a “pillion passenger” to the US’s war on terror, the Institute said.

The government mounted a concerted effort to reject any such link between its foreign policy and terrorism in the UK. Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, reacted furiously to the think-tank’s report, saying: “The time for excuses for terrorism is over. The terrorists have struck across the world, in countries aligned with the US backing the war in Iraq and in countries which had nothing whatever to do with the war in Iraq.”

<</SNIP>>

[otohara]

1. Tony Bush

in denial

[Kraklen]

2. Putin said the same thing about Beslan.

No, no. It's all Al Qaeda terrorists. It's radical Islam. It's got nothing at all to do with Chechnya. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

[dbt]

3. Notice the increasing use of the word "extremism" lately.

Stay tuned for ever-lower thresholds.

[Karenina]

5. "Extremism" eh?

Maybe Saigon68 will come across this thread and post a few pix of "extremism."

[daleo]

7. The use of extremism is getting extreme.

"The extreme use of the word extremism in the defense of non-extremism is not extreme."

[Eugene]

4. Tony's making a straw man argument.

Of course the Iraq war is not the root cause of extremism,
but it made the problem worse on many fronts.

[LynnTheDem]

6. Well now that's strange...

Angered By Iraq War, Bombers Driven to Suicide Attacks Say Friends
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBS05H56BE.html

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

Ties to U.S. Made Britain Vulnerable, Report Says
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/17/AR2005071700995.html

Backing U.S in Iraq put UK at risk, think tank says
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=1&u=/nm/20050718/ts_nm/security_britain_dc

Labour MPs blame bombings on Iraq war
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article299456.ece

72% of Britons say Iraq support left Britain more vulnerable to attack
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/8031

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

Iraq Conflict Feeds International Terror Threat
http://www.skyhen.org/Focus/iraqcoverage/cia_iraq_conflict_feeds_international_terror_threat.php

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

Everyone is wrong, only bLiar is right? Don't think so.

[goforit]

8. One lie after the other....over and over again.

[K-W]

9. The scary part is that some people are buying this crap. EOM

[krkaufman]

10. You've just GOTTA AGREE with Blair

Extreme fundamentalist Islamists preying on extreme poverty and oppression launch an extremely startling and deadly attack, which is responded to, after a brief moment of sanity, with extreme force directed at the wrong country -- to the extreme..!

[1932]

12. The Islamists wanted Hussein gone too, which makes it all kind of f'd up.

Incidentally, this is a poor analogy, but nobody would really say that the Democrats insisting on keeping legalized abortion is to blame for Eric Rudolph's acts of terrorism, right?

[Igel]

20. Nope.

Can't look for 'root causes' there or ask what policies led to his reactions against perceived injustice. Can't say it has nothing to do with Rudolph's religion. Wouldn't be prudent, so I won't.

[IndianaGreen]

13. Tony Blair is as big a liar as Bush

and there are a lot of people in Britain that no longer believe in Bush's poodle and are asking hard questions about the links between the London bombings and the criminal war in Iraq.

Two-thirds believe London bombings are linked to Iraq war

Labour losing battle to convince public

Julian Glover, political correspondent
Tuesday July 19, 2005
The Guardian

Two-thirds of Britons believe there is a link between Tony Blair's decision to invade Iraq and the London bombings despite government claims to the contrary, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today.

The poll makes it clear that voters believe further attacks in Britain by suicide bombers are also inevitable, with 75% of those responding saying there will be more attacks.

The research suggests the government is losing the battle to persuade people that terrorist attacks on the UK have not been made more likely by the invasion of Iraq.

According to the poll, 33% of Britons think the prime minister bears "a lot" of responsibility for the London bombings and a further 31% "a little".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1531347,00.html

Tube bombs 'linked to Iraq conflict'

· Thinktank says war boosts al-Qaida
· Blair dismisses connection

Read the report in full (pdf):

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Politics/documents/2005/07/18/Chathamreport.pdf

David Hencke, Westminster correspondent
Monday July 18, 2005
The Guardian

Britain's involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan contributed to the terrorist attacks in London, a respected independent thinktank on foreign affairs, the Chatham House organisation, says today.

According to the body, which includes leading academics and former civil servants among its members, the key problem in the UK for preventing terrorism is that the country is "riding as a pillion passenger with the United States in the war against terror".

<snip>

In the most politically sensitive finding, Chatham House, which used to be known as the Royal Institute of International Affairs, concludes there is "no doubt" the invasion of Iraq has "given a boost to the al-Qaida network" in "propaganda, recruitment and fundraising", while providing an ideal targeting and training area for terrorists. "Riding pillion with a powerful ally has proved costly in terms of British and US military lives, Iraqi lives, military expenditure and the damage caused to the counter-terrorism campaign."

This finding runs counter to the line from Downing Street, which has sought to detach Iraq from the London attacks.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1530710,00.html

We should not be making excuses for the war criminal Blair. Blair may well be more skilful at communications than Bush, but he lies just the same.

[krkaufman]

16. Actually read my post IG.

I wasn't making excuses for Blair. (sheesh)

[Miss Chybil]

11. We the people of this planet are caught in a war between extremists.

This is one time I agree with Mr. Blair. Yes, extremism is definitely the root cause of the London bombing AND the war in Iraq.

[area51]

14. Tony bLIAR

The Yankee Poodle Dandy said: "Who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?" </sarcasm>

[CJCRANE]

15. Even

most comments in The (London) Times disagree with Blair:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,564-1698827,00.html

[bemildred]

17. Gee, and what causes extremism? nt

[AlwaysQuestion]

22. We'll be needing a think tank to study the matter

As your rhetoric seems to reflect, the public's collective good common sense simply isn't operating, else there simply would be no way Blair would dare to utter such drivel. Hell, collective good common sense has been a non-starter for decades.

[Bridget Burke]

18. "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice; ....

Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

Remember Barry Goldwater? I don't think Blair is using the same definition of "extremism."

[ckramer]

19. And what's the root cause of extremism?

Tony, can you answer me?

[Skidmore]

21. Yes, it is extremism.

of the DC-London neocon variety.

[MattSWin]

23. .....

The attacks probably would have occured with or without British involvement in Iraq. Young British Muslims aren't mad over just some geopolitical event like Iraq but for personal reasons and thinking the surrounding British society wants to destroy their way of life.

[CJCRANE]

24. I'm not buying that.

The attacks had all the hallmarks of Al-Qaeda which have very specific methods and political aims.

There was virtually no threat to the UK from fundamentalist muslims before the Iraq invasion. The intelligence services know that, the British people know that, it's just Blair and his cabinet who won't own up.

[MattSWin]

25. Ever heard of Abu Hamza al-Masri...

He was an active militant fundamentalist before the Iraq invasion. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Hamza).

Al Qaeda isn't all about revenge for "attacks" on the Muslim. Many members want an end goal of an Islamic state.

I just find it interesting that we'll come up with all these pragmatic, rational goals Islamic terrorists have for doing what they do but when someone like Eric Rudolph or white supremacists bomb some place we rightfully just call them irrational nutcases.

I hate to tell you this but alot of Islamic terrorists kill simply out of hate.

[bribri16]

26. We keep ignoring what the "terrorists" tell us is the root cause.

They keep saying, and no one here (US) dare listen. They keep telling us it's our ME policies and our military presence on their land.
But why should we believe them eventhough they warned us after the first WTC attack?

[CJCRANE]

27. In that article

you've linked to it mentions that Hamza warned the Uk about Iraq.

Yes, Islamic fundamentalists existed before the Iraq invasion but it was that invasion and its aftermath (Abu Ghraib, Fallujah etc) that made them set their sights on attacking Britain, which previosuly they'd left alone. The fundamentalists say this themselves, as do the British intelligence services.

[demo dutch]

28. Uh...yeah right!