NYT/Reuters: UK Rejects Foreign Policy Link to Attack Threat

[DeepModem Mom]

UK Rejects Foreign Policy Link to Attack Threat
By REUTERS
Published: August 12, 2006

LONDON (Reuters) - The British government on Saturday rejected as "dangerous and foolish'' accusations that its foreign policy heightened the threat of terrorist attacks after police foiled a plot to blow up transatlantic airliners.

In an open letter to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, British Muslim groups and politicians said his policies on issues like Iraq and the Israel-Hizbollah war were putting civilians at increased risk in Britain and elsewhere.

Thirteen months after four British Islamist suicide bombers killed 52 people on London's transport system, British Muslims fear they are being demonized because of extremist militants.

"We urge the prime minister to redouble his efforts to tackle terror and extremism and change our foreign policy,'' said the letter, whose signatories included six politicians from Blair's Labour Party.

But ministers were quick to reject claims that their policies had given ammunition to extremists....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-security-britain.html

[madame defarge]

1. Of course they were "quick to reject claims"...

Deny, deny, deny.

Sounds like the same thing is happening in the UK as here.

If it wasn't foreign policy that caused these terrorist attacks, just what was it???

Blair & Bush must go.

[CJCRANE]

2. "It's the shock and awe, stupid".

Time to go, Tony.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. It looks like Tony is calling MI5 "dangerous and foolish" too:

The threat of international terrorism comes from a diverse range of sources, including Al Qaida and associated networks, and those who share Al Qaida's ideology but do not have direct contact with them. A threat could manifest itself from a lone individual or group, rather than a larger network. Such groups and individuals have a wide range of aspirations and causes, such as:

* replacing governments that they regard as insufficiently pious;

* reclaiming what they regard as occupied territories;

* rejecting democratic institutions and values in favour of an extreme interpretation of Islam;

* reducing the influence of Western countries in the Middle East and elsewhere.

In recent years, Iraq has become a dominant issue for a range of extremist groups and individuals in the UK and Europe.
...
Some British residents have travelled to Iraq to join the insurgency against the country's government and Multinational coalition forces. In the longer term, it is possible that they may later return to the UK and consider mounting attacks here.

http://www.mi5.gov.uk/output/Page269.html

[Barrett808]

4. That's such pre-7/7 thinking. n/t