How Do We Stop Terrorism? Stop Committing
Terrorism
By David Miller
November 28, 2015 "Information
Clearing House" - "National"
- THE first thing for Western nations to do if they want to stop
terrorism is to stop committing it. Rendition, torture, selective
assassination by drone or hit squad and mass killing of civilians
cause terror and create terrorists. We know that Daesh is the
progeny of the Blair Government’s disastrous invasion of Iraq.
The architects of that war now admit the
Government’s case was based on – at best
– a false
prospectus. Today, the Government continues to use spin to foster
the fear it needs to gain support for military action.
David Cameron claims “all seven terror plots in
the UK this year” have been “directed by Isil or inspired by the
group’s propaganda”. Look closely, he means terror plots, alleged by
the intelligence services to have taken place, details of which have
not been made public.
We know that when details of terror plots do
emerge, there is evidence that they are not all they are made out to
be. Those of us who remember the “ricin plot” will know there was no
ricin and no plot. There was a chemical factory in East London which
did not exist and the same applied to the alleged “potential Glasgow
bomber” of August this year. And look closer: “inspired by the
group’s propaganda”. Or, in other words, with no actual connection
to Daesh. The manipulative use of language is also evident in the
claim that it would be a “publicity coup” for Daesh should MPs make
the sensible decision to vote against Cameron’s adventurism.
The idea that the ideology of “Islamic extremism”
is what drives Daesh and others is not supported by evidence from
the front line. Lydia Wilson of the Centre for the Resolution of
Intractable Conflict at Oxford University reports the experience of
interviewing Daesh prisoners in Iraq.
She quotes one who put his reasons for fighting as
follows: “The Americans came,” he said. “They took away Saddam, but
they also took away our security. I didn’t like Saddam, we were
starving then, but at least we didn’t have war. When you came here,
the civil war started.”
David Miller is Professor of Sociology at the
University of Bath and co-director of
Spinwatch
© Copyright 2015
Herald & Times Group.
