A few days ago I wrote a post despairing over the thought of so many ordinary people offering little or no resistance to the more extreme aspects of the War on Terror.
What a difference a few days make.
One truly positive aspect of this whole Liquid Terror business has been the fact that more people than ever before have decided enough is enough. The Internet, and even the peripheries of the mainstream media, have been ringing with cries of ‘Bullshit!’ for days now.
That is truly heartening news.
And some of the establishment responses to the cries of ‘Bullshit!’ have been a little more subtle than usual. Sure, there have been the usual lazy accusations of ‘tinfoil hat conspiracy theories’ but those vacuous insults are looking lamer and lamer with each ballsed up, high profile terror raid. However, I’ve also seen some more reasoned responses to War on Terrorism cynicism than usual. It’s possible, just possible, that an increasing number of people, whether they are pro or anti War on Terror, are beginning to realise where this is all going and want to discuss the issue like grown ups.
Which would be a nice idea.
Matthew Parris is as articulate, as always, on the subject of the latest terrorism flap. Unsurprisingly perhaps, Craig Murray’s bullshit detector is also working overtime.
Even though I class myself as a War on Terror cynic I try not to be dogmatic about my beliefs. And I’m open to see what comes out of the latest round of arrests. Maybe we’ll finally see some evidence that the specific threat portrayed by our government is real.
I’m not talking about evidence that bombs have gone off and that people have died or that more bombs will go off and more people will die. I think everyone can agree that this is a ‘given’. I’m talking about the other stuff – the identity of the perpetrators, their motivations, their objectives, their capabilities and, off the back of all that, the best way of dealing with them.
I want to see evidence of all those minor details before I can listen to John Reid spout manure like this…
"We may have to modify some of our freedoms in the short-term in order to prevent their misuse and abuse by those who oppose our fundamental values and would destroy our freedoms and values in the long-term"
… and not think that he and all his mates are the real psychopaths who threaten my way of life
What the sponsors of the War of Terror have conspicuously failed to do is prove that there is an awesomely scary global terrorist conspiracy being waged against ordinary citizens of the Western World because the global terrorists 'hate us for our freedoms'. This is the fruitiest conspiracy theory of all and like some bizarre cross between an old James Bond novel (secret bases / global criminal networks) and a brain-dead Simpson and Bruckheimer-style action movie (Arab nutcases).
No, on second thoughts it’s worse than that. The people behind brain dead action movies at least give their Muslim fanatics tangible motives; the release of prisoners, revenge for American aggression, whatever. Not even the dumbest beer-sodden fuck watching the dumbest fucking movie would be expected to swallow something as stupid as ‘they hate us for our freedoms’ as a credible motivation for 120 minutes of on-screen fantasy mayhem.
Politicians, unlike Hollywood producers, have no such inhibitions when it comes to assessing the gullibility of their target audience.
Nor have the War on Terror advocates made a credible case for the actions they are taking to counter the threat of this supposed global Islamic conspiracy. Quite the opposite. Virtually everything our governments have done is guaranteed to increase the numbers of people with a grudge against us. And the longer our governments continue to behave this way the more likely those actions will help make the Phantom Menace a reality.
Given that blowing Middle Eastern countries away and identifying entire communities of being responsible, either by action or omission of action, for terrorism are so patently counter-productive, I personally have absolutely no doubt that The War on Terror is, and is meant to be by some people at least, a self-fulfilling prophecy.
4 comments:
even the evening standard printed a letter questioning the political expedience of the timing.
There is definately something about Mr Reid and his lame television that makes we want to hit his face with a nice big haddock
And what is being completly ignored is the fact just HOW racist this whole thing is. Thinking an Arab/Muslim/Whatever will kill you because he is whatever he is, while at the same time not thinking the same about your own race/religion/whatever is by definition racism.
God, I wish Americans were as cynical and suspicious of government motives as you Brits are. Sigh!
Your Home Secretary, Mr. Reid, sounds to have much in common with our Attorney Gen., Mr. Gonzales. God help you all!
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