It is now known that the the four bombers involved in the London blasts are well-off, middle class kids from Leeds. What is not known is what kind of propaganda can drive young men of sound minds and bright futures to willingly blow themselves up to kill and maim innocent people. One bomb even went off in Aldgate East – an area of London with a sizable Muslim community.
Which is why the WoT will always need to be fought on two fronts:
- Military offensives and police arrests backed by good intelligence & forensic accounting (edited 14th July, 2005 for clarity)
- Education, poverty relief, and the Israeli/Palestinian issue
The first roots out the wealthy financiers, planners and recruiters wherever they may be. Their propaganda corrupts absolutely and there’s no reasoning with pure hate. EDIT July 15th, 2005 – This will mitigate to a certain extent the phenomenon of educated and bright minds being warped. The second will reduce the pool of potential recruits. The situation will be greatly helped if moderate and sensible Muslim clerics and leaders around the world, including those in Western countries speak up in a combined voice condemning these evil acts and help steer young impressionable Muslims away from the dark side. And though problematic legally, radical firebrands need to be censured.
Meanwhile another bomb went off in Iraq, killing more innocent Iraqis. Curtis puts it angrily:
“Way to win those hearts and minds, fuckers“.
Whatever people may think about the war in Iraq, now that a can of worms have been opened it is more prudent to let the military deal with it the best that they can instead of being stuck on “we told you so“.
I do believe that the US is in a predicament – they focused too narrowly on Iraq when they should have cast a broader look at Egypt, Libya, Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia. But the US can’t go it alone nor should they. It’s a global problem. And I hope that the governments of these countries would know that fanaticism is a double-edged sword and it is not in their best interests in the long run to continue fuelling it.
For those with short memories, Osama bin Laden was a mujahid backed by the US against the Soviets in Afghanistan. The US has learnt the lesson the hard way, these countries need not have to.
What the world needs now is a bit more understanding, pragmatism and common sense.
3 Responses to “And the WoT continues”
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I’m not sure how you’re connecting “four…well-off, middle class kids from Leeds” with “education, poverty relief, and the Israeli/Palestinian issue.”
If, as the Left is fond of saying, crime and terrorism are a direct result of poverty, then how do they explain this little “aberration”? Come to think of it, the terror masters aren’t exactly paupers, either. And education? The Palestinians educate their children…to hate Israelis.
Frankly, I’m all for a strict hands-off policy toward the ME. Just let them sort it out for themselves. If only our gov’t weren’t so afraid of environmentalists (re: ANWR), we could be less dependent on ME oil.
I’m connecting the rich kids from Leeds with the recruiters and planners – they are the ones who gave these kids such propaganda that they are willing to give up their *good* future to blow themselves up. Meanwhile you can’t ignore that poor desperate kids from the ME don’t make cheap suicide bombs either. Hence on one side, you gotta remove these ppl behind the scenes, and on the other you have to give a better future and direction to those in the region who’ve got nothing to lose. Maybe en edit is in order.
And when I said education, I realise that Palestine is a harder entity to deal with but the surrounding countries can and should do better. But then again we are talking about Syria, Libya, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. It’s a pipe-dream but the world can’t just standy idly by and say, “fuck it, let them sort it out themselves.”
Dependence on oil would explain the hypocrisy with Saudi Arabia but not the region as a whole.
Honestly, I still can’t believe that they could do it. It justs seems so wrong that people of their background can do something like that.