Terrorism is a strategy that wages war not in the streets, but in the minds of its targets. The chances of being involved in, ket alone hurt or killed by a terrorist in the UK or Australia are about the same as being hit by lightning, and less than the idiotic risks we take every day.
Terorrism onyl works when it successfully induces irrational fear in its victims, not when it kills them. I wa sin London in the late 70's and early 80's when there was an IRA bombing campaign, at the same time there was a rubbish strike which left piles of bags on the street as perfect cover for bombs.
Effect, practically nil. Nobody I knew then made any changes to their way of life, and we would have been royally PO'd by the cops barging into our homes and shooting us in the process.
But in the intervening years we have become an increasingly fearful society, we are already disposed to fear; of any number of potential assualts on us, from chemicals, foods, climate, big rocks falling from the sky, the lot.
And our pictures of them have become increasingly graphic, sharpening the fear while constantly reiterating the message that we are helpless in the face of these threats, only the "saviours" be they fictional he men or snake oil peddlers from pharmaceutical companies or religious icons, can help.
We are sitting ducks for terrorism as a strategy. And with less than a year since the Jean Charkes de Menezes police terrorism, the british cops have nearly done it again. They have been recruited to carry out the terorist agenda.
Two men arrested in an anti-terror raid in east London were released without charge last night. One week after police swooped on their home in Forest Gate, Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, who was shot in the shoulder during the raid, and his brother Abul Koyair, 20, were freed. Both had been detained under the Terrorism Act 2000, suspected of being involved in a plot to make a chemical device that could be used in a terrorist act.
They had denied any involvement in a terrorist plot and the raid, which involved 250 officers, some dressed in chemical suits, has attracted severe criticism from the local community and prominent Muslim leaders.
The operation will also raise questions about the accuracy of the intelligence used in the raid and the role of the intelligence agencies.
[No question about the accuracy of the intel used, it was crap, what is seruously in question is the emotional stability of the people who are making the decisions; they apparently cannot be trusted with any information that requires critical literacy or logical processing.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "The intelligence received by police continues to be developed and we will continue to exhaust all lines of inquiry. As we look forward, we will continue to engage with all communities and respond to issues that are raised." The release will also be potentially embarrassing for the Government after Tony Blair had said earlier this week he was "101 per cent" behind the police. John Reid, the Home Secretary, defended the police last night. He said: "The police are acting in the best interests of the whole community in order to protect the whole community and they, therefore, deserve the support of the whole community in doing what is often a very hazardous and dangerous job, often involving difficult decisions."
Our protectors are being played. Because too many people in the west have moved into meta fear, they are now terrified of even feeling afraid, a self winding watch. We have no idea what it is like to be really afraid; women traded into brothels against their will and beaten into submission every day know what fear is, people in Darfur know what fear is, ommuters on a London underground going from warm, dry houses to bright, airconditioned offices get twinges of anxiety, but fear? Don't make me spit.
FDR must be spinning in his grave.
Our protectors are being played. Because too many people in the west have moved into meta fear, they are now terrified of even feeling afraid, a self winding watch.
So very true, imo. We just had ourt first real instance of this in Canada with the arrest of a dozen or so terrorist plotters in Toronto, who from all accounts were royal bumblers. But our newly elected (minority government) conservative PM was practically beside himself with glee .. and there was a predictable outpouringof the need to ramp up our fear.
Fuck, it pisses me off. If any of these galoots were serious about addressing terrorism, they would start a real and society-wide engaged conversation about root causes and how large economic and social justice imbalances might be addressed. IMHO.
Posted by: Jon Husband | June 11, 2006 at 02:31 PM
Yup.
We need a networkd aprpaoch to security, one that seeks to make sure that the greatest number of people ahve the greatest vested interest in our wellbeing.
You can do this in two ways, like a drug dealer who hands out collective punishment to a whole community when anyone transgresses (Iran suggesting that energy might get a bit scarce if the US does the wrong thing for example) or by making sure that relationships with us is a source of benefit.
We tried the first one, it really hasnt worked. The question is whether we are stupid enough to believe that more of the cause of the problem will lead to its solution.
Posted by: Earl Mardle | June 11, 2006 at 03:14 PM