Rotten inside

A number of things have made me realise that the problem with the War on Terrorism is that most Western politicians share the analyses of the terrorists.

The clearest example is the one staring us in the face, the one that people from outside the UK most remark on, the savagery on our doorstep that's found in Northern Ireland. Peter Hain is a classic example of a politician who has agreed with every so-called colonial grievance that's ever been aired. When you read his CV, you know that in founding the anti-Nazi league he intended to create a pressure group that would identify what he would call the 'nazi within' ie. the colonial legacy, and enshrine political correctness. Through this prism we have to see his dramatic concessions to the IRA following their latest P.R. stunt.

Moving on, look at how the British Government are dealing with Israel nowadays: trying to arrest retired Israeli Generals. Now of course it was only the idiot judiciary who were trying this on, but the British Government are not far behind. It also shows how the judiciary are becoming ever more activist. Again the establishment are agreeing with the terrorists, accepting their lines- even repeating them.

And finally, what are we to make of the War on Terror when most politicians would be horrified at any mention of a further military step- even a step- against such terrorist regimes as Iran and Syria?

Even Bin Laden, I suspect, only needs to hang around for his anti-imperialist needs to be met.

I think the current generation of politicians, especially our British ones, are unblushing hypocrites. They can't stand the bombs exploding anywhere near their political eardrums, so they act tough, but they agree with the terrorists' analyses: poverty is our fault; colonialist fascism is to blame etc etc. They won't tell us they agree, because that's not their style. I don't think the public in any western country agrees with them (and I would except a number of US politicians and thinkers from this charge, though their will is weak).

Why then are people fighting and dying in Iraq? Simply because politicians like Blair are realistic enough to know what kind of concessions are required, and that these can't be offered overnight. If you're going to allow for reverse colonisation you can't do it just like that. He is therefore at war with the unrealism of the terrorists, not their causes. People like Ken Clarke, meanwhile, are too short-sighted to understand that the terrorists have a meaningful mindset that requires appeasing or destroying.