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Terror war only fuelling more violence
The US-led and British-backed war on terror is only fuelling more violence by focusing on military solutions rather than on root causes, a think tank warned on Wednesday.
| And you can never think too much about root causes. Soon as I hear 'root causes', I know exactly with whom I'm dealing. |
The war on terror is failing and actually increasing the likelihood of more terrorist attacks, the Oxford Research Group said in its study, titled Beyond Terror: The Truth About The Real Threats To Our World.
| Frustrated academics strike again. We can never measure up. |
It said Britain and the United States used military might to try to keep the lid on problems rather than trying to uproot the causes of terrorism.
| Turns out that 'keeping the lid on' is a pretty good way to uproot terrorism, so long as you squash a lot of hard boyz with that big heavy lid ... |
It said such an approach, particularly the 2003 invasion of Iraq, had actually heightened the risk of further terrorist atrocities on the scale of September 11, 2001.
| After all, look how many 9/11's we've had in the U.S. since 9/11. |
Treating Iraq as part of the war on terror only spawned new terror in the region and created a combat training zone for jihadists, the reports authors argued. It pointed out that the Taliban movement was now resurgent, six years after it was overthrown in 2001 by the US-led invasion in the wake of the September 11 attacks.
| The Taliban is so resurgent that it can briefly hold a district or two in a region near the Pak border. Until the Canadians come looking for them. |
Sustainable approaches to fighting terrorism ...
| Is that like 'sustainable agriculture'? |
... will involve the withdrawal of US-led forces from Iraq and their replacement with a United Nations stabilisation force, it said.
| And exactly where will we find a UN force to do that? Iran? Syria? Bangladesh? We can't get a UN force into Somalia or Darfur. Talk is cheap which is why it's so prevelant on campus. |
It also recommended the provision of sustained aid for rebuilding and developing Iraq and Afghanistan as well as closing the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where most suspects are held without charge or trial.
| All the usual progressive buzz words right there. |
And it called for a genuine commitment to a viable two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
| Of course. Silly us, why hadn't anyone thought of this before? |
The study warned that military intervention in Iran over its nuclear ambitions would be disastrous, calling instead for a firm and public commitment to a diplomatic solution.
| 'Firm' should never be used by a Y'urppeon academic. It's a foreign word to them. |
The study also said the British governments plans to upgrade the submarine-based Trident nuclear deterrent could produce international instability.
| After all, look how destabilizing the Trident is today. |
Nuclear weapon modernisation is likely to serve as a substantial encouragement to nuclear proliferation as countries with perceptions of vulnerability deem it necessary to develop their own deterrent capabilities, it said.
Posted by: Fred 2007-04-12 |
