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| Britain |
| Britain has 10,000-15,000 Qaida supporters-leaked report |
| 2004-05-30 |
| Britain signalled its commitment to its Muslim community on Sunday as a leaked document revealed a project to "win the hearts and minds" of Islamic extremists and al Qaeda sympathisers. The government project codenamed "Contest", which was leaked to the Sunday Times newspaper, suggested Britain might be harbouring as many as 10,000 al Qaeda sympathisers. "We don’t comment on leaks, but the government is taking its relationship with the Muslim community very seriously," said a government spokeswoman. "But that is only one part of the strategy against terrorism." Moderate Muslim preachers would receive state funding under the plan, while radical foreign imams would be asked to pledge allegiance to the British way of life or face a ban, said the Sunday Times, claiming to have seen over 100 pages of secret documents. "The aim is to prevent terrorism by tackling its underlying causes to diminish support for terrorists by influencing relevant social and economic issues," cabinet secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull was quoted as saying in a letter prior to a May 19 meeting to discuss "Contest". The project is said to have been prompted by the March 11 attacks on Madrid commuter trains, killing 191, and the discovery of over half a ton of bomb making material in a London warehouse two weeks later. "Muslim-friendly workplaces" could be set up, along with moderate Muslim television and radio stations. In a note to Home Office permanent secretary John Gieve, Turnbull called for a blueprint to win "the hearts and minds" of Muslim youth. "Al Qaeda and its offshoots provide a dramatic pole of attraction for the most disaffected," he wrote. "The broader task is to address the roots of the problem, which include discrimination, disadvantage and exclusion suffered by many Muslim communities." More than half of Britain’s working-age Muslims are economically inactive, while 16 percent of them have never worked or are longterm unemployed -- five times the national average, according to a Home Office audit cited at the May 19 meeting. Between 10,000 and 15,000 British Muslims actively support al Qaeda, said another paper. Many Muslims are angered by the "double standards" of British foreign policy in the Middle East, it added. Democracy is preached, but oppression of the Ummah (the global Muslim nation) is practised or tolerated, for example in Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir and Chechnya," said the paper. |
| Posted by:TS(vice girl) |
| #13 Humbly, thanks Mark! The religious thing just gets in the way of clear thinking. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-05-31 12:03:34 AM |
| #12 Lucky, your comments are 100% right on target! |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-05-30 9:18:34 PM |
| #11 UKistan |
| Posted by: Mark Espinola 2004-05-30 9:14:34 PM |
| #10 Either the libs will give it to them, or the muslims will try to take it and we'll all cave, or we fight them. thems be ye choices. |
| Posted by: an delusian dog 2004-05-30 8:44:11 PM |
| #9 "More than half of Britain’s working-age Muslims are economically inactive, while 16 percent of them have never worked or are longterm unemployed -- five times the national average, according to a Home Office audit cited at the May 19 meeting." Isn't that a big surprise. Over half don't work and 16% never worked - and these are the ones who were industrious enough to heed the call - go west young man. These folks are in trouble. When Americans heeded that same call to go west, it was with the expectation that through hard work they could make something of themselves, build something. We didn't go west for a handout. "Underlying causes" aren't always that obscure. |
| Posted by: Jake 2004-05-30 6:27:35 PM |
| #8 Call me crazy, but I don't think this is going to work. My suspicion is that once they've gotten a few concessions, they'll become even more sensitive, demanding the censoring of things that non-Muslims still enjoy. Maybe they'll point to what's been given and claim that it's "humiliating" to have special things. Maybe they'll complain that those services showed a previous "consideration" that is "absent" in the case of the wider public. Maybe they'll just bitch for the hell of it. If this goes forward, they've taken the first step down a very slippery slope . . . |
| Posted by: The Doctor 2004-05-30 6:07:13 PM |
| #7 And well said rex. The article made me spit. What is passing for brains has me spinning. It's not a religion. It's a political movement hostile to western culture. The moskqs are political headqtrs. Until that is understood by our leaders, fearless leaders, it's two steps back for every step forward. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-05-30 2:56:54 PM |
| #6 ...Moderate Muslim preachers would receive state funding under the plan...In a note to Home Office permanent secretary John Gieve, Turnbull called for a blueprint to win "the hearts and minds" of Muslim youth... Bribing Muslims to be non-murderous...Churchill would be proud...But who are we to point fingers at the British when our own city elders change noise ordinances so Immam wails can be broadcast 5X aday across a town square and our Justice Dept. fights for the rights of female students to wear head scarves to school? And the phrase used by the Brits "winning hearts and minds" sounds awfully familiar, and it was not on the BBC that I heard it. No worries it's only 800 men who have been killed so far, some with their throats slit to boot, while trying to implement this noble goal in Iraq. Call me "negative" or "cynical" but surely you must identify a wee tiny bit with the image of a pot calling the kettle black. Has PM Blair or President Bush put a moratorium on all immigration, because surely that would be a quick fix to increasing threats from problematic "individuals" setting up a home in Britain and the USA? OBL is laughing all right, my friends, and it's not just at Gieve and Turnbull. As for a good home for OBL, Spain's a sentimental conquest #3, perhaps, but the real jewel, IMO, is Fraaaaance. France has nukes and is in a more strategic location for doing damage to other Western countries. Enough said. |
| Posted by: rex 2004-05-30 2:17:41 PM |
| #5 Sounds like a whole lotta pandering to the enemy going on. Never a good choice, even in the best of times. Britain has 10,000-15,000 Qaida supporters The smart money would be on a substantial spike in earnings for deportation experts. Britain is a few watercress finger sandwiches short of a teatime if they think that appeasing militant Muslims is going to work. Exporting the Westernized (read: softened up) Islamists back to their nations of origin is the only answer. Let these ungrateful wretches get a solid reminder of why they fled to Britain in the first place. Maybe then they will begin to fight for change in their own homelands instead of spewing their bile upon those who sheltered them. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-05-30 1:58:06 PM |
| #4 "Muslim-friendly workplaces?" This is the biggest load of idiocy I've ever heard in my life. At this rate, the Brits will surrender faster tham the Frogs -- at least, the government will. |
| Posted by: Infidel Bob 2004-05-30 12:47:12 PM |
| #3 Agreed Binny would be smugly grinning and in general feeling extremely pleased with him self, not for the fact that terrzoids all around the world have sprung or are about to spring into action,no he'd be real smug because of the way our left wing, our media and the AQ propaganda war is going, a prime example was the Madrid rail booms, now after that all the media did was ultimatly blame George Bush and Tony Blair because they dragged Spain into the Iraq war,and that was that end of story,no looking into how long these groups had been established in Spain (pre Iraq war years),no mention was given of Binnys threats in the past to take Spain for the Muslims due to him being gutted they lost the first round of the crusades,I'm no expert in history as you can tell but i do know Binny had his sights set on Spain from along time ago.its just a shame the general public - those who matter don't get told of facts such as these,instead the media just tells them what they want them to hear.So so frustrating :( we'll never win the war against Islamozoids if our public are constantly missinformed deliberatly. |
| Posted by: Shep UK 2004-05-30 12:24:53 PM |
| #2 "The broader task is to address the roots of the problem, which include discrimination, disadvantage and exclusion suffered by many Muslim communities. . . . Many Muslims are angered by the "double standards" of British foreign policy in the Middle East, it added. Democracy is preached, but oppression of the Ummah (the global Muslim nation) is practised or tolerated, for example in Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir and Chechnya," said the paper." Dave D. - you are absolutely correct. OSL is laughing, and reading this article is making me physically sick. If there is such a group as the moderate islamic community they must be some top secret organization. The radical islamist/al Qaedaist ideology is the most vile, demented, bloodthirsty philosophy since the lovely Nazis, yet we keep trying to determine how we can placate them. The government would do better concentrating on locating and identifying those who hold to these beliefs and eliminate them rather than gearing a program help the self esteem of the stealth moderates. |
| Posted by: Sam 2004-05-30 12:17:52 PM |
| #1 "Britain signalled its commitment to its Muslim community on Sunday as a leaked document revealed a project to 'win the hearts and minds' of Islamic extremists and al Qaeda sympathisers." Dear God in heaven... what the hell do the bloody monsters have to do, before we wake the hell up? Detonate a nuclear device in central London???? Memo to John Gieve: Islamic extremists and al Qaeda sympathisers don't give a shit if you're "nice" to them; THEY WANT YOU DEAD, along with all the rest of us, too. The shimmering, iridescent idiocy described by this article is simply staggering; and if Osama bin Laden is alive and reading it, you can bet your ass he's laughing his damn head off. And he has every right to. |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2004-05-30 11:54:48 AM |