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| Britain |
| The making of the terror myth (And You Thought Derrida Was Dead!) |
| 2004-10-16 |
| Since September 11 Britain has been warned of the 'inevitability' of catastrophic terrorist attack. But has the danger been exaggerated? A major new TV documentary claims that the perceived threat is a politically driven fantasy - and al-Qaida a dark illusion. Andy Beckett reports Since the attacks on the United States in September 2001, there have been more than a thousand references in British national newspapers, working out at almost one every single day, to the phrase "dirty bomb". There have been articles about how such a device can use ordinary explosives to spread lethal radiation; about how London would be evacuated in the event of such a detonation; about the Home Secretary David Blunkett's statement on terrorism in November 2002 that specifically raised the possibility of a dirty bomb being planted in Britain; and about the arrests of several groups of people, the latest only last month, for allegedly plotting exactly that. Starting next Wednesday, BBC2 is to broadcast a three-part documentary series that will add further to what could be called the dirty bomb genre. But, as its title suggests, The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear takes a different view of the weapon's potential. "I don't think it would kill anybody," says Dr Theodore Rockwell, an authority on radiation, in an interview for the series. "You'll have trouble finding a serious report that would claim otherwise." The American department of energy, Rockwell continues, has simulated a dirty bomb explosion, "and they calculated that the most exposed individual would get a fairly high dose [of radiation], not life-threatening." And even this minor threat is open to question. The test assumed that no one fled the explosion for one year. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #4 In other words; Hope for the best...but prepare for the worst. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2004-10-16 2:50:48 PM |
| #3 We, the people living today, will never know the whole and complete history of these times. How strong is the Al Qaida organization and does it control and coordinate the each and every one of the Ismalist groups. Probably not but even the best intelligence available cannot say what is fact and what is misimformation deliberate or otherwise. The best stance in my mind is to prepare for what is imaginable without throwing the economy into depression. We will never be perfectly safe, but we must take reasonable precaution. Is the course we are on the best method? Maybe not, but we have to go with what we know and can do. |
| Posted by: Old Fogey 2004-10-16 2:06:26 PM |
| #2 rkb - great post. The press really is melting down over this election. |
| Posted by: 2b 2004-10-16 9:23:00 AM |
| #1 And you thought Derrida was dead! From Christopher Marlowe's Jew of Malta - Albeit the world thinks Machiavel is dead Yet was his soul but flown beyond the alps. And now the Guisse is dead, is come from France To view this land and frolic with his friends ... |
| Posted by: rkb 2004-10-16 7:01:07 AM |