LONDON,
July 9, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – British Prime
Minister Tony Blair admitted there can be no security solution to
terrorist attacks, urging the world to address the underlying causes
of terrorism.
"Probably
with this type of terrorism the solution cannot only be the security
measures. I have never really doubted that myself," Blair told
BBC radio, two days after the rush hour attacks on London's transport
system killed at least 50 people and injured some 700.
He
maintained that with terrorists prepared to blow up people on trains
or buses at random "you can have all the surveillance in the
world and you couldn't stop that happening".
The
prime minister stressed, however, that the government had to be
"very cautious" in making sure it did not restrict people's
freedoms in the battle against terrorism.
"I
think this type of terrorism has very deep roots," Blair said.
"As
well as dealing with the consequences of this -- trying to protect
ourselves as much as any civil society can -- you have to try to pull
it up by its roots."
He
said among measures that needed to be taken were improving
understanding between religions and easing the Middle East peace
process.
The
prime minister further said that the "dreadful perversion of the
true faith of Islam" should not be allowed to prevail.
While
charging that the perpetrators of the attacks acted "in the name
of Islam," Blair maintained Thursday, July 7, that "the vast
and overwhelming majority of Muslims here and abroad are decent and
law abiding people who abhor terrorism every bit as much as we
do."
Imams
across Britain were united Friday, July 8, in condemning the attacks
in their weekly sermons, encouraging Muslims to offer all possible
assistance to the victims and authorities.
The
grisly attacks also drew immediate condemnation from scholars,
officials and even individuals from across the Muslim world, who said
that such “black actions” run in the face of Islam which strictly
forbids killing civilians.
Legitimate
Arab Grievances
 |
|
"…there
can be no hope of defeating terrorism until we are ready to take
legitimate Arab grievances seriously," said Clark.
|
David
Clark, a former Labour government adviser, wrote in the Guardian
Saturday that it is time for a rethink as it should be clear by now
that the world cannot defeat terrorism with conventional force alone.
"The
political dimensions of this problem mean that there can be no hope of
defeating terrorism until we are ready to take legitimate Arab
grievances seriously," he wrote.
He
asserted that the US-led occupation of Iraq must come to an end and
that the Palestinians get their viable state.
"The
Palestinians need a viable state, but all the indications suggest that
the Bush administration is preparing to bounce the Palestinians into
accepting a truncated entity that will lack the basic characteristics
of either viability or statehood. That must not be allowed to
succeed," Clarke maintained.
Blaming
the "actions of our leaders" for the rising terrorism, he
said that it must now be obvious that US President George W. Bush’s
war on terror is failing.
"Having
stood with America, and paid a terrible price for doing so, it is now
time to turn that demand back on Bush," Clarke wrote.
"We
have a vital national interest in defeating terrorism and we must have
a greater say in how that is done. The current approach is failing and
it's time for a change. If Tony Blair cannot bring himself to say
this, he owes it to his country to make way for someone who can."
(Click
to read Clark’s article in full)
Firing
Line
Faisal
Bodi, a news editor at the Islam Channel, also wrote in the same
British daily that "the bloody trail of blame" for London
attacks, which was claimed by Al-Qaeda in unverified statements, leads
straight to 10 Downing Street.
"The
prime minister's early return to Westminster (from the G8 summit) was
a fitting response to the carnage unleashed on the capital. It was the
only hint of personal responsibility for our entanglement in a war
that has made prime targets of innocent Britons," he said.
"The
fury generated by Tony Blair's decision to coat-tail George Bush into
what only the blind still call a justified war has put us all in the
firing line. When Blair led us into the war on terror, he knew that a
country with which Islamist networks had no immediate axe to grind
would be drawn into their sphere of hate as a consequence."
Bodi
wrote that in going to war and occupying Iraq, Blair has turned the
British into "expendable pawns, in the same way it did Ken Bigley
and Margaret Hassan," referring to the two British hostages slain
by their kidnappers in Iraq.
"We
have become involuntary martyrs for Blair in the service of his
master's imperial cause."
He
continued: "Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and the bombing of innocent
Afghans in their homes might conjure up images of US brutality, but
our policies and military action ever since the first Gulf war,
including sanctions and the use of depleted uranium, have maimed and
wiped out hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, whose only crime was to
live under a tyrant of our making - not theirs." (Click
to read Bodi’s article in full)
Blair
has seen his popularity drop due largely to his support for the Iraq
war.
A
leaked government memo has revealed that Blair had already committed
himself to a regime change in Iraq by force eight months before the
invasion-turned-occupation of the oil-rich Arab country.
