| i think blair's actions are justified..
after 9/11, the only thing muslim communities seemed to want to do was blame us for getting attacked. muslim leaders were extremely slow to condemn terrorism, and particularly the ideology behind it. now, i certainly believe that our foreign policies helped sow the seeds of terrorism - i have no doubt about that. but at the same time, that does not excuse inaction on the part of muslims either - and generally speaking, it looked as if the "muslim community" sought to excuse terrorism rather than come out strongly against it.
i can't completely blame muslim communities for being slow to condemn terrorism.. in fact, i think the majority of europe (and the american left) focused more on blaming our policies for the attack than looking to rectify the situation. in general, our "leaders" have consequentially paid little attention on rectifying the situation themselves. or, in bush's case, they have used the threat of terrorism to pursue foreign policies unrelated to combatting terrorism (e.g. iraq).
now the brits have gotten a reality check - despite their misgivings about their (and our) foreign policy, perhaps the understand what they're up against a little more than when we were attacked. being attacked on your home soil can put things into better perspective.
the trick as i see it is to accomplish these three things simultaneously.
1. change our foreign policies so that the hatred that fuels terrorism wanes.
2. impose a measured/calculated burden of shame unto the muslim community.
3. actively go after terrorist cells in a less overt fashion.
there are undoubtedly more things we can do, but generally speaking, we'd be a lot safer if these three points where to happen. |