Friday, April 4, 2008

"The only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it, and destroy it where it grows."

In Britain the trial has begun for the men accused of trying to blow up transatlantic airliners over the summer (the reason that it's such a pain in the ass to take liquids with you on airplanes). It appears likely that they intended to commit acts of terrorism, though I'll reserve judgment on how likely they were to succeed/how advanced they were till after everything comes out. Anyway, here's a paragraph from the Telegraph's coverage, in which one of the would-be terrorists gives his rationale for perpetrating the attacks:

They said the deaths of “so-called innocents” were justified because British taxpayers, who funded the Army, did not care about the fate of Muslims, as they were more interested in drinking, watching EastEnders and “complaining about the World Cup”.

The implication seems to me to be that he holds Britons responsible not because of what their government did, but because of their reaction to it. That is, if you want to take him at his word.

No comments: