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We’re All Terrorists Now
Words are political. They change shape to suite agendas.
In the 1970s, ‘terrorist’ meant a paid-up member of the IRA, the Irgun, ETA and the like. These were bad people perpetrating evil and indiscriminate deeds upon a defenceless public. They used bombs, worked in cells, and killed people without warning before fading into the shadows.
Although the UK had legislation specifically geared to deal with what is called terrorism on the books, people deemed terrorists, when they were caught, were prosecuted under existing laws – i.e. for actual crimes they had committed.
Bobby Sands, for example, who fought and died for the IRA cause, was incarcerated for nothing more sinister than owning illegal firearms.
Since 9/11 and the implementation of the so-called Patriot Act (and equivalent legislation in other countries), the definition of terrorism is itself becoming a source of terror.
As part of this process, we are being taught to live with the new nomenclature of ‘terror suspect’; that is you haven’t done anything wrong, but you might.
The Independent reports that: “315 terror suspects were arrested between September 2014 and September 2015, according to new figures from the Home Office.”
The same article continues: “[…] it seems what we are seeing is an increase in terrorism-related fear rather than terrorism itself – totally understandable of course in itself, but not when it leads to the kind of heavy-handed policing that can actually radicalize more people.”
Read another way: the British Government is harassing increasing numbers of innocent people and generating both fear and the chance of more ‘radicalization’ thereby.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
‘Extremism’: Perception vs reality? – Inside Story – Al Jazeera English
‘Extremism’: Perception vs reality? – Inside Story – Al Jazeera English.
The rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria and Iraq is raising fears of radicalisation across Europe.
The perception is of battle-hardened fighters returning from the frontline, full of anger and resentment, prepared to carry on the fight at home.
Numbers vary, but it is estimated around 3,000 European citizens have taken up arms in Syria.
The UK is leading European governments in drawing up measures to combat the potential threat posed by assumed radicals.
In its latest report, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, Europol, categorised 152 “terrorist attacks” in EU member states in 2013.
Of those, most were related to separatist groups, while “religious radicalisation” appeared to be evident in just two attacks.
So how do authorites balance the perceived threat from a comparitively small numbers of fighters returning from abroad, against the threat from myriad groups, categorised as “extremist”, already established on their soil?
…click on the above link to view the video…
