Quote of the Day

It is critical that we understand that this new form of terrorism carries another more subtle, perhaps equally pernicious, risk. Because it might encourage a fear-driven and inappropriate response. By that I mean it can tempt us to abandon our values. I think it important to understand that this is one of its primary purposes...

London is not a battlefield. Those innocents who were murdered on July 7 2005 were not victims of war. And the men who killed them were not, as in their vanity they claimed on their ludicrous videos, 'soldiers'. They were deluded, narcissistic inadequates. They were criminals. They were fantasists. We need to be very clear about this. On the streets of London, there is no such thing as a 'war on terror', just as there can be no such thing as a 'war on drugs'.

The fight against terrorism on the streets of Britain is not a war. It is the prevention of crime, the enforcement of our laws and the winning of justice for those damaged by their infringement...

Britain's director of public prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald, in a speech to Britain's Criminal Bar Association. Sir Ken makes two absolutely critical points here. First, conceiving of terrorism as a military target is conceptually incoherent and utterly counterproductive when it comes to devising strategies to combat it. Second, the gravest consequences of terrorism come not from the damage inflicted by terrorists themselves, but from the overreactions they provoke.

Hat Tip: Andrew Sullivan

Posted by Kingston