The sentencing of a 15 year old Blackburn boy – 14 at the time he committed his thought crimes – to life imprisonment is grossly inhuman. It is not quite as evil as the decision of the appalling Saudi regime to crucify and behead a child dissident, but it is recognisably a product of the same world view. History books will look back on this era as one of astonishing state cruelty.
As I have posted repeatedly, Islamic terrorism in the UK is virtually non-existent. It has killed precisely one person in the last decade. As a massive security industry employing many, many thousands depends for its very existence on this tiny threat, the work of the government, media and security services in exaggerating the “danger” is unceasing and increasingly desperate. It is based on an endless series of stories of thwarted terrorist plots.
The most famous was the liquid bomb plot which in fact had no bombs and no air tickets, and where the traces of “suspicious chemical” found in baby feeding bottles was Milton baby bottle sterilising solution. Then there was the ricin plot with no ricin, and the Manchester “Easter bomb plot” where the “bomb ingredient” found in a kitchen was an ordinary bag of sugar.
In the event of the absence of any terrorism, the focus has shifted to thinking about terrorism, and the result has been the conviction of a series of fantasists who can be held to “prove” the terrorist threat. Of these the very saddest is the State’s crushing of this young child. He had no bombs, owned no weapons, harmed nobody. He was however the “mastermind” behind the dreaded “Anzac Day Beheading Plot” where jihadists in Australia did… nothing whatsoever. Nobody attacked anybody. Some people texted about it.
Aha! But don’t we realise that, but for the tens of billions we lavish on the security services, somebody in Australia definitely would have got beheaded by someone? It was only the arrest of a schoolboy in Blackburn that prevented beheadings in Australia, just as it was only the execution by drone of two men in a car in Syria that prevented something absolutely awful from happening in the UK, somewhere by someone, somehow. “What they are yet I know not, but they shall be the terrors of the earth.”
I don’t understand how stupid you have to be to buy into this stuff. But then I don’t understand what a vicious callous bastard of a judge you have to be to sentence a child to life imprisonment. He is doubtless a very disturbed child and probably very unpleasant to deal with. But he did not harm anyone; pretending he could have is part of the charade of the security state.
I also do not understand why the child’s beheading fantasies get him locked away for life, yet it is apparently OK for the Saudis to behead and crucify anyone they like, and still be grovelled to by the entire British establishment, up to and including the monarch. So far as can be ascertained, the Saudis behead more people than ISIL and for identical reasons, yet I see no Conservative demands to bomb them. One interesting result of the Russian bombings in Syria is that the media are for the first time openly publishing that the CIA and Saudis are funding and arming some of the most dubious combatant groups in Syria.
The power players in all of this, on all sides, are cruel men. Justice Saunders in a British court has just proven that includes the British establishment.
“Surely the definition of terrorism must involve armed actions against civilians? The Woolwich murder was of a soldier.”
______________________
N, here is a definition of terrorism, I say a definition because countries around the world may have their own version of what constitutes terrorism, it’s unlikely to be globally uniform.
“The unofficial or unauthorized use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.”
Here is MI5’s take on terrorism.
The use or threat of action designed to influence the government or an international governmental organisation or to intimidate the public, or a section of the public; made for the purposes of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause; and it involves or causes:
serious violence against a person;
serious damage to a property;
a threat to a person’s life;
a serious risk to the health and safety of the public; or
serious interference with or disruption to an electronic system.”
https://www.mi5.gov.uk/home/the-threats/terrorism.html
“I don’t think there was a statutory offence of conspiracy in England and Wales before the Criminal Law Act 1977, but I may be wrong. There were certainly common law offences: Cato Street, Angry Brigade, etc.”
You could be right but I think prior to 1977 it would have been covered by the Offences Against the Person act of 1861.
The only older encouragers to jihad are those who feel that they or their group have benefited from this jihad in the past, such as the removal of the British in India, which may have had something to do with Britain being nearly thrashed by Hitler, or the removal of Saddam Hussain which as we know provided Iraq with a vacuum of power and a race to the bottom to fill it.
I notice comments on Radio 4 news by Syrian rebels of the Muslim Brotherhood that Russia is spoiling their revolution. Well, if the Syrian rebels had respected the Syrian Muslim population instead of takfiring them and dispossessing them of their property, lives and women or children, they would have supprted the rebels against Assad. Russia can’t believe its luck that the Muslim Brotherhood has gone against all the basic principles of Islam.
Why don’t we all go down the bank and shoot a few innocent citizens in order to pay our zakat? Establishing the sunnah of jihad, by shooting up the Sunnis Muslims is plain daft.
John Spencer-Davis, don’t take it personal, you have misconstrued my comment. The passages you had quoted from Qur’an, were the point of my debate.
You have gone all sensitive on me, and are protesting your right of speech. That is a given my friend, I would not dare to deny that to my enemies never mind those whom I value their opinions.
Do you recollect the strange press release of the air force general who told his pilots they must consider suicide missions? These boys were not Muslims, even for that matter C.E. some of them probably were atheists.
When you are in a better frame of mind re read my comments in the light of this addendum and see if they make any sense?
BTW does anyone remember this air force general’s name? It was in the early days of the Afghan war he came out with his statement.
====================
It is now 04:48 in Aus, just up the road from the pub that sells kangaroo mince lasagna for $12 that has entertainment of wombat bs brought to those fun loving Aussie by Stuart Clumpas who is confirmed to live in Aus by the resident atheist turned a slighted Jew who is upset at this blog, and concerned by the ill effects of it all on Craig’s political future! That is despite Stuart Clumpas sitting in New Zealand with his family, and not being anywhere near the pub that sells the kangaroo mince lasagna!
The racist cretin whose web of lies are more elaborate than a POW scape plan has been busy spamming this board since 8am this morning and is going steady after full twelve hours shift. All the while lamenting that he cannot insult his way through the comments, because they are likely to be deleted.
N_,
That’s an interesting one. Lee Rigby, I think, was off-duty, and so in some respects could be regarded as a civilian. I think he must have been in fatigues though to have been identified as a soldier.
I favour the FBI definition of terrorism, which is approximately: “an act to instill terror into a civilian population for the purposes of bringing about religious or political change”. On that basis, it does fall short, since it was not targetted at civilians and does not seem to have been carried out to terrorise civilians. Is there another technical definition, perhaps for the UK, in which the crime could be reasonably categorised as terror-related?
I did not find out what happened to the two men who killed the soldier, but I fear that one would have to be quite sectionable to do what they did anyway (and thus could not be found guilty of any crime). I would not support the killing of anyone to bring about political change, even if the British army can be regarded as an instrument of imperialism.
I agree that the main ramification of categorising the crime as “terrorism” is to ramp up security budgets and to trumpet related propaganda. If anti-terror legislation were not available to the courts, and the men were to be found of sound mind, I should imagine that murder charges would be quite sufficient.
“One thing I have often reflected on is that you never seem to see some old white-bearded git of an imam putting himself forward to be a suicide bomber or a suicide pilot, or front-line fighter, or whatever.
It always seems to be the very young and the dispossessed. Why’s that?”
It’s probably boredom really, nowhere for young kids to go, lack of gainful employment schemes.
Republicofscotland, our posts cross, and thanks. That definition is a great deal broader than the FBI one, which requires the act to be judged as intending to terrorise the public in order to bring about some change.
I would guess that destruction of property that direct-action arms trade or animal rights campaigners have undertaken would fall foul of that wide definition (presumably by design).
Fedup, I frequently upbraid right-wingers for their aggression on this board, partly since I think any unpleasant forms of interaction either is a waste of time since no-one will respond to it, or it is a waste of time since it just causes a fight. By the same token, there is no value in you making unpleasant asides – it is quite clear that you and Jemand disagree and are not likely to find any agreement any time soon. Thus, would you consider not replying to him, even if he calls you out specifically?
(I would ask that you do not specifically reply to my message either – let’s not waste hot air – but please consider it. Thanks).
The Conservative party is responsible for the deaths of many more British people than all the Middle East “terrorists” put together.
p.s. elephants in Trafalgar Square
http://gertsamtkunstwerk.typepad.co.uk/photos/elephants/trafalgar-square-2.html
Ignoring challenges from trolls is generally the best policy. Their primary motive is to divert discussions. It’s generally best not to assist them in that agenda.
Occasionally I will answer one of them if doing so means drawing additional attention to something that I want attention drawn to.
” the Muslim Brotherhood has gone against all the basic principles of Islam.”
_________________________
Giyane, the Muslim Brotherhood has been used by the West as a counter weight against leftism in the Middle East and Pakistan since the 40’s, and possibly earlier,Pakistan I might add wasn’t founded until 1947.
The British had a major role in the forming of Pakistan, as they tried desperately to at least save part of their/our Indian jewel from independence.
The Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood,in 1970 sided with the pro-British, CIA funded King of Jordan Hussein. King Hussein narrowly avoided being overthrown by Palestinian radicals, due the Muslim Brotherhoods actions.
There are far too many cases to mention in here, of the Muslim Brotherhood aligning itself with either dictators, such as Pakistans General Zia and his Jamaat-i-Islami to Darul Islam movement backed by the US and Britain to overthrow Sukarno’s Indonesian Republic.
“That’s an interesting one. Lee Rigby, I think, was off-duty, and so in some respects could be regarded as a civilian. I think he must have been in fatigues though to have been identified as a soldier.”
No he wasn’t in uniform but he was wearing a Help for Heroes T-shirt.
HandsomeHunk
“For my part, I admit to being prejudiced against comfortably off people living in leafy Surrey and not offering temporary house-room to a poor refugee from Syria (“wot, no Muslims?
No Muslim male however poor would impose themselves on a single lady anywhere.
We gather from your descriptions of yourself that you have acquired some status in the world, so what’s with this faked prejudice? Obviously just a sealioning trick to make Mary feel uncomfortable like the one here:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/katienotopoulos/a-users-guide-to-dealing-with-trolls-on-the-internet#.lg3o2zBeo
HasbaraHate, you are the weakest link.
Jermand 2 Oct, 2015 – 7:29 pm
Can you specifically point anything referencing antisemitism on this site?
I’ve been following Craig’s blog for some years and never seen anything anti-Semitic.
If you’re simply Hasbara please declare this?
When I was in the military, I was recognizable as such from my haircut.
Fred, thanks. I suppose that underscores the attacker’s incompetence, then – HFH shirts are available for anyone to buy.
On the flip side, if they were punishing someone who could have been a civilian for supporting the armed forces, that would more closely meet the wider definition of “terrorism” I supplied earlier.
This is a great blog post and I hope it reaches as many people as possible. It seems absolutely unbelievable that at the same time the West with Middle East allies are training and arming terrorists, a misguided child is being jailed for pretending to be something he is not. Surely he must have very low self esteem issues—is it possible he is the victim of bullying? He should be cared for, not condemned.
Beth:
“Surely he must have very low self esteem issues—is it possible he is the victim of bullying? He should be cared for, not condemned.”
The same could be said for Asian Muslim community as a whole. The older encouragers to jihad catch youngsters who come from families with low self-esteem, and feed them with friendship and an invitation to a high Islamic path. I have been worked on myself.
But the second you do anything wrong, or don’t agree with them they punish you interminably with their mafia-like bullying. The truth is that there’s a good living out there for the CIA/MI6/Mossad recruiters/radicalisers. They themselves were recruited/radicalised while they were young, living under the USUKIS client dictators.
Nothing whatsoever to do with the message of Islam, just the message of CIA/MI6/Mossad.
Jemand : “My replies to Fedup’s abuse have been deleted by the spiteful moderator”
Man up, stop whining, and get on with it, ya wuss. Everyone gets posts deleted, there’s nothing special about you.
Absolutely, Craig. To read the Drone King tonight on how Russian airstrikes would strengthen ISIS ! Complete pants of course. This is where the neocon war logic of the last 16 years has got us, and why such arrogant deceit is now tied in such stupid knots.
Assad is quite clearly better than ISIS. Only a neocon fruitcake who wants another regime change would deny that.
What about the terror plot involving the poor beheaded pig which had to face the indignity of Mr Cameron placing his honourable member in the pig’s mouth- was that not terrorism against animals?
Lysias:
” Ignoring challenges from trolls is generally the best policy.”
I have found the best way to deal with liars is to insert a ‘not’ into the sentence.
It doesn’t give you the truth,but it’s a lot closer to the truth than the original sentence.
e.g. statement picked at random from a contributor who has an axe to grind against one particular religion:
My replies to Fedup’s abuse have been deleted by the { insert NOT } spiteful moderator.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Anyway I was working nights once on the electrics in a High Street store. A couple of male staff were sorting out displays while we were there. In the early hours, one of them turned up in a mini-skirt tights and long blonde wig. I’m the night supervisor. i hear you’ve been having some problems with Health and Safety. If I’d had the courage of my convictions I would have demanded to check his crutch before he checked my safety problems. But politeness at all times – you could have worn a wig to cover your crew-cut.
Yes I can see that might have led to problems further down the line – maybe not such a good idea.
Mods. Could you please remove the slander concerning me in Jemand’s post at 7.29pm. I have NEVER made any anti-semitic comments here or elsewhere.
Precisely for this reason I have engaged with this specimen. In each of his comment there is whole boatload of contradictions and outright lies, yet the story line he is sticking is that of an “atheist” that hurls abuse at any and all Muslims and Christians, in a vile sectarian and racist manner, and when he is cornered, the old chestnut is pulled out of the bag of tricks. All the while he is busy protecting zionistan and it’s interests in a surreptitious and underhanded fashion.
===============
Dammit Republicofscotland you are smoking there! an informative and eloquent comment with historical accuracies abound. (note this is a positive praise and don’t get the wrong end of the stick).
However in complementing your comment, we must study the awful actualities on the ground, seventy eight million Pakistanis have no access to any formal education and are effectively illiterate. These humongous illiteracy rates render the population to take the word of the “imam” as the gospel. Often these “imams” themselves are not highly educed, and have not attended the various Islamic scholarly centers. this resulting in blind leading the blind and easy prey for any SIS. Hence the almighty world of crap that we witness in parts of Pakistan.
This is nothing to do with Islam, or Muslims or for that matter race or genetics. it is entirely to do with the disadvantaged poor with no access to any of the civil amenities we take for granted. It is an indictment to the mismanagement of a country’s economy and resources that can afford to make Nukes but cannot afford to educate its own people!
Afghanistan is in a worse shape than Pakistan, hence the more visible “Taliban”
I have often disagreed on the use of “Islamism” and “Muslim Brotherhood”. These terms confuse the issue as these refer to a single block, while in reality it is not the case. Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood was the winner of the elections in Egypt before the US made sure that Morsi was kicked out of his elected office and ended up in Jail awaiting a death sentence.
Furthermore as you have already mentioned Jordanian MB backed Hussein the reactionary king. The fact is; unlike Catholicism, there is no single authority in the Islamic world to defer to, this federal nature has its blessings as well as its shortcomings. Hence it is disingenuous to talk of single Islamic block and Islamism or Muslim Brotherhood these are not franchised across the Muslim world, and each of the entities have their own unique imperatives based on their organic growth depend tn on the environment that has fashioned them.
Fedup 22.15
A lot to agree with here.
Talking of nukes, I saw this Steve Bell cartoon about Jeremy Corbyn. Does any of us really understand the concept of nuclear war? At least Corbyn has the humility to admit the problem:
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2015/sep/30/steve-bell-on-jeremy-corbyn-and-nuclear-weapons-cartoon
MI stands for military intelligence. Hope we can still remember that and that at least some of the budget was spent in such a way that we were not blindsided by Putin.
http://21stcenturywire.com/2015/10/02/humanitarian-propaganda-war-against-syria-led-by-avaaz-and-the-white-helmets/
Interesting article. I thought it was quite obvious where Avaaz was going at least a year ago when they sent a petition calling for a no-fly zone in Syria , as if we had forgotten the carnage caused by the no-fly zone in Libya. I unsubscribed there and then –I will try to save bees some other way.
And this is also very revealing–
http://off-guardian.org/2015/07/18/avaaz-clicktivist-heroes-or-soros-wolf-in-woolly-disguise/
“Mods….” Mary; Jemand is simply exposing his own predilections and not recognizing the fact, projects his animus onto others in a defense-mechanism common to bigots and similar semi-educated warts on society’s ass. Simply press on.
Giyane This is the kind of dedication/loyalty/belief that is taken advantage of by the carpetbaggers and political gofers.
I wish you would be a bit more circumspect in the use of Islamims and Muslim Brotherhood, perhaps denoting Deobandi and other particular branches that you may not find yourself in agreement with, could further clarify and convey your points. Islam is having a pretty bad wrap in the West mainly due to the contracted out war on Islam by zionistan, and the perpetuated ignorance of the Western audiences whom are introduced to Islam by black propagandists.
Ultimately the hatred sown does not solve any problems only further exacerbates the tensions and wastes precious lives and efforts on maintaining the inertia so sought after by the reactionary psychopath who are gaming the systems.
Why should we the people hate each other? Who benefits from such a state of affairs? Are the questions that we need to keep asking over and over again.