we should rethink our global stance – not because it is wrong, but because it might provoke attacks.
This was of course the standard line at the time on the left: 7/7 was a response – understandable but perhaps a little de trop – to UK foreign policy, from overthrowing Saddam Hussein to support for Israel. With someone of Basu's views in charge, no wonder our counter-terrorism strategy hasn't been quite the rip-roaring success we'd been hoping for.
This is a dangerous argument. The proper response to terrorism is to stand strong, not to shy away from standing with democratic allies like Israel which are fighting jihadism themselves. It is to face down the extremists, at home and abroad, with clarity, courage and resolve. Terrorism isn’t caused by our values or our alliances. It’s caused by the people who choose to murder in the name of jihad.
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