Distortions Reign

I have been rather disturbed today by the level of distortion that seems to be prevalent amongst politicians and the media over the terrorist 'threat' (sorry Nick Cohen). First of all there was the all pervasive Home Secretary, 'Dr' John Reid, being interviewed by a particularly sycophantic Peter Sissons on the BBC this morning. The usual lies were said and distortions were made. My favourite was the often repeated:

Islamic terrorism originates before Iraq and Afghanistan you know.

I particularly love this line of distortion by the establishment. It amuses me because everyone knows that this is true, even the more outlandish conspiracy theorists would accept this. The problem is, this particular strain of Islamic terrorism does not pre-date the first Iraq war. In fact, it is fair to say, that Al-Qaeda, did not even exist as an ideology before the first Iraq war. The point that people like myself make, and it is one they either don't understand or distort because they know the truth, is that the terrorist threat has grown since the Iraq war and the war in Afghanistan. Maybe I am looking back with rose-tinted glasses, but I don't remember being told by the government, every single day, that the threat is critical or imminent. Now, however, it is every single day. No-one could seriously claim that there is no link between the two, unless they seek to gain political capital from it. Even The Observer has produced the same line as Reid, these attacks date from 1993, not from the Iraq invasion (mind you they would say that as they supported the government in the illegal invasion). Under the title 'These ludicrous lies about the West and Islam', The Observer's leader opens with:

The first Islamist terrorist plot against New York's World Trade Centre was carried out on 26 February 1993 with a car bomb under one of the twin towers. It killed six people but failed in its aim of bringing the whole building down. To achieve that, another plot was hatched.

Old Reidy could have written that himself. Indeed, throughout the whole piece there is no mention of the fact that foreign troops were on the Holy Land during the early nineties, the cause of Bin Laden's mission to destroy the West. It is very clear to anyone with half a brain (or, indeed, one that hasn't been brainwashed by the right-wing media) that the threat level has grown since the war in Iraq, of that there is no doubt.

Another line taken in the very same newspaper (maybe I should cancel my subscription) is the line that there is a well organised, shadowy organisation with a central command structure, that is orchestrating world-wide terrorist attacks. This line is pursued by Nick Cohen in his interesting attack on those who dare to criticise the mainstream media:

The same theme animated Adam Curtis's wrongheaded Power of Nightmares series for BBC2. 'Although there is a serious threat of terrorism,' he conceded, 'the nightmare vision of a uniquely powerful hidden organisation waiting to strike our societies is an illusion.' This would be news to the people of the Philippines, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq.

What Nick, and indeed much of the establishment, fails to understand is that Al-Qaeda is an ideology. It is an ideology that draws impressionable people into its midst. There is no central command structure, as this would be very easy to expose. A loose organisation built around an idea is, however, difficult to infiltrate because it is a philosophy, not an organisation. The best way to defeat this ideology is not through bombs and destruction of liberties, it is by confronting the ideology and exposing the flaws that are inherent within. Only then will the appeal of this ideology diminish. We can start by not giving succour to their propaganda machine in allowing injustices, such as Iraq and Lebanon, to take place.