The SquizLog

Bombs, Political Correctness and Justice

"Why hasn't anybody mentioned Iraq?"

That was my wife's reaction as we watched on TV the reporting of the horrific explosions in London. It's a fair question and it doesn't take much imagination to draw a link between Britain's involvement in the Iraq war and yesterday's bombings.

But it isn't politically correct to make such suggestions. British MP George Galloway, who has had the temerity to suggest that Londoners have paid the price for Britain sending soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan, discovered that when he was expelled from the Labour Party in 2003 by Tony Blair for his opposition to the Iraq war.

The mainstream media also appears to be at pains to avoid political controversy. Within that sphere it has been hard to find any serious analysis that may be perceived as radical. I had to go to an alternative source, where I found a link to this article by Mike Marqusee. It's worth a read if you're prepared to consider an anti-war perspective.

Of course the bombings were a deplorable and senseless waste of life. But does it help to deny the political backdrop to them? And will it ultimately help to focus on "counter-terrorism" and bringing the attackers to justice?

Justice. Now there's an interesting word in this context.

As Tim Bray says, how about trying to figure out why the attackers went to such lengths. Tim says:

I’m not saying that there’s any political grievance to which attacking New York, Madrid or London is a reasonable response. But when something is driving enough people into insane belief systems that we see regular explosions in our cities, it would be smart to care—a lot—what that something is. Because, on the evidence, I don’t think the leaders of the Western world have a clue.

I'm not going to hold my breath, but it would be a step in the right direction to geniunely try to understand the perspective of Islamic extremists and what motivates them.

Maybe they perceive some injustice?

Posted to Peace, Politics by Keith Pitty