In Britain, there is no more Islamic terrorism. Instead, there is “anti-Islamic activity.”*** And it is criminal behavior.
Jacqui Smith: New language
Ministers have adopted a new language for declarations on Islamic terrorism.
In future, fanatics will be referred to as pursuing “anti-Islamic activity”.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said that extremists were behaving contrary to their faith, rather than acting in the name of Islam.
Security officials believe that directly linking terrorism to Islam is inflammatory, and risks alienating mainstream Muslim opinion. …
The strategy emerging across Government is to portray terrorists as nothing more than cold-blooded murderers who are not fighting for any religious cause.
Al Qaeda inspired terrorism is instead being described by key figures as “more like a death cult”.
Yes, and the British government will be imposing very intrusive-sounding measures to track down not only members of the death cult but also its potential members.
In her speech, Miss Smith said extremists who use the internet to radicalise young children would be pursued in the same way as paedophiles.
She will meet members of the online industry in the next few weeks to decide how to crack down on Al Qaedainspired sites.
Illegal material will be tracked down and removed using tactics already deployed against online paedophiles. Those guilty of grooming youngsters for terrorism could face prosecution under incitement laws.
Miss Smith said: “If we are ready and willing to take action to stop the grooming of vulnerable young people on social networking sites, then I believe we should also take action against those who groom vulnerable people for the purposes of violent extremism.”
Her plans also include a new unit to sift through intelligence gathered by police and security agents.
The unit will be told to “identify, analyse and assess not just the inner circle of extremist groups, but those at risk of falling under their influence”.
Young people found to be falling under the spell of potential terrorists will be targeted for help by community leaders and the authorities.
And you thought the Patriot Act here in America was bad? Ha! Never fear, though. There’s a bit of good news in Britain [e.a.]:
Last night the Home Office stressed that no phrases have been “banned”.
Not officially. Not yet.
I hate to say it, folks, but this is “liberal fascism”: a Western democracy imposing an official terminology on its society, to be used about one group of people in its midst, a group of people who will also be spied upon by police and other intelligence officers in real life and by other professionals scouring the Internet.
But I suppose all this is okay—including the fact that all of these measures specifically target British Muslims for suspicion—just because the government is no longer using the term “Islamic extremism”?
It’s okay to pursue and hound British Muslims as long as you don’t make them feel bad by calling attention to “Islamic terrorism”?
That, folks, is the fear of terrorism speaking. And it has caused our Cousins across the Pond to lose their marbles.
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*** It sort of begs the questions “Is the British government in favor of pro-Islamic activity?” “Is the government planning on criminalizing ‘anti-Christian activity’? ‘anti-Jewish activity’? ‘anti-Hindu activity’? If not, why not?
