Posted on 12/09/2006 4:37:30 PM PST by NormsRevenge
LONDON (AFP) - Britain's Foreign Office is urging government officials to stop using the US term "war on terror" amid concerns it angers British Muslims and undermines government aims, a weekly newspaper said.
The government wants to "avoid reinforcing and giving succour to the terrorists' narrative by using language that, taken out of context, could be counter-productive," a Foreign Office spokesman told The Observer.
The Foreign Office has sent the same message to cabinet ministers as well as diplomats and other government representatives around the world, according to the report.
"We tend to emphasize upholding shared values as a means to counter terrorists," the spokesman was quoted as saying.
Many British officials and experts, the weekly said, suspect that Islamist extremists find it easier to recruit followers when western governments speak of a war on terror, by suggesting it is actually a war against Islam.
Gary Hindle, terrorism expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London, hailed the decision to drop the term, though it was not clear whether it was being widely carried out.
"It's about time," Hindle told The Observer. "Military terminology is completely counter-productive, merely contributing to isolating communities. This is a very positive move."
The White House began referring to the "war on terror" in the weeks after Al-Qaeda attacked New York and Washington on September 11, 2001.
How about "The War of Mid-Eastern Agression"?
First of all, I am an American.
Second, could you answer my question? When? Be specific.
Well, you have a nice day. And please, do not ever, ever post to me again. Dragging somebody's dead parents into it is infantile. I don't have time for that.
Be specific or else you're just gloom and dooming with no real foundation beneath your prognostications. Any fool can do that. When will this happen? By which date? And if it doesn't happen by then, why didn't it? If you have considered the problem enough to pass judgement, surely you have considered all these things already.
Clean out the undoubted problems in your own backyard....
The British people havent become Chamberlains,nor will we.In fact there is a distinct backlash amongst us against the pandering to a Muslim minority(in fact a dangerous violent minority within that by and large decent, law abiding,hardworking minority)....
This is not just a 'white thing' either but increasing disquiet,concern and anger across all sections INCLUDING anti-extremist Muslim groups themselves(who as a recent documentary showed are doing so good work in Britain).
People are also fed up with Brussels and the EU(which is why Blair wont hold a Euro currency referendum 'cos he knows he'd be heavily defeated)
Unfortunately,it is the elite who have/are caving in,but not the average Briton.
So go on and write us off(whilst smugly ignoring your own problems to which energy woulf be better spent)....
The British have been getting written off since Ol' Boney....and dont we keep p****ing people off by surviving and remaining one of the great nations of th world.For some of us,THE greatest nation.
Oh and we are possibly leaving the JSF due to YOUR attitude not ours...
Good riddance?.....nice to see how you treat your best ally.
What kind of moron believes such a thing? A moron who deserves to die at the hand of radical islamists.......
I "feel" your anger.
And agree with it!
It is hard not to be angry. Some of the stuff coming out of the mouthes of our world "leadership" is not just appalling but it makes one wonder what lens do they see themselves through. They keep pretending that Iran and North Korea don't really mean anything by their threats. They are allowing great rhetorical power to be wielded by those who intend to place themselves in a position to rule the world and if not destroy it in the process of trying.
Let us talk of assassinating a tyrant who is individually responsible for the deaths of hundreds or thousands and an out cry rises from the world. What I want is a leadership that makes decisions based upon what is real and what is right. Playing pretend with bullies is like offering them an admission fee to the school playground. The only solution to deal with those who intend to oppress is to knock them down and keep knocking them down.
These word games are going to get us all killed, well not all. The people where I come from would survive and most of rural America would survive. We'd fight till we had no fight left in us. I have to worry though. If the future leadership is any worse than what is currently demonstrated we won't be fighting just the enemy from abroad, we will be fighting our own civil war with those who just want to make peace and blame the jews.
It is hard not to be angry.................
Indeed it is. I guess the most disheartening event for me, was when I witnessed our president (and vice president) wearing blue ties, president mumbling and stammering at the questions of a clueless punk reporter about whether he would admit that he "was wrong", etc.
I believed I sensed a finality to it all.
Our country seems to be without leadership now, adrift and without even the most rudimentary sense of the danger approaching.
Your sentiments have given me a lift.
so does this mean its over? we won right? /sarc
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