23 July 2005

Are Islamist terrorists really that different to the IRA?

Nobody thought the IRA could be negotiated with. Didn't we say exactly the same things then. Weren't the Left trying to highlight the real grievances felt by Catholics in Northern Ireland, and dismissed as apologists then, as well?

It took the IRA many years to realise that killing innocent people was getting them nowhere. Only when they targeted the political establishment (Brighton Bomb) did real (although secret) negotiation begin.

The suicide bombers obviously are insane but it goes further than that. We can't dismiss the real grievances Muslim people feel, as insane.

By dismissing the millions of decent Muslims we are driving them into the hands of the extremists.

I don't believe anybody seriously believes that the UK involvement in the Iraq War didn't make us more of a target.

We don't have to negotiate with these mad extremists, but we do have to recognise why so many Muslims sympathise with their cause and accept it is our policies driving this sympathy.

It is these millions of Islamist sympathisers we have to sway not the terrorists. Without their support the terrorists will wither.

The IRA want a united Ireland and most Catholics supported this, they accepted negotiation and power sharing.

The Islamist terrorists want a Caliphate but most Muslims don't want this, they will accept a solution for the Palestinians and justice in the Middle East.

It is also in our interests to do this, we have to move away from our reliance on oil and make sure Muslims don't have a reason to support these extremists. Hopefully it won't take decades of terrorism for us to realise this.

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