Insulting Maybe, True Definitely

The Sunday Times, sister paper to the Screw of the World, has managed to get hold of a top secret memo*.

Iraq terror backlash in UK 'for years'
SPY chiefs have warned Tony Blair that the war in Iraq has made Britain the target of a terror campaign by Al-Qaeda that will last “for many years to come.”

A leaked top-secret memo from the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) says the war in Iraq has “exacerbated” the threat by radicalising British Muslims and attracting new recruits to anti-western terror attacks.
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The document says the war is providing an “additional motivation for attacks” against Britain; is “increasing Al-Qaeda’s potential”; and “energising” terrorist networks engaged in holy war. Equally worrying, Iraq is being used as a “training ground and base” for terrorists to return to carry out attacks in Britain and elsewhere.

Grim stuff. Unsurprising, but grim all the same.

Blair puts great store in always believing what the security services tell him. Presumably then, we'll now see him publically accept what's been glaringly obvious to most people for some considerable time. Oh wait - Blair saw this memo before the attacks in London last year. How strange that he, of all people, should misrepresent the judgement of the intelligence services to the British people...

Just in case there's any doubt, the Observer has got their hands on some draft documents relating to the government narrative on the July bombings.

Official: Iraq war led to July bombings
The first official recognition that the Iraq war motivated the four London suicide bombers has been made by the government in a major report into the 7 July attacks.

Despite attempts by Downing Street to play down suggestions that the conflict has made Britain a target for terrorists, the Home Office inquiry into the deadliest terror attack on British soil has conceded that the bombers were inspired by UK foreign policy, principally the decision to invade Iraq.

Out. Enough damage has been done. Enough lies have been told. Times up.

For those who say we shouldn't let the terrorists stop us from carrying out a "noble" endeavour, I say this. A noble endeavour can never be built on a lie. It matters not what the goals of your endeavour might be. The lie is what fuels the anger and the suspicion and the doubt. The lie destroys your noble reputation. The lie creates charges of hypocrisy. And in the end, the lie creates implacable hatred. Nobility is not made of this.

* There's a good chance that the timing of this leak is just a coincidence and not related to this. Possibly. I'm genuinely not sure. The Times tends to be slightly more critical of Blair as compared to the Scum. But they, along with every Murdoch owned paper bar one (if I remember rightly), "independently" decided to support the war. Whatever the reasons for this story at this time, it is important in it's own right.

Tags: News, Politics, Iraq, Terrorism