ID :
40943
Fri, 01/16/2009 - 11:10
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/40943
The shortlink copeid
Miliband says 'war on terror' was a mistake
London, Jan 15 (PTI) Describing the war on terror as "misleading and mistaken," British Foreign secretary David Miliband has said it proved to be conterproductive and helped otherwise disparate groups find common cause against the west.
In an article in the Guardian newspaper, Miliband, who is
currently on a visit to India, wrote that the war on terror
was misconceived and that the west cannot "kill its way" out
of the threats it faces.
British officials had stopped using the phrase "war on
terror" in 2006, Miliband wrote, adding that the concept was
"misleading and mistaken".
"Historians will judge whether it has done more harm than
good," Miliband said, adding that, in his opinion, the whole
strategy has been dangerously counterproductive, helping
otherwise disparate groups find common cause against the west.
"The more we lump terrorist groups together and draw the
battle lines as a simple binary struggle between moderates and
extremists or good and evil, the more we play into the hands
of those seeking to unify groups with little in common,"
Miliband argued.
"We should expose their claim to a compelling and
overarching explanation and narrative as the lie that it is.
Terrorism is a deadly tactic, not an institution or an
ideology," he wrote.
He argued that "the war on terror implied a belief that
the correct response to the terrorist threat was primarily a
military one - to track down and kill a hardcore of
extremists".
He quoted American commander General David Petraeus as
saying the western coalition in Iraq "could not kill its way
out of the problems of insurgency and civil strife".
Instead of trying to build western solidarity against a
shared enemy, Miliband argued that it should be constructed
instead on the "idea of who we are and the values we share".
He wrote that democracies must respond to terrorism by
championing the rule of law, not subordinating.
"That is surely the lesson of Guantanamo and it is why we
welcome president-elect Obama's clear commitment to close it."
PTI PS
In an article in the Guardian newspaper, Miliband, who is
currently on a visit to India, wrote that the war on terror
was misconceived and that the west cannot "kill its way" out
of the threats it faces.
British officials had stopped using the phrase "war on
terror" in 2006, Miliband wrote, adding that the concept was
"misleading and mistaken".
"Historians will judge whether it has done more harm than
good," Miliband said, adding that, in his opinion, the whole
strategy has been dangerously counterproductive, helping
otherwise disparate groups find common cause against the west.
"The more we lump terrorist groups together and draw the
battle lines as a simple binary struggle between moderates and
extremists or good and evil, the more we play into the hands
of those seeking to unify groups with little in common,"
Miliband argued.
"We should expose their claim to a compelling and
overarching explanation and narrative as the lie that it is.
Terrorism is a deadly tactic, not an institution or an
ideology," he wrote.
He argued that "the war on terror implied a belief that
the correct response to the terrorist threat was primarily a
military one - to track down and kill a hardcore of
extremists".
He quoted American commander General David Petraeus as
saying the western coalition in Iraq "could not kill its way
out of the problems of insurgency and civil strife".
Instead of trying to build western solidarity against a
shared enemy, Miliband argued that it should be constructed
instead on the "idea of who we are and the values we share".
He wrote that democracies must respond to terrorism by
championing the rule of law, not subordinating.
"That is surely the lesson of Guantanamo and it is why we
welcome president-elect Obama's clear commitment to close it."
PTI PS
