Talking with terrorists
Since the atrocities last Thursday in London, leading politicians have had only one response – the terrorists are evil and we must crush them with military might. George Bush and Tony Blair have promised to intensify their so called “War on Terror” and the rhetoric in Australia has been similar. ALP leader Kim Beazley was perhaps the most extreme, calling those responsible “sub-human filth” who must be “eliminated”. But can terrorism against western targets be curtailed by more violence that inevitably kills many civilians? Critics of the “war on terror” claim that the acts we saw in London are in part, retaliation against the UK for the thousands killed in Iraq. Professor Stuart Rees from the Conflict studies Centre at Sydney University says the mainstream media is too scared to raise these issues – He spoke earlier with Mark Robinson.