Terrorism - rational responses to an irrational threat

Potential Terrorist Weapon

The sickening London Bridge atrocity last night brings a sense of "Not Again", a feeling of anger and frustration. The response of "thoughts and prayers", of solidarity, and respect to the emergency services are all good and right, but there is also a feeling that effective action is needed.

The danger is that people, in their desperation, may be more ready to listen to the haters.

This makes it all the more important that we take measured, systematic action at every level of society to make us more secure, and stop terrorism at its source.

Here are a few constructive responses that we can make:

1. Don't Panic! Terrorism - the use of violence against civilians and non-combatants for political purposes - aims to create terror, and of course it does so in people immediately affected by their violence, but it need not do so in the average citizen. After all we are many many times more likely to be killed or injured by a familiar car than by a swivel-eyed fanatic.
2. Daesh will fade. We survived Al Fatah and now they are moderates. We survived the IRA (despite their support in the in the USA). Al Qaeda think Daesh are too violent! Islamic terrorism will pass.
3. Don't hate Muslims. Daesh number about 15,000. Muslims number 1.6 billion. That's a terrorist proportion of 0.0009375%. OK there are a larger amount of Muslims who sympathise with, and donate to Daesh and violent jihad, but even so it is not rational to generalise from the minority to the whole community.
4. Don't respond militarily - it just makes it worse. We have had more attacks here, not less, since we started bombing in Syria.  The situation in Syria is too confused to get involved in. It is a matter for the regional powers and the UN to sort out. Support regional talks. The only possible benefit of our joining in the madness would be to make Daily Mail editors feel better.
5. Do ask what Theresa May knew about the possibility that the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group group may have been an "asset" of the British Secret Intelligence Services.
6. Do reverse the cuts to police numbers made by austerity policies.
7. Do aim to address the root cause of Muslim unhappiness, so far as it is in our power.
8. a) We must solve the Israel Palestine conflict. Here is a new approach.
   b) Pull all US troops out of Saudi Arabia. It is an offence against their faith to have foreign troops on the sacred soil of Saudi Arabia.
9. Do ask your local Imam about whether he has delivered the fatwa against terrorism, and if not, will he please do so? At the same time ask your local Christian Minister if s/he has denounced nuclear deterrence as a sin against God, since deterrence is not infallible, and will lead to nuclear war at some time in the future. It will not have escaped the notice of terrorists that the majority of nuclear-armed nations are either,"Christian", Jewish or secular.
10. Don't buy oil supplied by Daesh, mainly to Turkey
11. Do trace and block their sources of funding, mainly from Saudi Arabia.
12. Do stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia and to Erdogan's Turkey.
13. Do close the Turkey/Syria border that allows potential fighters to join Daesh.
14. Do initiate a water management programme in the Middle East (and, indeed, everywhere). Climatic changes in the Fertile Crescent are a component in the troubles in Syria.
15. Do solve the unemployment problem. Daesh attracts alienated youth, and unemployment is another way for the nation or state to say to a young person "We have no use for you. You have no purpose. You are not part of this society" There is high unemployment in the Brussels quarter of Molenbeek, where the Paris attackers originated.
    
    Unemployment is a market failure. It is utterly absurd to have so many unemployed when there is so much work that needs to be done in solving the many problems of society and environment.
16. Do Ask UN to look at bringing continuous universal pressure against dictators through the Index of Human Rights.Do react in a co-ordinated way to any real-life terrorist situation.
17. Do support any and all talks, between any and all parties.
18. Do prepare to mob the attacker in the very unlikely event that we find ourselves in a terrorist situation.
19. Do make sure that the Home Office is isolating hate preachers from ordinary criminal offenders in our prisons.