A terror so great we forgot it at once [Melanie Phillips]

The Spectator (UK) ^ | December 9, 2006 | Melanie Phillips

[aculeus]

Dhiren who? Mention Dhiren Barot to anyone and the chances are that you’ll be met with a blank look. At best, some might say, ‘Oh, wasn’t he that guy who, er, that trial recently, yeah, bit worrying....’ Thus the British have somehow failed to register the significance of the conviction last month of a man who was one of al-Qa’eda’s biggest fishes, guilty of the most devastating terrorist plot ever known in this country and one which would have made 9/11 look like a minor warm-up act.

This former airline ticket clerk plotted to kill hundreds of thousands of people in a series of synchronised atrocities in Britain and the US. He planned to blow up public buildings using gas cylinders in limousines, to mount a gas attack on the Heathrow Express rail shuttle, and to blow up the Tube under the Thames to rupture the walls keeping out the river. Police found in his notebooks details of how to construct a chemical laboratory, along with recipes for poisons and plans to use radiation to spread sickness, panic, chaos and death on a vast scale.

Terrifying and astounding as all this was, the real significance of the case lay in the way it punctured the myths fuelling Britain’s state of denial over Islamist terrorism.

Myth one is that Britain is only threatened by such terror because the war in Iraq has radicalised British Muslims. Yet Barot was laying his infernal plans before 9/11, let alone the fall of Saddam. As long ago as 1999 he advocated bringing Western countries to their knees. Significantly, he observed that this could only be achieved by Muslims living in Western countries, because only they understood the culture, geography and common practices of the people among whom they lived.

[pieceofthepuzzle]

There are so many ways in which the jihadists can target us. Wonder if the jihadists are trying to get their hands on Polonium 201? They will do anything that they think will further their cause. To cling to the notion that they are only doing this because of Western policies is dangerous and ill-informed.

[CyberAnt]

"... he observed that this could only be achieved by Muslims living in Western countries, because only they understood the culture, geography and common practices of the people among whom they lived."


But the left in the UK and the USA are ignorant to the point they do not believe a human is capable of plotting such evil. Only a few of us understand and believe this is not only possible, but there are a lot of others plotting the same thing all over the world.

Callers to Rush and Hewitt have begun saying - it's going to take another MAJOR attack upon America before we wake up to reality and galvanize the country - shut the leftists up - and do what needs to be done to defeat this attack upon civilization.

[Hot Tabasco]

I'll admit my ignorance, I never heard of the guy. Maybe I'm not really ignorant, just uninformed by the MSM.......

[frankiep]

To cling to the notion that they are only doing this because of Western policies is dangerous and ill-informed.

The truely frightening thing is that this is exactly the way MILLIONS of Americans see things. Proof of this was there for all to see with the election results. We are in serious trouble - trouble that I'm sure the vast majority American's cannot even comprehend - because our citizens have stated loud and clear at the ballot box that they would rather stick their heads in the sand instead of dealing with this.

Keep your powder dry.

[basil]

I would wager that another attack on the US would NOT wake the leftist at all. Instead, we would be faced with more appeasement for the muslims, and further restrictions of our Constitutional Rights.

[wildbill]

Great read but you have to be registered (free) to get it all.

Significant conclusion: The denial mindset that George Bush is the cause of terrorism across the Muslim culture is the most terrifying thing of all.

[rawcatslyentist]

>"Myth one is that Britain is only threatened by such terror because the war in Iraq has radicalised British Muslims."

You mean it's not the Joooooos?

The reality is it's satanallah, the original deceiver of mankind, still up to his old tricks.

[353FMG]

"This former airline ticket clerk plotted to kill hundreds of thousands of people.."

Hush, he is a member of the ROP. I will continue to believe in the ROP until our "leaders" tell me otherwise. And, oh yeah, I swear that the moon is made of blue cheese.

[LibreOuMort]

I hope this article gets wide circulation among those with the power to prevent monsters like this from succeeding in their diabolical schemes. Our best defence against such Evil is to not suffer it to live in our midst. Until we are sufficiently afraid I don't see this happening.

The death penalty serves a meaningful purpose and should be universally reinstated and applied without delay. Appeals in cases like this should be forbidden. In Islamic society, under Sharia law, sentences are carried out swiftly and publicly. The deterrent effect of swift and certain punishment is chilling.

Jihad, on the other hand, justifies (even glorifies) every conceivable evil against "infidels." Western laws and judicial systems have been gutted in the name of "civility" while Islam's sharia laws have no such considerations. Submission is a way of life and a mentality that knows only this is incapable of independent and critical reason.

Our biggest mistake has been to underestimate the power of mindless zeal and the attraction of martyrdom in Islamic culture. These beasts are considered heroes. The West is blinded by its ignorance. Ignorance, my friends, is not always bliss.

[353FMG]

"To cling to the notion that they are only doing this because of Western policies is dangerous and ill-informed."

You gotta be joking.

[CyberAnt]

I disagree. After we were attacked at Pearl Harbor - America came together. We still had the leftists - as archived NYT headlines prove - but they were marginalized and not allowed to rule.

And .. remember, the majority of Americans understood we were at war - people today do not understand that - because it doesn't appear to be changing things here in America. WHEN IT DOES CHANGE THINGS IN AMERICA - the attitude will make a 180 degree adjustment.

Say a dirty bomb is loosed in a major city .. and 10,000 or more people die .. the leftist whining will no longer have any sway .. because like Chamberlain - they will have been proven wrong by the very fact of another attack.

And .. 9/11 was not the first attack upon America .. but it was only the biggest so far. On American soil there was only the 1st WTC bombing, Okalahoma City, and 9/11. Each was successively larger than the last. Evidently, that was still not enough to show people that these evil terrorists mean to kill us all.

[LS]

I'm reading her book, "Londonistan," now. It's sad, depressing, and likely prophetic of what will happen here if we don't get control of this situation.