Bushrepublican liars
31-07-2005, 03:47
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1658982005
Outrage as Livingstone tries to 'explain' suicide bombers
FRASER NELSON
POLITICAL EDITOR
Key points
• Ken Livingstone claims terrorist attacks fuelled by UK foreign policy
• Public expression of these views breaks political truce since attacks
• His views shared by Labour back-benchers and many members of public
Key quote
"You've just had 80 years of western intervention into predominantly Arab lands because of the western need for oil. We've propped up unsavoury governments, we've overthrown ones we didn't consider sympathetic" - KEN LIVINGSTON, SPEAKING ON RADIO 4
Story in full KEN Livingstone, the mayor of London, yesterday stunned even his political opponents by claiming the terrorist attacks on the city a fortnight ago were motivated by British foreign policy in the Middle East.
Shattering the political truce that had emerged since the four bomb attacks, Mr Livingstone said resentment was being fuelled as a result of the treatment of detainees by United States troops at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. He went so far as to suggest the English public would themselves resort to suicide bombings if placed under certain circumstances.
While his remarks were condemned by politicians and diplomats, they echoed private criticism among Tony Blair's enemies on Labour's back-benches.
When asked what he thought had motivated the four suicide bombers who struck in London on 7 July, Mr Livingstone traced it back to Britain's historic role in the Middle East.
"You've just had 80 years of western intervention into predominantly Arab lands because of the western need for oil. We've propped up unsavoury governments, we've overthrown ones we didn't consider sympathetic," he told Radio 4.
"In the 1980s, Americans recruited and trained Osama bin Laden, taught him how to kill, to make bombs, and set him off to kill the Russians and drive them out of Afghanistan."
The United States, he said, was reaping its own harvest as "they didn't give any thought to the fact that, once he'd done that, [bin Laden] might turn on his creators".
He was careful to say that his criticism of British and US foreign policy did not amount to sympathy for the bombers. "I do not support any suicide bombings. I don't ever recall supporting an act of violence," he said. But he made it clear that he regarded suicide attacks as the natural result of political decisions. "Under foreign occupation and denied the right to vote, denied the right to run your own affairs, often denied the right to work for three generations, I suspect that if it had happened here in England, we would have produced a lot of suicide bombers ourselves.
"A lot of young people see the double standards; they see what happens in Guantanamo Bay, and they just think that there isn't a just foreign policy."
The rise of Islamic extremism across the world was, he said, the product of British policy to maintain a presence in the Arab world after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
"I have not the slightest doubt that if, at the end of the First World War, we had done what we promised the Arabs, which was to let them be free and have their own governments, and kept out of Arab affairs, and just bought their oil, rather than feeling we had to control the flow of oil, I suspect this wouldn't have arisen," he said.
While Mr Livingstone has voiced such concerns before, his views were thought to have moderated since he was accepted back into the Labour Party last year.
Downing Street was taken aback by Mr Livingstone's outspoken remarks - but No 10 did not criticise him, praising his performance in the aftermath of the attacks a fortnight ago.
"The Prime Minister and Ken Livingstone have different views of the world and that remains the case," said a spokesman.
"Equally, however, we recognise that Ken Livingstone has provided, as an elected official in London, a lead to the people of London at this tragic time - at the same time as he expresses views which we fundamentally disagree with."
However, Zvi Heifetz, Israeli's ambassador to London issued a furious and biased statement. "It is outrageous that the same mayor who rightfully condemned the suicide bombing in London as 'perverted faith', defends those who, under the same extremist banner, kill Israelis," he said.
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said he denounced any attempt to empathise with the suicide bombers - whether from Mr Livingstone or Islamic clerics.
But the mayor's comments reflected the views of some Labour rebels, who have so far refrained from using the bombings to attack the Prime Minister in the House of Commons.
"After a few weeks, it will be hard to conclude that Britain is not at more risk because of the war the Prime Minister led Britain into," one MP said yesterday. "And it will be hard not to conclude that he bears some of the blame."
There is increasing evidence that the British public link the London attacks with the Iraq war. An ICM opinion poll two days ago showed that two-thirds believe Mr Blair bears some responsibility for the terrorist attacks on the capital.
The Prime Minister has vigorously rejected any such suggestion - and he reminded the Commons yesterday that 26 countries had faced attacks by al-Qaeda.
Mr Livingstone, re-elected as the official Labour candidate to be London mayor last summer, is combining his criticism of British foreign policy with a robust line on anti-terrorism laws. He said yesterday he had "no problem at all" with plans to ban the "glorification of terrorism".
He has also echoed Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, in saying that concerns about civil liberties must be put into this context. "A pretty important civil right is the civil right not to be blown up on the way to work," he said yesterday.
Outrage as Livingstone tries to 'explain' suicide bombers
FRASER NELSON
POLITICAL EDITOR
Key points
• Ken Livingstone claims terrorist attacks fuelled by UK foreign policy
• Public expression of these views breaks political truce since attacks
• His views shared by Labour back-benchers and many members of public
Key quote
"You've just had 80 years of western intervention into predominantly Arab lands because of the western need for oil. We've propped up unsavoury governments, we've overthrown ones we didn't consider sympathetic" - KEN LIVINGSTON, SPEAKING ON RADIO 4
Story in full KEN Livingstone, the mayor of London, yesterday stunned even his political opponents by claiming the terrorist attacks on the city a fortnight ago were motivated by British foreign policy in the Middle East.
Shattering the political truce that had emerged since the four bomb attacks, Mr Livingstone said resentment was being fuelled as a result of the treatment of detainees by United States troops at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. He went so far as to suggest the English public would themselves resort to suicide bombings if placed under certain circumstances.
While his remarks were condemned by politicians and diplomats, they echoed private criticism among Tony Blair's enemies on Labour's back-benches.
When asked what he thought had motivated the four suicide bombers who struck in London on 7 July, Mr Livingstone traced it back to Britain's historic role in the Middle East.
"You've just had 80 years of western intervention into predominantly Arab lands because of the western need for oil. We've propped up unsavoury governments, we've overthrown ones we didn't consider sympathetic," he told Radio 4.
"In the 1980s, Americans recruited and trained Osama bin Laden, taught him how to kill, to make bombs, and set him off to kill the Russians and drive them out of Afghanistan."
The United States, he said, was reaping its own harvest as "they didn't give any thought to the fact that, once he'd done that, [bin Laden] might turn on his creators".
He was careful to say that his criticism of British and US foreign policy did not amount to sympathy for the bombers. "I do not support any suicide bombings. I don't ever recall supporting an act of violence," he said. But he made it clear that he regarded suicide attacks as the natural result of political decisions. "Under foreign occupation and denied the right to vote, denied the right to run your own affairs, often denied the right to work for three generations, I suspect that if it had happened here in England, we would have produced a lot of suicide bombers ourselves.
"A lot of young people see the double standards; they see what happens in Guantanamo Bay, and they just think that there isn't a just foreign policy."
The rise of Islamic extremism across the world was, he said, the product of British policy to maintain a presence in the Arab world after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
"I have not the slightest doubt that if, at the end of the First World War, we had done what we promised the Arabs, which was to let them be free and have their own governments, and kept out of Arab affairs, and just bought their oil, rather than feeling we had to control the flow of oil, I suspect this wouldn't have arisen," he said.
While Mr Livingstone has voiced such concerns before, his views were thought to have moderated since he was accepted back into the Labour Party last year.
Downing Street was taken aback by Mr Livingstone's outspoken remarks - but No 10 did not criticise him, praising his performance in the aftermath of the attacks a fortnight ago.
"The Prime Minister and Ken Livingstone have different views of the world and that remains the case," said a spokesman.
"Equally, however, we recognise that Ken Livingstone has provided, as an elected official in London, a lead to the people of London at this tragic time - at the same time as he expresses views which we fundamentally disagree with."
However, Zvi Heifetz, Israeli's ambassador to London issued a furious and biased statement. "It is outrageous that the same mayor who rightfully condemned the suicide bombing in London as 'perverted faith', defends those who, under the same extremist banner, kill Israelis," he said.
David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said he denounced any attempt to empathise with the suicide bombers - whether from Mr Livingstone or Islamic clerics.
But the mayor's comments reflected the views of some Labour rebels, who have so far refrained from using the bombings to attack the Prime Minister in the House of Commons.
"After a few weeks, it will be hard to conclude that Britain is not at more risk because of the war the Prime Minister led Britain into," one MP said yesterday. "And it will be hard not to conclude that he bears some of the blame."
There is increasing evidence that the British public link the London attacks with the Iraq war. An ICM opinion poll two days ago showed that two-thirds believe Mr Blair bears some responsibility for the terrorist attacks on the capital.
The Prime Minister has vigorously rejected any such suggestion - and he reminded the Commons yesterday that 26 countries had faced attacks by al-Qaeda.
Mr Livingstone, re-elected as the official Labour candidate to be London mayor last summer, is combining his criticism of British foreign policy with a robust line on anti-terrorism laws. He said yesterday he had "no problem at all" with plans to ban the "glorification of terrorism".
He has also echoed Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, in saying that concerns about civil liberties must be put into this context. "A pretty important civil right is the civil right not to be blown up on the way to work," he said yesterday.