We're winning the war on terror
"Contrary to “expert consensus”, the threat of terrorism -– however defined -– was declining, Andrew Mack, Director of the Human Security Report Project said at [UN] Headquarters today". Source
"Mr. Mack, a former Director of the United Nations Strategic Planning Unit before starting the Human Security Report Project, said all three data sets included civilians killed by non-State actors in civil wars, but not consistently so. Some 81 per cent of terrorism victims were from Iraq since the 2003 invasion, but the data sets did not include victims of civil wars in sub-Saharan Africa or Darfur. If the Iraq situation were removed from the data, there would be a 40 per cent decline in the incidents covered in two data sets, with the third still showing a small increase. However, new data from the National Counterterrorism Centre for 2007 showed a decline.
He said part of the decline was due to tactical successes in the “war on terror” -- sanctuary denied, leaders killed and networks disrupted -– but mostly because Islamist terrorist organizations had “shot themselves in the foot”. Al-Qaida in Iraq, for instance, had angered even Sunni Iraqis by its indiscriminate violence against civilians, and some recent polls showed that “100 per cent” of Iraqis thought the attacks were unacceptable.
Just 1 per cent of Afghans felt strong support for the Taliban, and in north-west Pakistan, Osama bin Laden’s popularity had dropped from 70 per cent in 2007 to just 4 per cent in 2008, he said. That could lead to the conclusion that, as terrorism went up, support went down. The fact that about 2,000 people a year were killed in terrorist acts should be put in perspective. An estimated 500,000 people were murdered annually and one million died from traffic accidents. The threats of Al-Qaida were real, but terrorism posed no threat to civilization.
..."Mr. Mack, a former Director of the United Nations Strategic Planning Unit before starting the Human Security Report Project, said all three data sets included civilians killed by non-State actors in civil wars, but not consistently so. Some 81 per cent of terrorism victims were from Iraq since the 2003 invasion, but the data sets did not include victims of civil wars in sub-Saharan Africa or Darfur. If the Iraq situation were removed from the data, there would be a 40 per cent decline in the incidents covered in two data sets, with the third still showing a small increase. However, new data from the National Counterterrorism Centre for 2007 showed a decline.
He said part of the decline was due to tactical successes in the “war on terror” -- sanctuary denied, leaders killed and networks disrupted -– but mostly because Islamist terrorist organizations had “shot themselves in the foot”. Al-Qaida in Iraq, for instance, had angered even Sunni Iraqis by its indiscriminate violence against civilians, and some recent polls showed that “100 per cent” of Iraqis thought the attacks were unacceptable.
Just 1 per cent of Afghans felt strong support for the Taliban, and in north-west Pakistan, Osama bin Laden’s popularity had dropped from 70 per cent in 2007 to just 4 per cent in 2008, he said. That could lead to the conclusion that, as terrorism went up, support went down. The fact that about 2,000 people a year were killed in terrorist acts should be put in perspective. An estimated 500,000 people were murdered annually and one million died from traffic accidents. The threats of Al-Qaida were real, but terrorism posed no threat to civilization.
Stressing that the drop in terrorism was a net decline, he said incidents in Algeria and Pakistan had gone up, but terrorist activity in Algiers was small compared to what it had been in the 1990s. Islamist terror groups lacked the support they had enjoyed in that decade as they had alienated the population to such an extent that it had started to cooperate with the authorities. He said he did not know whether or not the Iraq war remained a recruiting tool for terrorists, but the flow of foreign fighters into that country had declined. The diaries of captured or killed jihadists had mentioned a lack of morale for some years now and it had become increasingly difficult to recruit people for what seemed a losing cause. Asked about 'Palestine', he said that was the only area where support for suicide bombers stood at 50 per cent, simply because the bombers did not target fellow Muslims".
So, good news. Not that I expect to see this reported by a certain state controlled broadcaster, even though the study was part funded by DFID. More once I've read the report, and not just the UN press release.
Labels: United Nations, war on terror
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on Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 9:39 am.
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One of the positive side effects of the War on Terror is that since its recent escalation, the evenings have been lighter.
Did Iran really say it would wipe Israel off the Map?
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=5866
Wipe Isreal off the Map.
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/january2007/260107offthemap.htm
Fitting the Evidence to the Policy
http://www.livevideo.com/video/rclark23/1E8F485B900C44498E90AD06E7088446/-war-criminal-ex-mi6-head-dea.aspx
Why did Blair Lie about his Involvement with the Bilderbergers / The global Elite, What's to hide.
http://www.infowars.net/articles/October2006/201006Bilderberg.htm
http://www.disgrunt.com/blog/2006/10/20/blair-quizzed-on-bilderberg/
Blair, No Remorse, War on a Lie 1 Million dead, 300 British Troops and he has no regrets.
http://www.truthnews.us/?p=882
Blair Knew no WMD's
http://www.truthnews.us/?p=760
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1663752,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1593607,00.html
http://www.thedossier.ukonline.co.uk/
Finally Criminal Investigations into Blair
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oDsUxph5nBk#mve8czJIoTk
What planet is this guy from? Is he suggesting that the situation is actually rosy? Well I suppose if we remove lots of data about terrorist activity then there will be less terrorism.
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