Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Occasional Political Reference

How unhelpful was it for Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday to describe the sense of grievance that parts of the Muslim community have against British foreign policy as "completely false". Just what you need when you're trying to get people to the diplomatic table. Even non-Muslims who were horrified by the London bombings last year--yours truly being one of them--detect a taint of "Islamophobia" in the government's stance on Iraq, Iran, Palestine and Chechnya. How much more calculatedly racist or religiously intolerant is it going to look to an angry young Muslim who's getting his ear filled with the rhetoric of holy war by his own teachers?
Tony. Old pal. Put a sock in it.

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