Comments on: London bombings http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2005/07/19/1754 Every day the Prime Minister's Spokesman meets a small coterie of political journalists known as 'the lobby' for a topical chat, or 'briefing'. Fri, 09 Jan 2009 04:06:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 By: jk5 http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2005/07/19/1754#comment-3324 jk5 Wed, 20 Jul 2005 06:23:59 +0000 http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2005/07/19/1754#comment-3324 God forbid??? God forbid???

]]> By: Chuck Unsworth http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2005/07/19/1754#comment-3323 Chuck Unsworth Tue, 19 Jul 2005 20:45:03 +0000 http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2005/07/19/1754#comment-3323 - Well that depends on which kind of Democracy you are discussing, of course. We do currently have a form of Democracy, but it is not very well, Doctor. Probably we need a New Democracy to go with the New Labour party......... - Well that depends on which kind of Democracy you are discussing, of course. We do currently have a form of Democracy, but it is not very well, Doctor.

Probably we need a New Democracy to go with the New Labour party………

]]> By: Peter Fordham http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2005/07/19/1754#comment-3322 Peter Fordham Tue, 19 Jul 2005 19:12:28 +0000 http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2005/07/19/1754#comment-3322 Democracy, it is a long time since that existed in Britain!!!!!! Democracy, it is a long time since that existed in Britain!!!!!!

]]> By: PapaLazzzaru http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2005/07/19/1754#comment-3321 PapaLazzzaru Tue, 19 Jul 2005 18:42:47 +0000 http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2005/07/19/1754#comment-3321 All very well if the loud obvious extremist voices were the ones doing the organising and bombing - but they're not! I can guarantee that none of the London bombers was a loud-mouthed extremist, yelling out their nihilistic mantras from the pulpit; I'm equally sure that none of their organisers or handlers was either. "What they wanted was the abolition of Israel and the complete withdrawal from Arab countries by Western forces. These were clearly completely non-negotiable." Granted, the abolition of Israel is not going to happen - although they SHOULD be forced to withdraw to the original borders (1967? 1973? the date escapes me right now...) However, we know that isn't going to happen either. And morally and ethically, Western forces SHOULD be withdrawn from Arab countries - the only reason we have forces there in the first place is to secure oil supplies and to help the local governments keep their populations well and truly downtrodden in order that they don't use up too much of the oil wealth themselves. At least, that's how it seems; in the past century we haven't done a very good job of persuading the peoples of the Middle East that that ISN'T the case. "Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that he might not be the right person to take on the extremist arguments, the PMOS said he would have thought it odd that a democratically elected leader, whether it was President Karzai or the Prime Minister of Great Britain, should somehow be disenfranchised by the views of extremists. That was an illogical suggestion to make" Democratically elected?! Don't make me laugh! A good 2/3 of this country didn't want Tony Bliar, and Labour lost the overall popular vote in terms number of votes for the party - where is the democracy in that?! All very well if the loud obvious extremist voices were the ones doing the organising and bombing - but they’re not! I can guarantee that none of the London bombers was a loud-mouthed extremist, yelling out their nihilistic mantras from the pulpit; I’m equally sure that none of their organisers or handlers was either.

"What they wanted was the abolition of Israel and the complete withdrawal from Arab countries by Western forces. These were clearly completely non-negotiable."

Granted, the abolition of Israel is not going to happen - although they SHOULD be forced to withdraw to the original borders (1967? 1973? the date escapes me right now…) However, we know that isn’t going to happen either. And morally and ethically, Western forces SHOULD be withdrawn from Arab countries - the only reason we have forces there in the first place is to secure oil supplies and to help the local governments keep their populations well and truly downtrodden in order that they don’t use up too much of the oil wealth themselves. At least, that’s how it seems; in the past century we haven’t done a very good job of persuading the peoples of the Middle East that that ISN’T the case.

"Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that he might not be the right person to take on the extremist arguments, the PMOS said he would have thought it odd that a democratically elected leader, whether it was President Karzai or the Prime Minister of Great Britain, should somehow be disenfranchised by the views of extremists. That was an illogical suggestion to make"

Democratically elected?! Don’t make me laugh! A good 2/3 of this country didn’t want Tony Bliar, and Labour lost the overall popular vote in terms number of votes for the party - where is the democracy in that?!

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