Terrorism

Westminster and Whitehall are tonight trying to assess the implications of the brutal murder of a soldier in Woolwich. It is clear from the vile rant made by one of the men that this was an act of terror inspired by the ideology of radical Islamism. But what is not yet clear if this was an example of self-radicalistion or whether the attackers had any links to established terrorist organisations. The security services have long worried about self-radicalistion. By its nature, it is far more difficult to detect and stop. If this was an example of self-radicalisation, then we are into a new phase of the struggle against terrorism. The

One of the first world statesmen to send a message of sympathy to Boston after last week’s outrage was Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein. ‘Just watching news of the explosion in Boston,’ he tweeted, ‘Sympathy with people of that fine city.’ Mr Adams has every reason to think fondly of Boston. Throughout the troubles, while he sat on the IRA war council, Boston was one of the major American centres which he (through Noraid) could rely on for support and funding. Bostonian money would have been used to help pay for the IRA attack on Margaret Thatcher’s democratically elected government in Brighton, the grotesque Birmingham pub bombings that left

Update CBS News in the US are reporting that a Saudi national is being questioned by the FBI. He denies any involvement in the attack In a press conference just now, President Obama has made clear that the Federal Authorities do not know who is responsible for the attack on the Boston Marathon. But it was noticeable that he did not call it a ‘terrorist’ attack. Meanwhile in Boston, the authorities there have denied reports that anyone is in custody—there had been chatter in the US media that a Saudi male was under arrest in Boston. So far, no individual or organisation has claimed responsibility for this attack.

This, from the BBC – just in case any further evidence were needed. ‘The leader of the al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group fighting in Syria, has pledged allegiance to the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani said the group’s behaviour in Syria would not change as a result. Al-Nusra claims to have carried out many suicide bombings and guerrilla attacks against state targets. On Tuesday, al-Qaeda in Iraq announced a merger with al-Nusra, but Mr Jawlani said he had not been consulted on this. Al-Nusra has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the US. Debates among Western leaders over whether to arm Syria’s rebels have often raised

To my simple suggestion that Owen Jones apologise for claiming that an 11-month old child killed by a Hamas rocket was in fact killed by an Israeli ‘so-called targeted strike’, Owen appears to have answered ‘no’. He starts his reply: ‘In the last couple of years I’ve learned one thing: the right don’t like me very much, and expend a sizeable amount of energy attacking me personally rather than my writing.’ In saying that he has learned even ‘one thing’ I fear Owen exaggerates. He begins his next paragraph: ‘Hard right pseudo-intellectual [Douglas] Murray…’ Nothing worse than attacking a person rather than their writing is there? Of course it is

It has just been announced that my friend Lars Hedegaard, a Danish journalist and frequent critic of Islamic fundamentalism, has narrowly survived an assassination attempt at his home in Denmark. The BBC is reporting: ‘Police said a gunman in his 20s rang the doorbell at Mr Hedegaard’s Copenhagen home pretending to deliver a package and then fired a shot to the head which missed. TV2 News reported that the gun then jammed, there was a scuffle and the attacker ran off.’ Thankfully Lars has not been hurt in the attack. The Danish Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, has condemned the attack, saying: ‘It is even worse if the attack is rooted