{"id":6067,"date":"2015-03-02T10:09:47","date_gmt":"2015-03-02T10:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/?p=6067"},"modified":"2021-01-13T10:41:51","modified_gmt":"2021-01-13T10:41:51","slug":"dont-blame-the-intelligence-agencies-for-jihadism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glass-cage.com\/dianas_blog\/2015\/03\/02\/dont-blame-the-intelligence-agencies-for-jihadism\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t blame the intelligence agencies for jihadism"},"content":{"rendered":"

I can’t really relate to anything thats going on with what’s called radical Islam. Any more than I \u00a0could relate to any other fundamental religious group. Its just so far \u00a0beyond my way of thinking about other human beings, that I simply can’t get a handle on it all.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The key thing seems to to be that someone quite ordinary turns a corner and steps over a line. Someone likely to have easily\u00a0exploitable\u00a0human weakness that can be molded in to a suitable image and form to do the work of others whilst\u00a0believing\u00a0that its of their own free will. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"PoweredThis article titled “Don\u2019t blame the intelligence agencies for jihadism” was written by Matthew d’Ancona, for The Guardian on Sunday 1st March 2015 19.28 UTC<\/a><\/p>\n

We have refined our collective critique of Big Brother with the precision of picky consumers rather than principled citizens. Most of the time we don\u2019t want BB around and complain of his intrusions, real or imagined. But when things go wrong \u2013 when a young Londoner suddenly becomes a global figurehead of murderous Islamism, for instance \u2013 we resent the state even more. To put it plainly: the only thing we object to more strenuously than MI5 taking action is MI5 failing to do so.<\/p>\n

This is the paradox that has been evident once again since the naming of \u201cJihadi John\u201d as Mohammed Emwazi<\/a>. It is a commonplace to argue that the intelligence agencies in the country are powerful (and power-hungry) to an extent that threatens the fibre of democratic society. Yet good old doublethink enables such a claim to coexist with the charge that the security service was somehow responsible for Emwazi\u2019s actions by its sins of commission (trying to recruit him) and omission (letting him \u201cslip the net\u201d and flee to Syria).<\/p>\n

Over the weekend politicians rushed towards the controversy, megaphones in hand. David Davis, a big beast whose talents would have been better deployed as part of the coalition, made the baffling claim in these pages that the spooks settle for a \u201cdisruption and management\u201d strategy<\/a> when they and their colleagues in the police and CPS should be pursuing and prosecuting Islamic extremists.<\/p>\n