The BBC memo about the West’s foreign policy creating the terrorism threat, always a BBC theme but now linked to the immigration crisis in order to create a sense of responsibility and hence an obligation towards the immigrants, has gone viral and is now getting fed into the narrative on many BBC shows. The truth is that it is the BBC’s own anti-war narrative has helped feed the Jihadist cause bolstering the line that the war was illegal and a war against Muslims…Al Qaeda being a mythical threat created by Neo-cons for their own reasons…a narrative picked up by the Muslim world as we can see from this Arab News (‘The Arab world’s most read English daily‘) report:

Al-Qaeda threat used once again to justify war

The old cliché that the first casualty of war is truth has never been so blatantly evident as we witness the making of further wars and conflict. Most Western journalists continue to omit the facts in their news reports and push the government line that all insurgents are linked to “Al-Qaeda”. Very few have actually questioned the existence of Al-Qaeda and the illusive Osama Bin Laden. According to Jason Burke who as The Observer’s chief reporter and author of “Al-Qaeda – casting a shadow of terror” writes: “Al-Qaeda in fact does not exist…..Adam Curtis in his powerful documentary “The Power of Nightmares” argues that whenever one looks for this Al-Qaeda organization from the “mountains in Afghanistan to sleeper cells in America – the British and Americans are pursuing a fantasy.” 

Ironically whilst praising Burke and Curtis the Arab News criticises the BBC for stating “analysts say the attacks bear the hallmarks of groups linked to or at least inspired by Al-Qaeda”.

But Burke is back….with a new book to flog but the same old line about the non-existence of a terrorist threat…The New Threat From Islamic Militancy 

The ‘Afternoon Edition’ programme featured an interview with Jason Burke who is from the Guardian side of the world…the man who told us that Al Qaeda didn’t exist and whose conspiracy theory was the basis for the BBC’s atrocious conspiracy theory series ‘The Power of Nightmares’ which, as said, turned out to be a useful recruiting tool for the Jihadis. Here is Burke’s big claim that Curtis based his film upon:

“The terrorist group al-Qaeda in fact does not exist. It was made up in January of 2001 in order to prosecute Osama bin Laden in his absence. In order to prosecute bin Laden there had to be an organization like the Mafia for which he was a part of. Under the law if such an organization exists then the head of the organization can be prosecuted under the law. So in order to bring the prosecution they made up the organization and called it al-Qaeda. But the organization is fiction. It doesn’t exist. It’s all a huge fraud.”

Here is the BBC blurb for ‘The Power of Nightmares’:

In the past our politicians offered us dreams of a better world. Now they promise to protect us from nightmares.  The most frightening of these is the threat of an international terror network. But just as the dreams were not true, neither are these nightmares.  In a new series, the Power of Nightmares explores how the idea that we are threatened by a hidden and organised terrorist network is an illusion.  It is a myth that has spread unquestioned through politics, the security services and the international media. 

Curiously, the organisation that didn’t exist was in the process of murdering Ken Bigley just as the BBC were telling us they didn’t exist….

So controversial is the tone of his series, that trailers for it were not broadcast last weekend because of the killing of Kenneth Bigley. At the BBC, Curtis freely admits, there are “anxieties”. But there is also enthusiasm for the programmes, in part thanks to his reputation.

Glad to know that Curtis’ reputation (as a BBC lovey) was all that it needed to get this programme made…never mind the facts.

But wait…Al Qaeda was ‘invented in 2001’ by the Americans?  No it wasn’t...it was formally established in 1988 and took that name then….

In March 2002, authorities in Bosnia, Sarajevo, will raid the offices of the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF) due to suspected funding of al-Qaeda. The raid will uncover a handwritten list containing the name of twenty wealthy donors sympathetic to al-Qaeda. The list, referred to as “The Golden Chain,” contains both the names of the donors and the names of the recipients (but does not mention amounts given). Seven of the payments are made to Osama bin Laden.  Most accounts will be vague on what year the Golden Chain document was written; some say 1988.  But counterterrorism “tsar” Richard Clarke will say it dates from 1989. Al-Qaeda is formed in late 1988. Bin Laden conducts two meetings to discuss “the establishment of a new military group,” according to notes that are found later. Notes reveal the group is initially called al-Qaeda al-Askariya, which roughly translates to “the military base.” But the name soon shortens to just al-Qaeda, meaning “the base” or “the foundation.”

As the BBC admits:

Al-Qaeda was founded in 1988 by Bin Laden and Mohammed Atef – believed to have been the organisation’s military commander.

And again:

Al-Qaeda’s origins and links

Al-Qaeda, meaning “the base”, was created in 1989 as Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan and Osama Bin Laden and his colleagues began looking for new jihads. The organisation grew out of the network of Arab volunteers who had gone to Afghanistan in the 1980s to fight under the banner of Islam against Soviet Communism. Cells across the world The organisation is thought to operate in 40 to 50 countries, not only in the Middle East and Asia but in North America and Europe.

In western Europe there have been known or suspected cells in London, Hamburg, Milan and Madrid. These have been important centres for recruitment, fundraising and planning operations.

I’m guessing this ‘Al Qaeda’ training manual must have come from somewhere not just out of thin air:

Al Qaeda Training Manual

The attached manual was located by the Manchester (England) Metropolitan Police during a search of an Al Qaeda member’s home. The manual was found in a computer file described as “the military series” related to the “Declaration of Jihad.” The manual was translated into English and was introduced earlier this year at the embassy bombing trial in New York. The Department is only providing the following selected text from the manual because it does not want to aid in educating terrorists or encourage further acts of terrorism.

That’s a look at the past nonsense of Jason Burke and Co….what’s he peddling now?  The Guardian reveals…..

 

Same old, same old then from Burke. During his interview today he poured scorn onto Theresa May and said she was making up the threat about Islamic terrorism…in the Guardian he makes the same claim:

Theresa May, the British home secretary, said in November 2014 that “the threat we face is now more dangerous than at any time before or since 9/11”. This was an extraordinary and misleading statement.

But Burke is being economical with the truth.  What did he miss out from that quote that was somewhat essential to understanding how May reached that conclusion?…let’s have a look at what she really said, not what Burke made up:

This summer, JTAC – the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre – raised the threat level for international terrorism from ‘substantial’ to ‘severe’. This means that JTAC believes an attack on the United Kingdom is highly likely. The decision to change the threat level was based primarily on developments in Syria and Iraq, where the terrorist group ISIL controls swathes of territory. ISIL and its western fighters now represent one of the most serious terrorist threats we face. So when the security and intelligence agencies tell us that the threat we face is now more dangerous than at any time before or since 9/11, we should take notice.

In what way is that a misleadinhg statement?  She is reporting what the intelligence and security services told her….she isn’t even saying that it is true…just that we should ‘take notice’ of the warning. Burke wants us to believe that there is little to no threat to us in the UK from ISIS and that ‘sleeper cells’ or similar do not exist….

Media in the US reported a network of Isis “sleeper cells” in the “homeland”, and “sleeper agents” in Europe, exactly as they had with al-Qaida in 2002. These claims were, at best, a gross misrepresentation of how either organisation operates and how individuals are radicalised.

Tell that to the relatives of all those killed and injured on 9/11 and 7/7 or who were slaughtered on the beach in Tunisia recently or those who had a very narrow escape on the train in France…never mind Charlie Hebdo and the Jewish supermarket amongst many, many other attacks and attempted attacks. He tells us that there is little to no link to Islam and that really the ‘so-called radicalisation’ (apparently there is no such thing) is just a matter of good chums, old mates going off to war together just like the Pals Battalions in WWI.  Reducing this to a big adventure with your buddies is simplistic and dangerous as it doesn’t tackle the real causes of the non-existent radicalisation….er….as ironically Jason Burke tells us….the importance of recognising the underlying ideology:

The threat posed by al-Qaida was described in apocalyptic terms, and a response of an equally massive scale was seen as necessary. The group’s ideological motivations were ignored, while the individual agency of its leaders was emphasised. If they were killed, the logic went, the problem would disappear. If the importance of the ideas of al-Qaida in the Islamic world was ignored, current analysis misses the resonance of the Isis bid to restore the lost power and glory of Islamic empires.

He denies there is a genuine link to Islam and yet insists we must acknowledge the ideology behind the radicalisation and terrorism.  Let’s start with the BBC admitting that then. Burke says that the threat is barely there…the true threat is the fear created by the mere threat of terrorism and an over-reaction to it:

Terrorism’s greatest effects are thus achieved indirectly, through the reaction it inspires, rather than the actual destruction of life and property. This is why, in that moment when, having read of an attack or the threat of an attack, you experience a sudden pang of fear, you become a victim yourself. The fact that the number of people to have been killed in Britain in terrorist attacks by Islamic militants – 53 (52 during the 7/7 attacks, plus Lee Rigby) – is statistically negligible is irrelevant. To be afraid of terrorism is normal; to be concerned is natural. But it is better to be so in measure and in reason, not in panicked ignorance, and thus win one immediate and important victory.

I guess he’s right…a terrorist state like the Islamic State with its billions of dollars and fanatical supporters around the world pose no threat to anyone, apart from the states of Syria and Iraq….oh but what of Afghanistan as they move in there…or Gaza..or Egypt…Tunisia…Europe…Burma….and the US?  You ony need one man with a small arsenal to create havoc. Nice of the BBC to give these edgy conspiracy theorists like Jason Burke a platform to peddle their schtick…perhaps they should turn it into a film…oh..they already have.