Security minister: 15 years needed to end terrorism
Security minister Alan West has said that it would take from “ten to 15 years” to end the threat posed by terrorism.
He was being interviewed by the Sunday Telegraph, a day after the second anniversary of the London July 7th bombings.
Speaking about the threat to the country, he said that Britain was fighting “a disparate core of people – based abroad primarily – whom I’m afraid are racist, they’re bigoted, they seek power, they’re avaricious in money terms and they talk of the caliphate.”
Mr West said he had been appointed by the prime minister to “sort out” efforts to prevent terrorism.
“We are not getting our message across properly,” he added.
Describing ways to deal with the terror threat, the security minister urged British citizens to approach the authorities with information even though it may be “un-British to do so”.
“Britishness does not normally involve snitching or talking about someone.
“I’m afraid, in this situation, anyone who’s got any information should say something because the people we are talking about are trying to destroy our entire way of life,” Mr West urged.
The former navy chief, who was appointed by Gordon Brown last week, warned against the use of terms such as “Muslim community” and called for a better understanding of the threat facing British people.
“I have a lot of Muslim friends and they see themselves as British. We’ve got to be very careful. The threat is to our British way of life and all of our British people.”
Mr West added that he hated the phrase “war on terror”.
“I hate that expression. When I first heard it – I think it came over from the States – I though it was totally the wrong thing.
“It’s not like a war in that sense at all. It demeans the value of a war and it demeans the value of a lot of things.”
He also rejected accusations that British foreign policy had fuelled terrorism.
While he acknowledged that the Middle East peace process was an “important issue” he stated that terrorists had tried to undermine the UK even when “we were having men killed fighting to look after Muslims in Bosnia and in Kosovo”.
“I think they have severely damaged one of the world’s great religions – the one they purport to support.”
Mr West fought in the Falklands War and has been the head of the navy since 2002.
A “Muslims United” campaign was recently launched by a group of Muslim organisations to highlight the religious community’s condemnation of the recent acts of terrorism in London and Glasgow.
The campaign, whose slogan is ‘Not in Our Name’ aims to enhance knowledge about the religion’s teachings and to promote community cohesion.
Yesterday, the Muslim Council of Britain issued a statement telling Muslims it was their “Islamic duty” to work with the police on security matters.
