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October 06, 2006

Oliver Stone. Counterterrorism expert. Idiot.

If there had been a better sense of preparation, if we had a leadership that was more mature," he said. "We did not fight back in the same way that the British fought the IRA or the Spanish government fought the Basques here. Terrorism is a manageable action. It can be lived with," said Stone.

(source)

Ollie, is, of course, entitled to his opinion, however inaccurate that may be. I'm going to skip over commentary on "manageable action that can be lived with" comment (because Cox and Forkum and Law Dog Files have done that well enough). I'm even going to refrain from comment on other statements in the story and just look at one sentence:

"We did not fight back in the same way that the British fought the IRA or the Spanish government fought the Basques here"

I cannot imagine what candy-floss solutions Stone is dreaming that the UK and Spain pursued. In reality, they were very definitely not only 'living with it' and cleaning up after the last explosion, though they certainly took steps to reduce opportunities. Look around London and you'll not see a public trash can, for excellent reason.

For the sake of historical accuracy, lets peek at what was containted in the UK's "Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act" of 1974 and the implementation:

Authorities could arrest suspected terrorists without a warrant and detain them for up to a week without filing charges against them.Suspected terrorists could be deported from England to Northern Ireland.

"Hooding," in which detainees would be isolated and forced to wear hoods over their heads.

Food deprivation.

Sleep deprivation.

Noise bombardment.

Forced standing at attention.

All of these were condemned by the European Commission of Human Rights in 1976. None of the practices were stopped by the condemnation.

And, of course, the UK used their troops on the IRA. It all sounds rather familiar and rather like all those terrible, inhumane stories from Guantanomo involving tummy slapping and Chilli Peppers.

Spain, on the other hand, took it all much, much further with "Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación", financed by the Spanish Interior Ministry. These were government sponsorted death squads, employing simple tactics such as kidnapping, rape, torture (you can find mentions on Amnesty International's site - but if the Guantanamo treatments upset you, probably shouldn't) and murder.

In an obtuse fashion, Stone may be half right: We're not treating terrorists in the same fashion Spain did.

I don't think he'd be happy if we were.

Scrawled illegibly by Meathe at October 6, 2006 12:22 PM

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