September 23, 2014


(London, UK) The start of a war in Syria and Iraq marks the latest chapter in the War on Terror-without-end that began after 9-11. And like the wars that came before it, we are likely to see similar consequences. Asim Qureshi, Research Director of CAGE [1], said:

1. "Bombing Syria and Iraq will unleash more hatred and violence against the West. This has already begun with an IS spokesperson yesterday calling on IS supporters to target Western countries [2], a number of beheadings over the last several weeks, and the continued detention of Briton Alan Henning.

Western foreign policy has been the premier underlying grievance in violence against the West: the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan led to bloodshed on the streets of Britain and America, while it gave rise to groups such as IS; the bombing of Syria and Iraq will only make things worse."

2. "The freedom of all citizens is at risk: A speech by Australia's Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, in which he said that the 'delicate balance between freedom and security’ [3] may have to shift 'for some time to come' provides a deep insight into what is to come from Western governments: a hawkish foreign policy is often accompanied by a hawkish domestic policy. The bombings of Iraq and Syria will give governments a pretext for trampling on civil liberties and further entrenching the security state, something that has already taken place since the beginning of the War on Terror.

CAGE has already shown how domestic counter-terrorism policy is playing an increasingly important role in the marginalisation of British Muslims [4] - domestic policies are not only being intensified with great impact on the Muslim community, but will also strip long-held freedoms away from all British citizens."

3. "CAGE continues to call for an end to the War on Terror, a counter-productive campaign of violence that has violated the rights of countless individuals and the norms of international law. Nearly 13 years since the invasion of Afghanistan, the West still continues to open up new fronts in what has become a vicious cycle of violence and suffering."

[ENDS]


NOTES:

1. CAGE (formerly known as CagePrisoners) is an independent advocacy organisation that works to empower communities affected by the War on Terror and to highlight abuses of due process.

2. https://ia601400.us.archive.org/34/items/mir225/English_Tran
slation.pdf

3. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/22/abbott-reductio
n-in-freedom-necessary-to-save-lives-from-terrorism-threat ...

4. Our PREVENT report can be viewed here http://www.cageuk.org/sites/files/reports/A4_PREVENT_CAGE_RE
PORT_WEB.pdf


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