Fighting terrorism without a war.

last updated 8 January 2015

United Kingdom

Timothy Garton Ash

The GuardianAmerica has gone war crazy, said Timothy Garton Ash in the London Guardian. Gung-ho veterans expound on every TV channel. “Patriotic titles,” marked as such, are on sale in every bookshop. Cabinet officials announcing or confirming new programs routinely remind Americans that “in a time of war,” special security measures are necessary. “Why is it that the United States, which has not suffered a major terrorist attack at home for more than four years, thinks it’s at war, while the United Kingdom, which was hit by a major terrorist attack just a year ago, does not?” One year after the London subway bombings, Britain is just as likely as the U.S. to be targeted by terrorists. Perhaps, “given the alienation of parts of Britain’s Muslim community,” it is even more likely. Yet Britons—with the exception of our bellicose prime minister—have not responded to that threat by invoking the rhetoric of war. We have experience with terrorism, a legacy of the IRA days, “and we know you can lick it” without destroying civil liberties. “Between cheese-eating surrender monkeys and fire-eating war junkies, we look for a middle way.” In sticking to our values, we’ve found it.