Window on Westminster

Last week, a man was charged with planting IRA bombs that murdered four soldiers in London's Hyde Park in 1982. On the same day, another form of terror was inflicted on Woolwich in London. Two men rammed an off duty soldier with a car and in broad daylight hacked him to death, possibly beheading him, near the scene of another IRA bombing of a pub used by soldiers from the same base as this victim, Drummer Lee Rigby.

The method of the Woolwich murder was entirely different from the generally anonymous murders of the IRA. The jihadis shouted "God is Great" and made no effort to escape. They brutally killed Lee Rigby in front of many horrified witnesses and encouraged them to take photos and videos. They patiently waited for the police to arrive and then rushed to kill them but they were shot, wounded and arrested. It was a gruesome, shocking and staged spectacle.

The IRA's priority of keeping its members out of jail eventually weakened it. Each operation required a chain of procurement and planning which widened the circle of knowledge and therefore increased the ability of the security services to eavesdrop and infiltrate informers. Eventually, most IRA operations were aborted or intercepted and this finally forced the organisation to fall back on political means to achieve their goals, which were modified from the impossible to the doable.

 

Freelance supporters of the Al Qaeda franchise restrict the circle of knowledge, use ordinary household items and pop up to kill at will. They may be known to the security services, who seek to spot people being radicalised, but it's anyone's guess if and when they will strike. There can be no negotiations with them whatsoever. The methods of the IRA and Al Qaeda differ but their aim is the same: sicken, provoke and divide.

The IRA hoped that public revulsion would force the British to withdraw from Northern Ireland in disgust and thereby strengthen the IRA's ability to impose a united Ireland without consent. They also wanted to bolster their credentials as a defender of the Irish people. It helped that the initial reaction to IRA bombings in the 1970s included revenge attacks on innocent Irish people.

This backlash was eventually undermined as the IRA's legitimacy was increasingly contested by Irish people who told them that their actions were "not in my name." Irish people are now a highly respected part of the British community.

The Islamists who carried out the brutal attack last week were quickly denounced by British Muslim organisations. Sadly, Mosques and Muslim-owned properties have been attacked. Right-wing groupings also quickly sought to parasitically exploit the murder. Lenin's phrase about "useful idiots" applies to those who rise to the bait and do the bidding of those who want to poison community relations.
 

Some hard left figures have also leapt into the debate with the message that "we told you so." They argue that the Iraq and Afghanistan interventions have caused terrorism to spread. Indeed, Islamist murderers cite these wars as their inspiration.

These Islamic extremists seek to take leadership of all Muslims who they see as universally oppressed by the West, although they ignore the role of the West in saving Muslims in Kuwait, Bosnia, Kosovo, Kurdistan Region and Iraq, although the last two are heavily contested in Britain.

 

It's possible, of course, that if the UK had not invaded Iraq or Afghanistan it would not have been a target for extremists. It may, however, have been a target for other supposed crimes and failings. Extremists bemoan British decadence and once tried to blow a London disco and hundreds of young people to smithereens.

But the fundamental point is that arguments about these wars or our lifestyles should never pander to those who butcher and bomb. Policy cannot be led by fear of what extremists will do. It has to be decided at the ballot box. Changing our lives to second guess the mad or calculating extremist mindset would mean surrender. We should carry on as normal which is why it was right not to convene an emergency session of Parliament to discuss Woolwich.

The Woolwich massacre also saw an inspiring act of bravery by a middle-aged woman and youth leader, Ingrid Loyau-Kennett. She was on a bus and saw Lee Rigby on the ground. She thought he was a traffic victim and immediately jumped off the bus to give first aid but he was already dead. She then coolly engaged a man with a gun and a bloody knife to distract him from killing children milling around nearby. He told her that he wanted to bring war to London. She replied that "it is only you versus many people, you are going to lose." That's the best last word.

Gary Kent is the administrator of All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). He writes this column for Rudaw in a personal capacity.