Tim Blair

LISTEN TO YEW

Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew says Europeans don’t understand and underestimate the threat of Islamist terror. And he rejects the idea -- festering in the minds of Pilger, Rall, Fisk, Adams, etc -- that being nice to militant Muslims is a safeguard against attacks:

'There is a shared fanatical zealousness among these different extremists around the world. Many Europeans think they can finesse the problem, that if they don't upset Muslim countries and treat Muslims well, the terrorists won't target them.'

But that is a fallacy, he said, bringing up the terror threat in South-east Asia as a case in point: 'Muslims have prospered here. But still, Muslim terrorism and militancy have infected them.'

He told Newsweek that both Singapore and Thailand had been targeted in recent years, even though neither had mistreated its Muslims.

He also criticises American tactics in dealing with terrorism:

'You must use force. But force will only deal with the tip of the problem. In killing the terrorists, you will only kill the worker bees.'

What is needed, he said, is to get at the 'queen bees' - the clerics who spread their twisted ideas of Islam, poisoning the minds of the young.

Like the guy the London Sun refers to as a hook-handed Muslim loudmouth.

Posted by Tim Blair at November 25, 2003 04:04 PM