rational geekery

It seems the utter claptrap being peddled by No.10 lackey, Frank Field (who promises Tim Ireland he’s no arse-licker), has put fire in the belly of one Sir Ken Macdonald, the director of public prosecutions, who has taken it upon himself to call into question the preposterous notion of “The War on Terror (♪der DER♪).”

From The Guardian: -

"It is critical that we understand that this new form of terrorism carries another more subtle, perhaps equally pernicious, risk. Because it might encourage a fear-driven and inappropriate response. By that I mean it can tempt us to abandon our values. I think it important to understand that this is one of its primary purposes.”

Does this warm anyone else’s heart? After suggesting Blair has myopically followed the politics of fear of Dubya, our new hero goes on spouting commonsense at an astonishing rate: -

"London is not a battlefield. Those innocents who were murdered on July 7 2005 were not victims of war. And the men who killed them were not, as in their vanity they claimed on their ludicrous videos, 'soldiers'. They were deluded, narcissistic inadequates. They were criminals. They were fantasists. We need to be very clear about this. On the streets of London, there is no such thing as a 'war on terror', just as there can be no such thing as a 'war on drugs'.

"The fight against terrorism on the streets of Britain is not a war. It is the prevention of crime, the enforcement of our laws and the winning of justice for those damaged by their infringement."

[…]

"We must protect ourselves from these atrocious crimes without abandoning our traditions of freedom."

There is more, if you can still see through the tears of intellectual relief.