Secret Affairs: Britain’s Collusion with Radical Islam

448 Pages·2010·5.22 MB·English

by  Mark Curtis

Mark Curtis is an author, journalist and consultant. His
previous books include the best-selling Web of Deceit: Britain’s
Real Role in the World, and Unpeople: Britain’s Secret Human
Rights Abuses. He was formerly a Research Fellow at the Royal
Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), Director
of the World Development Movement and Head of Policy at
ActionAid and Christian Aid. Websites: www.markcurtis.info
and www.curtisresearch.org
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Britain’s Collusion with Radical Islam
Mark Curtis
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A complete catalogue record for this book can
be obtained from the British Library on request
The right of Mark Curtis to be identified as the author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988
Copyright © 2010 Mark Curtis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the publisher.
First published in 2010 by Serpent’s Tail,
an imprint of Profile Books Ltd
3a Exmouth House
Pine Street
London ec1r 0jh
website: www.serpentstail.com
isbn 978 1 84668 763 1
Designed and typeset by olio at Neuadd Bwll, Llanwrtyd Wells
Printed and bound in Gfreat Britain by Clays, Bungay, Suffolk
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The paper this book is printed on is certified by the © 1996 Forest
Stewardship Council A.C. (FSC). It is ancient-forest friendly. The printer
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SGS-COC-2061
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Special thanks to John Pilger, Tom Mills for excellent research
assistance, my agent Veronique Baxter, numerous people at
Serpent’s Tail, especially Pete Ayrton, Stephen Brough, Ruthie
Petrie, Rebecca Gray and Diana Broccardo. And, above all, to
my wife, Florence.
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Contents
Introduction / ix
1. Imperial Divide and Rule / 1
2. Partition in India and Palestine / 26
3. Shock Troops in Iran and Egypt / 45
4. Islam Versus Nationalism / 65
5. The Global Islamic Mission / 83
6. ‘Handy Weapons’ in Jordan and Egypt / 100
7. The Saudi and Iranian Revolutions / 112
8. Training in Terrorism: The Afghan Jihad / 131
9. The Dictator, the King and the Ayatollah / 150
10. Nurturing al-Qaida / 171
11. Pakistan’s Surge into Central Asia / 188
12. A Covert War in Bosnia / 206
13. Killing Qadafi, Overthrowing Saddam / 222
14. Intrigues in the Southern Balkans / 237
15. 9/11 Connections / 248
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16. Londonistan: A ‘Green Light’ to Terrorism / 256
17. 7/7 and the London–Islamabad Axis / 277
18. Confronting the New Middle East / 295
19. Allied to the Enemy: Iraq and Afghanistan / 322
Notes / 347
Index / 411
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Introduction
The British intelligence agencies say they have prevented
twelve terrorist plots in Britain over the past decade, and
claim there are 2,000 known terrorist suspects organised
in 200 networks.1 Counter-terrorism officials warn of a ‘huge
spectacular’, and shooting and hostage-taking raids involving
gunmen with bombs.2 The extent of the terrorist threat is all too
easily exaggerated for political purposes – the former director of
MI5, Stella Rimington, has, for example, accused the government
of ‘frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which
restrict civil liberties’.3 But Britain, along with many other Western
countries, clearly does face a threat from radical Islamic groups.
The July 2005 London bombings, which killed 52 people and injured
over 700, constituted the single worst terrorist atrocity on British
soil and the first ‘successful’ attack by Islamists in Britain. The
British courts have convicted over 80 individuals who planned to
kill British citizens in acts of terrorism. Meanwhile, Britain’s most
senior military figure calls the threat posed by Islamist extremism
‘the struggle of our generation – perhaps our Thirty Years’ War’.4
How we got to this point has been the subject of much
speculation in the media. Various answers have been given as to
how ‘home-grown’ British citizens can turn to terrorist violence
and be prepared to blow themselves up. Right-wing commentators
typically blame British liberal culture, arguing that laws have not
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x Secret Affairs
been tough enough to clamp down on extremism, or even that
multi-culturalism has made it impossible to challenge people of a
different faith.5 The government has been widely attacked since 7/7
for failing for years to clamp down on a number of Islamist radicals
in Britain – most notoriously, Abu Hamza, the former preacher at
the Finsbury Park mosque in north London, who was allowed to
openly espouse violent jihad to numerous young Muslims.6
For others, and many on the political Left, the terrorist threat
has been fuelled by British military interventions in Iraq and
Afghanistan and Whitehall’s siding with Israel in its conflict in
occupied Palestine. These are surely major factors, of which British
officials are perfectly aware: in April 2005, for example, the Joint
Intelligence Committee stated, in a report leaked the following year,
that the Iraq conflict ‘has exacerbated the threat from international
terrorism and will continue to have an impact in the long term.
It has reinforced the determination of terrorists who were already
committed to attacking the West and motivated others who were
not.’7 This followed a joint Home Office/Foreign Office report,
called ‘Young Muslims and Extremism’, which was also leaked and
which stated that there was ‘a perceived “double standard”’ among
many Muslims in Britain who believe that British foreign policy, in
places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir and Chechnya is ‘against
Islam’.8
But there is a big missing link in this commentary, and Britain’s
contribution to the rise of the terrorist threat goes well beyond
its current disastrous interventions in the Middle East. The more
important story, which this book seeks to tell, is that British
governments, both Labour and Conservative, have, in pursuing
the so-called ‘national interest’ abroad, colluded for decades with
radical Islamic forces, including terrorist organisations. They
have connived with them, worked alongside them and sometimes
trained and financed them, in order to promote specific foreign
policy objectives. Governments have done so in often desperate
attempts to maintain Britain’s global power in the face of increasing
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