Airstrip One

A deadlist, not an argument

Isn’t it odd how those who claim to be critical and rational tend to heap irrational abuse on critics? One of these irrational anti-critics is Perry de Haviland of Samizdata. He promises 33 arguments for our involvement in the war on the abstract noun, and comes up with a deadlist from the attrocity in Bali.

That’s not an argument.

Were these unfortunate souls targetted because they were British? All the best guesses as to why they were targetted point to another unfortunate nationality. Were they attacked on British soil?

It may sound callous, although that rarely stops me, but the Brits in Bali chose to be there. One would therefore assume that they chose the risk of going to a badly constructed state with a number of civil wars going on and 100 million Muslims. If they didn’t know, then they should have been more careful. It’s called taking responsibility for your own life.

There are two ways to avoid tragedies in poorly functioning third world states. The first is to get your government to launch an open-ended crusade against a major world religion. The second is to not go there. The second has far more certain results. The state should not be in the business of guaranteeing a free born Briton’s right to immaculate beaches and all night discos.

The British government should be concentrating on stopping terrorist outrages over here. That will involve deporting the radical Muslim leadership, almost entirely foreign born and a complete halt on immigration from Islamic countries and communities. I seem to remember a certain exchange when Mr De Havilland condemened the Australian government for not allowing Muslim immigrants on to Australian soil. Does he still think that they were wrong?