The terrorists responsible for the London attacks are on the loose. Our own homeland security chief says he’s worried about a second wave of attacks in Britain and the U.S. So what are the folks at National Public Radio (search) and their British cousins at BBC (search) nervous about? A backlash against Muslims.
NPR featured a report yesterday on four minor attacks on British mosques that caused little if any damage. Across the pond, the BBC has been stripping the word “terrorist” out of its coverage of the terror attacks because "the word 'terrorist' itself can be a barrier rather than an aid to understanding.”
In contrast to this, The Wall Street Journal (search) has featured a stunning series on the spread of radical Muslims in Europe. According to a recent poll of Muslims in Britain, 13 percent said that more attacks on the U.S. and Britain were justified.
As one British Muslim told a Knight Ridder reporter: “I think it is a good thing that there are organizations like Al Qaeda (search). It keeps them awake at night.” As to the London bombings, the familiar conspiracy theories are already popping up: “Obviously the media is saying that Muslims did it, but I think it was a conspiracy by Tony Blair and George Bush.”
These may be minority views, but according to polls and journalistic reports, it’s a big enough minority to demand more attention than a non-existent crusade against Muslims.
And that’s the Observer.
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