UK prosecutor: terrorism is a crime, not an act of war
Carsten sez, "A moment of judicial truth which may sound bitter in the ears of Tony Blair and his friends in the White House. Here's what Sir Ken Macdonald, British director of public prosecutions, says about the 'war on terror':
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.
London is not a battlefield. Those innocents who were murdered on July 7 2005 were not victims of war.
We wouldn't get far in promoting a civilising culture of respect for rights amongst and between citizens if we set about undermining fair trials in the simple pursuit of greater numbers of inevitably less safe convictions. On the contrary, it is obvious that the process of winning convictions ought to be in keeping with a consensual rule of law and not detached from it. Otherwise we sacrifice fundamental values critical to the maintenance of the rule of law - upon which everything else depends.
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