War on terror is a perpetual fight, says minister

By Oliver King and agencies

08/22/06 "Guardian" -- -- A government minister today gave a stark warning that the "war on terror" was a war without end, telling a community meeting that the fight against extremists was likely to be "perpetual".

As 11 people appeared in court over an alleged aircraft bomb plot, communities minister Phil Woolas said it would take "generations" to overcome extremists who want to destroy British society and establish a "mono-theocratic dictatorship".

Mr Woolas, MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, was speaking at a follow-up meeting of community leaders from various faiths, to check on the progress of a raft of government measures to combat terrorism after the July 7 London bombings.

"We see this fight against terrorism as a perpetual fight," he said at the event in Bolton, Greater Manchester.

"This is a generational thing. We are determined to protect civil liberties. But we can't solve it on our own.

"The terrorists will use whatever argument they have got to pull the wool over susceptible people's eyes, but their goal, as [former US President] Bill Clinton said, is to destroy the idea of a pluralist society.

"Get across the understanding that what these people are about is destroying the idea of society and creating a mono-theocratic dictatorship."

Mr Woolas's comments came as a ICM poll for the Guardian today revealed that 72% of people questioned think government foreign policy has made Britain more of a target for terrorists and only 1% of voters believe it has made Britain safer.

Since the July 7 attacks, the government has set up a number of advisory bodies and forums to "engage" the Islamic community and steer young Muslims away from extremism.

But there has been criticism of the alleged slow progress on many of the 64 recommendations made to combat terrorism since the outrage.

The initiative has been given added impetus by the alleged plot uncovered last week to blow up passenger jets.

But Mr Woolas said the government was working hard.

"We have implemented or are implementing the vast majority, we have got a clear, mature process going on involving tens of thousands of particularly young people, to work together to attack this ideology of terrorism.

"The government is very clear that the vast majority of Muslims want to defeat this terrorism carried out in the name of religion.

"Don't fall into the trap, don't allow yourself to be used by the terrorists, don't believe that the government doesn't understand your fear -of course we do.

"But the solution is to defeat terrorism, and that's the main goal of the government."

The meeting in Bolton is the first of a number taking place across the UK over the next month, including events in London, Burnley, Manchester, Birmingham, Leicester and Bradford.

Later in the week, Mr Woolas's departmental boss, Ruth Kelly, will launch the new Commission on Integration and Cohesion, to help build greater understanding between communities in Britain.

The government is also expected to announce that imams should be officially accredited and trained to prevent "extremist preachers" from radicalising young people at mosques.

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