UK Parliamentary Committee Releases Report on “Roots of Violent Radicalisation"

In other news the Home Affairs Committee of the British House of Commons released its long awaited report on “The Roots of Violent Radicalisation” earlier today. Based on nine months of hearings, site visits and numerous written submissions, the report provides a comprehensive overview of recent developments and trends.It highlights, in particular, the increasing role of the internet, the emergence of “lone wolf” terrorists, and the potential threat from far-right extremists. It also assesses the UK government’s revised  Prevent strategy. Original Report

Just finished reading the report. Here is an interesting quote: 

"3.11 However, the real root of our problem is that the suicide-bomber, jihadist or campus radical can advance a case, rationally and in a cogent manner, to show how the Koran as a whole supports him, and thus that his actions are Islamic. This may be an assertion offensive to many and may strain the patience of the Committee but I regard this as a fact of life with which we have to deal. What is certain and undeniable is that he can point to a multitude of individual Koranic verses as “proof texts” for war—whether in retaliation for assault by the enemies of Islam or as a pre-emptive act where treachery is feared, or in response to resistance to the rightful claim of Islam to global supremacy. In seeking to engage with such men we waste time and resources trying to show them a peaceful Koran.

3.12 There may be an appeal, secondly, to the massive and labyrinthine Haddith literature (the reported sayings and actions of Mohammed, collected from various sources over the ages) in the hope of demonstrating that in his own person and actions Mohammed acted with tolerance and moderation. Unable to deny, since it cannot be denied, that the founder of the religion of Islam took up the sword and shed blood, this approach seeks to make clear that this was done only on the basis of strict necessity. However, the Haddith literature is vast and even within Sunni Islam (which accepts the authority of the Haddith) it is widely agreed that the literature contains a spectrum of material from the reliable provenance to that of more ambiguous provenance. For this reason the Haddith literature can as readily be cited to support and consolidate the outlook of the young men in question. In short for practical purposes it avails little or nothing in the deterrence of jihadism, whatever merits it otherwise embodies."