# Britons and Blair overreacting to terror attacks ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 5, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-and-blair-overreacting-to-terror-attacks/315746 "2005-08-05T17:34:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-and-blair-overreacting-to-terror-attacks/315746/21 "2005-08-12T22:57:36Z")
Ok, that was a bit of a rambling post, but I think you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-and-blair-overreacting-to-terror-attacks/315746/22 "2005-08-12T23:24:54Z")
> [@Rashak Mani](#): > > I think Blair would do himself and the UK some service by acting not as aligned (aka lapdog) with the US while still being “tough” on terror. I don’t think this makes a lot of sense. The UK is not the US’s lap dog. The two countries (or at least their governments) happen to agree a lot on foreign policy, which makes sense historically. You might remember that in the first gulf war, GHW Bush looked more like Maggie Thatcher’s bitch. > [@](#): > > Britain has always been more tolerant of Muslims and would have been better as a middle ground. Not according to the Muslims I know who have lived in both places. They’re mostly Pakistanis, and reported that “Paki bashing” was quite the national sport. Back to the OP, though, I am dissappointed in Blair’s response. I was hoping for something a little more measured, perhaps setting an example for our drugstore cowboy president. On the other hand, Britain’s a pretty small country by our standards, and much more porous to foreign influxes than the US (not counting Latin America, of course), so I can appreciate the sense of urgency. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-and-blair-overreacting-to-terror-attacks/315746/23 "2005-08-12T23:26:33Z")
**Rashak Mani** tell about the terror threat in Brazil and your leader’s reaction to it. ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-and-blair-overreacting-to-terror-attacks/315746/24 "2005-08-15T13:38:42Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > Not according to the Muslims I know who have lived in both places. They’re mostly Pakistanis, and reported that “Paki bashing” was quite the national sport. Racial tension has always been present in Britain… but when I lived in London it didn’t seem as bad as they make it out. I guess in the suburbs and outside London its worse. Still there wasn’t islamic terrorism. Something smoldering before maybe… but never aflame. > [@](#): > > Back to the OP, though, I am dissappointed in Blair’s response. I was hoping for something a little more measured, perhaps setting an example for our drugstore cowboy president. On the other hand, Britain’s a pretty small country by our standards, and much more porous to foreign influxes than the US (not counting Latin America, of course), so I can appreciate the sense of urgency. I certainly thought Blair would make a better example… and though I respect him a lot… I think he got himself into a sad situation with little ability to change it. As for the sense of urgency… that is exactly what I think is not yet necessary. Extreme muslims have been in Britain a long time… so admit it was wrong to tolerate them so long… but don’t make it into a political issue to “calm” the population IMO. It makes it into a witch hunt… even if legitimate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britons-and-blair-overreacting-to-terror-attacks/315746.md?page=1)