British Prime Minister David Cameron raised Friday the nation’s terrorism threat level to “severe,” saying bluntly that “poisonous” Islamic extremism is causing widespread problems that are spreading from the Middle East to other parts of the world.
“We have to confront it from home and abroad,” he said Friday during a press conference, calling for more intelligence, smart military airstrikes and a slew of other “building blocks” that will require “perseverance” to succeed.
“I believe we will be fighting for years, and perhaps decades,” Mr. Cameron said, adding that the U.K. has already taken many actions, such as “legislating so that we can prosecute people on all aspects of terrorism.”
Mr. Cameron estimated about 500 people have traveled to the Middle East for terrorism training and to join the Islamic State.
He dismissed the theory that poverty fosters terrorism.
“The [current] terrorist threat was not created by the Iraq War … it existed even before the horrific attacks on 9/11,” he said. “It cannot be solved by addressing poverty, or dictatorships or instability in the region. The root cause is quite clear: a poisonous ideology of Islamic extremism that is condemned by all … [and that will] force people to live in a Medieval state” that includes beheadings, the enslavement of people, the rape of women.
British Prime Minister David Cameron raised Friday the nation’s terrorism threat level to “severe,” saying bluntly that “poisonous” Islamic extremism is causing widespread problems that are spreading from the Middle East to other parts of the world.
“We have to confront it from home and abroad,” he said Friday during a press conference, calling for more intelligence, smart military airstrikes and a slew of other “building blocks” that will require “perseverance” to succeed.
“I believe we will be fighting for years, and perhaps decades,” Mr. Cameron said, adding that the U.K. has already taken many actions, such as “legislating so that we can prosecute people on all aspects of terrorism.”
Mr. Cameron estimated about 500 people have traveled to the Middle East for terrorism training and to join the Islamic State.
He dismissed the theory that poverty fosters terrorism.
“The [current] terrorist threat was not created by the Iraq War … it existed even before the horrific attacks on 9/11,” he said. “It cannot be solved by addressing poverty, or dictatorships or instability in the region. The root cause is quite clear: a poisonous ideology of Islamic extremism that is condemned by all … [and that will] force people to live in a Medieval state” that includes beheadings, the enslavement of people, the rape of women.