April 16, 2008

"Put your back into it!"

The list of things that cause outbursts of rage over at Abu Muqawama HQ is long. Chief among them is finding that the no nonsense men's barbers across the street has become a fancy ladies salon. But high up there are people who don't put their hearts into what they're doing.

Take a look at some of AM's neighbours and compare their "martyrdom videos" to those of the 7/7 bombers. (Click here and here.)

Mohammed Siddique Khan was calm and purposeful while Shehzad Tanweer was angry and forceful. However, both were masters of their messages. And, that's not usually an easy thing to say about northerners.

On the other hand, Abdula Ali is lost for words. Umar Islam reads like an illiterate actor and Tanveer Hussein actually sounds like he is searching for confirmation from his intended targets. Only Arafat Waheed Khan decides to put some effort in, eventhough it looks like the sort of passion and menace he reserves for the television when he's watching a football match.

The most ridiculous line has got to be; "Most of them are too busy watching Home And Away and EastEnders." - Now Londonstani is no fan of rubbish British TV but if you are going to justify death and destruction based on people's viewing habits, Celebrity Big Brother really should get a mention.

In Londonstani's unlettered opinion (there are few letters after his name) extremism in Britain is a fast evolving creature. Undoubtedly, there are more people coming into the tent and the make up of the congregation is becoming more diverse. But at the same time the quality of the intake is going downhill. But is this good or bad news for those trying to stop them? Would it be easier to dissuade or "deradicalise" the likes of the East London Eight? What about their motivations compared to Omar Khayyam, Dhiren Barot or Mohammed Siddique Khan? Or, does the increase in numbers mean that - however clueless - more attackers are inevitably going to succeed?