London Rebukes U.S. Approach to Terrorism

October 22, 2008

LONDON: Two senior British counterterrorism officials have in recent days criticized the United States for what they described as its overly militaristic approach to fighting terrorism and warned of a further erosion of civil liberties.

One of the officials, Dame Stella Rimington, a former head of the country's domestic intelligence agency, said that she hoped the next American president "would stop using the phrase 'war on terror."' She also said there had been a "huge overreaction" to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The other official, Sir Ken MacDonald, the country's top prosecutor, who has overseen the country's terrorism trials for the past several years, rejected what he called "the Guantanamo model," in which the rights of defendants are severely curtailed or eliminated by governments in search for a response to the terrorism threat.

Differences between the British and American approaches in the fight against terrorism have been expressed before, but rarely by officials of such stature and background.

Complaints were also aired regarding interference with civil liberties and excessive militarism within Britain in response to the September 11 attacks.

Complete article available here.

(Photos: Dame Stella Rimington, Sir Ken MacDonald. Not for republication or commercial use.)