David Cameron: ‘We Need to Tackle the Ideology of Islamist Extremism Head On’

David Cameron: ‘We Need to Tackle the Ideology of Islamist Extremism Head On’

By Charles C. W. Cooke

August 29, 2014 



British Prime Minister David Cameron today addressed growing concerns about ISIL, noting that the British government had raised its threat level from “substantial” to “severe.” While declining to endorse military action, Cameron struck a serious pose.

 “What we are facing in Iraq now with ISIL,” he continued, “is a greater and deeper threat to our security than what we have known before.”

On more than on occasion he suggested that that threat “comes from the poisonous narrative of Islamist extremism” and not from the fallout of the Iraq War or from global poverty. Moreover, Cameron suggested that the “mistakes” of the past should not be seen as an indication that force was always inappropriate. On the contrary:

 ” ISIL, he suggested, cannot be “appeased,” adding that the civilized world cannot permit the existence of a “terrorist state on the shores of the Mediterranean.”

Cameron also noted that “openness” does not accommodate “intolerance,” and hinted that there is no place for people in Britain who won’t assimilate. “Adhering to British values,” he said, “is not an option or a choice, it is a duty for those living in these islands.”