Amir Taheri relates the horrendous toll in France sustained by that country’s historic appeasement of Islamic terror, and issues a timely warning to Britain:

‘As Britain tries to absorb the shock of 7/7, some voices are urging what would amount to the appeasement of the terrorists. Experience, however, shows that the appeaser becomes a more attractive target for the terrorists. The appeased terrorist concludes that, having won a battle, he should press for victory in his war against a weakened adversary. Appeasing terrorists was tried by French president Francois Mitterrand in the 1980s, and made France the most-targeted Western country for a decade...

‘France is not alone in having tried appeasement and failed. Algeria, Egypt, Germany, Saudi Arabia and more recently Spain have had similar experiences. The British should know that any appeasement of terrorists could put them in an even greater danger.’

Taheri is worried about Britain’s resolve. He’s right to be so.

Posted by melanie at July 24, 2005