After the West Spent Hundreds of Millions on Terrorism Supporting, Cameron Unveils £5mln Plan to Combat “Extremism Poison”

LONDON, (ST)- David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, has pledged £5 million to root out what he called the “poison” of extremists like those of the so-called “Islamic State of Iraq and Levant” (ISIL) that target the “alienated and vulnerable” in British communities.

 The plan was announced on Sunday amid mounting fears in Europe that the terrorism, which western countries including the United States, Britain, France and their allies in the Turkish and Gulf regimes, have been supporting to target Syria and the region, will hit back in European countries.

According to AFP, the funds ($7.7 million or 6.8 million euros) will support local initiatives, campaigns and charitable organizations this year in a so-called “national coalition” against radicalization.

“We need to systematically confront and challenge extremism and the ideologies that underpin it, exposing the lies and the destructive consequences it leaves in its wake,” Cameron said on Sunday.

“We have to stop it at the start – stop this seed of hatred even being planted in people’s minds and cut off the oxygen it needs to grow,” he added.

The pledge came on the eve of the launch of the British government’s counter-extremism strategy, which will also include a broader crackdown on extremist content online.

The strategy is widely expected to include closer working between Internet companies and police to remove online propaganda, using systems currently employed against child abuse images.

There is also set to be a clampdown on extremism in prisons and universities, and incentives for schools to integrate pupils better.

The strategy will also establish a joint industry and government group to tackle the proliferation of extremist content online.

Western countries and their allies in the region have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to fund, arm and support terrorist organizations in Syria. The United States, alone, has earmarked $500 million for the program of training what it called “moderate opposition” in Syria. This program has ended in failure as confessed by the US officials themselves.

 These western countries are now allocating small funds to plans aiming to combat terrorism and its extremist ideas; a behavior that, according to observers, raises many questions about the seriousness and feasibility of these plans.

Hamda Mustafa