Withdraw Iraq troops to protect Britain
Urges London mayor
Agencies, London
Britain must withdraw its troops from Iraq in order to prevent further terrorist attacks, London Mayor Ken Livingstone wrote in a British newspaper yesterday as thousands of police took to the streets. Britons need to support the police, treat Muslims with respect and pull out from Iraq to "make us all safer"; "All are inter-related", Livingstone wrote in The Guardian daily. "Acceptance that the invasion of Iraq increased the likelihood of a terrorist attack on London now extends far beyond the usual suspects," the anti-war left-winger wrote. London was hit by two waves of terrorist attacks last month. On July 7, 56 people were killed, four suicide bombers included, in blasts on three Underground trains and a bus. A repeat attack on July 21 failed when the bombs did not detonate fully. "If the invasion of Iraq had been justified, it would be possible to argue that we must bear the sacrifices necessary to achieve an outcome," wrote Livingstone, who staunchly opposed the March 2003 US-led invasion. Livingstone said Britons should also treat all members of the community equally to "shrink the pool of the alienated" that bombers draw upon. "The reason the US is not able to stabilise Iraq is related to the same critical issue that affects policing in Britain: information," he added. He said Britain's police forces would only be effective if they receive community cooperation. The mayor urged fellow anti-war campaigners to tell London's communities to cooperate with police to catch terrorists. However, "the quality of information the police get will be decisively affected by the degree to which communities are treated with respect," he wrote. Exactly four weeks after suicide bombers struck the British capital, thousands of police took to the streets yesterday in a high visibility security operation to reassure jittery Londoners. The Piccadilly underground railway line was fully operational for the first time since four British Muslim suicide bombers killed 52 people in attacks on three trains and a bus. London police have warned that the threat of a new attack is "very real" from other militant cells. The police operation after the attacks -- one of the biggest ever seen in the British capital -- is costing an extra 500,000 pounds ($890,500) a day, officials have said.
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