Other countries working within the UN like Italy, I read, concluded from the very start that an approach with tea , biscuits and chat with the locals, was going to get somewhere. The crude blasting an unidentifiable opposition to smithereens has resulted in resentment and worse anger at foreign interference. Too often innocent people are being killed and this is what has registered. There is no match between brute force from remote and devastating fire power and the Taliban working on foot in familiar territory with people they understand and can strongly influence.
The next step is now equally worrying.
With talk of withdrawl comes the suggestion that we spend more money monitoring what is happening here in Britain.
This sounds like a move towards a police state. We are seeing how biased the police can be over the G20 demonstrations with only a handful of complaints being followed up.
Surely what will happen is that the Muslims who live in ghettos will be victimised by the public as a whole because they hear of investigations of certain Muslim activities. Racial tensions will increase alarmingly.
Here in Ulverston we need to react quickly to any group that starts picking on another as those who are plain angry just pick on the nearest 'different ' group at hand.
We need to get to know our police so that we have confidence in them. On the other side of the coin it is very important for the police to make contact with as many 'normal' folk as possible. Many of us don't see a policeman from one month to another.
Looking at the town as a whole, we need to get to know each other as much as possible and take every opportunity to mix and get to know each other. With a population of around 12,000 this is very possible and is why Ulverston remains such a friendly place but we all need to make the effort to get out of our snug houses and get to know the neighbours - these can be very rewarding contacts.
