Met Police's 'Counterterror' Role: A Convenient Distraction for UK's Imperial Blinders
📰 THE STORY: Commissioner Mark Rowley suggests the Metropolitan Police should shed its counter-terrorism role, arguing that a dedicated national agency would be more appropriate for handling what he describes as a growing, fragmented extremist threat. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: The UK's 'war on terror' narrative conveniently skips over its own historical interventions
and support for regimes that fueled instability. From the Sykes-Picot Agreement in 1916 carving up the Middle East, to complicity in the 2003 Iraq invasion that destabilized the region and created a vacuum for groups like ISIS, the 'threat' is often a blowback from imperial adventures. The Met's previous 'Special Branch' was infamous for surveilling anti-apartheid activists, trade unionists, and
environmentalists, not just 'terrorists'. Double Standard: While the Met is reportedly concerned about 'extremism,' its definitions rarely encompass the state-sponsored terrorism carried out by UK allies. The UK government, for instance, continues to sell billions in arms to Saudi Arabia, which has perpetrated an atrocious war in Yemen, yet the *Financial Times* rarely frames that as
'state-sponsored terror.' Similarly, Israel's 2023-24 genocide in Gaza, with 40,000+ dead, receives no 'counter-terrorism' scrutiny from London, despite widespread condemnation by human rights groups. Follow the Money: The 'counter-terrorism' industrial complex is highly profitable. Arms manufacturers like BAE Systems, a major UK defense contractor, benefit from perpetual conflict narratives.