JG Ballard & Ziauddn Sardar articles...

Two articles in this weeks new Statesman really piqued my interest. The first is the diary article written by JG Ballard. The article delivers two fantastic observations: The first, that suicide bombing is in itself an admission of defeat (no reports of Hizbollah resorting to suicide bombing because they knew they were winning); the second, that Gordon Brown is 'high in intelligence and self-control, but scores zero for acting skills and emotional martyrdom' and therefore will be deemed to fail as PM.

The second article by Ziauddin Sardar looks at the evolution of the Tablighi Jamaat movement from being a peaceful religious pressure group (think Jehovah's witnesses) to being a Jihadist organisation that is said to be a recruiting ground for terror organisations. The author recounts an interesting story of evolution, however, it begs the question: what drove the transition and is there a possibility to reverse that evolution with engagement rather than reinforcing it with persecution?

Both articles worth a read though...