If.

[derekpara]

If Britain and all other 'foreign' countries were to pull all their troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq immediately would the all vociferous Muslim extremists in this country stop preaching hatred and become peaceable British citizens ?

This is a serious question, not an attempt to evoke anti-muslim comments.

[Brenden]

Not until they become the majority in this country derek -

[sandyRoe]

The West supports dictators in the Arab world when it suits them. Mubarak, of Egypt, and Saddam in Iraq.
Leaving Afghanistan won't change much.

[Messi_Ten]

Muslims are peaceable British citizens. Have you come across them when the pubs close, or smashing up foreign cafes while supporting England?

[boxtops]

No. The extremists hate the West in principle, they'd find something else. The rest of the Muslim population would go on living their normally peaceable lives.

[FredPuli43]

No.Extremists rely on any evidence and none, from the Crusades on, to justify 'defending' their faith or attacking the West. Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, have all been recent favourites for Muslims, though 9/11 followed a manifesto from bin Laden concerning American forces being stationed in Saudi Arabia.
The IRA went back to King Billy as a convenient starting point for their grievances! Me, I'm still grumbling about those damn Normans as an excuse for other grievances.

[jno]

There didn't seem to be many of them around before the wars began, did there? The trouble is, once you've convinced the world you're warlike crusaders, it's hard to change their minds back again.

[DTCwordfan]

No, they would go to war on practices like selling pork in Sainsburys and that family arranged marriages are becoming illegal.

[Brenden]

There is no moderate islam -

[Kiki-frog]

No, probably not. As with any monotheism, there will always be a minority of numpties who take the 'God/Allah/Yahweh is on my side therefore whatever I do is in His name' point of view. But maybe the numpties wouldn't have quite the forum for hatred that they've had until now.

[emmie]

No i don't think so, they have their own agenda, and it has just been an excuse for some that there have been troops in these places, to stir up hatred.

[Brenden]

We were not in Iraq or Afganistan when they blew up the two towers- they are so full of hatred for the west cannot understand why they choose to live here - um - of course - benefits.

[emmie]

those same peaceable Muslims who put bombs on a bus and underground trains in London and killed 52 people from all backgrounds, and injured thousands.

[sp1814]

derekpara - well, think of it this way...until coalition forced went in and liberated Iraq so that Haliburton could make a fortune rebuilding the country's infrastructure, did we even have Muslim extremists?

I doubt very much that we can undo what's already been done in those two counties. We went in, destabilised them and we will be reaping the rewards of our hubris for years to come.

The civilian death count in Iraq from 2003 to 2011 is about 110,000.

Numbers like these make people angry, I'm afraid.

[emmie]

Messi some should stop making excuses, this is a problem this isn't going to go away.

[sp1814]

Brenden

You know that there's been TWO wars in Iraq, don't you? The first took place before September 11th.

I thought that was pretty much common knowledge.

Incidentally, my re-reading my previous post, it sounds like I'm saying we're to blame for hate preachers. I don't mean that...I'm just trying to explain why hate preachers gain traction.

[emmie]

sp and so it should, but how many people get killed by their own side, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, all have had their fair share of killings some very current like Syria, and this is not the west, please remember that.
I was dead set against any intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan, and would be equally dead set against any intervention in Syria, no matter what the politicians keep on about. It's not our fight, it just engenders more hatred for the west, and so let us for once learn by experience. We have lost lots of British servicemen and women in some of these hotspots, for no discernible gain, for either the Afghani peoples or the allied troops.