It appears that Tony Blair agrees with Martin Amis's prognosis:

Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Friday that Britain faces a generation of struggle against terrorism, after the head of domestic spy agency MI5 revealed that 30 plots have been uncovered.

He also called on all sides including Muslims to denounce extremists who try to "warp and pervert the minds, particularly of younger people."

Blair said that MI5 chief Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller was "absolutely right" to insist that the threat was long-term.

"I've been saying for several years that this terrorist threat is very real, it's been building up over a long period of time," Blair told reporters after talks with New Zealand counterpart Helen Clark at 10 Downing Street.

"This is a threat that has grown up over a generation.
"I think she (Manningham-Buller) is absolutely right in saying that it will last a generation."
The threat, which Blair said was a global problem, should be tackled through toughened security laws and countering the terrorists' message, he suggested.

"It can only be combatted, in the end, not just by proper measures on security -- and we are looking again at how we strengthen our terrorism laws, we need to make sure that that's the case.

"But in addition to that, that we take on and combat the poisonous propaganda of those people that warp and pervert the minds, particularly of younger people.

"The values that we have and hold dear in this country -- that are about democracy, tolerance, liberty and respect for people of other faiths -- are the values that will defeat those values of hatred and division and sectarianism.

"It's a very long and deep struggle this, here and right round the world, but we've got to stand up and be counted for what we believe in," he said, echoing the words of Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett in a speech urging British Muslims to defend moderation Thursday.


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