Could Britain become like Iraq ?

[derekpara]

Do you think there is any possibility that the conflicts in Iraq and Afgahanistan could spread across Europe and affect this country on the same scale ? This is a serious question, not a rabble-rouser.

[laurence2]

NO.

And thats a serious answer

[mightyWBA]

No chance we're all to apathetic,and busy watching the telly.

[Dom Tuk]

A civil war in Iraq...what civil war says Bliar.

On a serious note, conflict in the UK between religious groups and ethnicity is less likely. What can happen is rivalry between the home counties escalating. We think , oh no we are too civilsed for this to happen here, but speak to the Balkan states. It does not take much for things to explode out of control. There was an excellent programme on C4 a few years ago about this same thing. the upshot of it all was that the basic ingredients for a Welsh/scottiish/english fare up is present. The sense of injustice is present. What is needed is a sustained period of false propoganda (our media can easily provide it), bad governance and sporadic violence. Then it all gets out of hand. It happened in the Balkans...so lets not be too complacent.

[Booldawg]

well lets face it, there's enough people in the UK with chips on their shoulders, all demanding a piece of the pie.

[jake-the-peg]

I don't think that you should dismiss the possibility quite so litely.

Wasn't there talk of a plot to overthrow Harold Wilson and install a Government headed by Lord Mountbatten?

On balance though I think it's unlikely because of the absence of armed forces in the country.

If such a coup had or were to be attempted in the future it would only be possible if the armed forces were to split and effectively fight each other.

A purely civil uprising would be put down very quickly.

Of course in a sense we had 30 years of bombs and violence with Northern Ireland. Easy to forget now after the last 10 years but when I was growing up in London IRA bombs were a constant threat

[Catso]

I would say 'no' because to be able to do so would require the assitance, or at the very least acquiesance of a sizeable proportion of the population.

For the most part, there aren't enough religious fanatics in European countries to support this.

Though I would say that in Europe things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. There will be more attacks.

[Catso]

Simplistic and unrealistic solution: ban all religions.

Or one more in line with the way our government works: licence religions. We could have a big government department regulating them. They have to document their beliefs and be registered as a religion (at a cost, of course, just to cover the admin). They then get a basic licence, the cost proportional to the number of followers/believers they have. Religion can't be practiced unless licenced. Inspectors would go round checking for unlicensed acts of worship or believing. What is allowed in services would have to be within published guidelines and open to inspection.

[jake-the-peg]

What about 1930s Spain?

You don't need a religous devide for a civil war but I have to admit it sure does help!

[Lonnie]

I would give a definate yes to this, I am not a racist, and belong to an ethnic minority,

To explain,

There are to many people NOT willing to intigrate, NOT willing to learn the language and customs of the host nation,

While this state of affairs continues, this country must disintegrate into ethnic strife.

Lets face it, in this country, and it doesn't matter if they are not fighting at the moment, they will be, You have the Sunni's and Shia's who hate each other, some whites who hate non whites, some Wet Indians and Africans who hate each other.

You have certain ethnic groups who have sworn to take over this country,

I could go on, and paint a really dark picture, but i'll leave it at that for now.