And to battle this extremism, he is asking more Muslims to join the military, since it is “vitally important that our army, navy and air force are reflective of the hugely diverse society in which we live.”
“Defence minister urges more British Muslims to join armed forces,”by Richard Norton-Taylor for the Guardian, April 3:
Bob Ainsworth says forces should reflect UK’s diverse society
The defence minister, Bob Ainsworth, has appealed to British Muslims to joined [sic] the armed forces, saying that it was “vitally important that our army, navy and air force are reflective of the hugely diverse society in which we live”.
In an address last night to the Armed Forces Muslim Conference, Ainsworth said the services were a “fundamental and very positive part of British society, and that they need to be a positive part of Muslim society as well”, the Ministry of Defence said today.
His address follows last month’s Royal Anglian Regiment homecoming in Luton at which a group of Muslims protested, prompting angry scenes involving some of those who had been welcoming the return of the troops.
Ainsworth described the protests as acts of extremism which was the “true enemy of our society”.
The minister said that “there is an enemy within, but it isn’t the Muslim community in this country, it is extremism in any and all of its forms”…