Extremists consulted on the causes of extremism

Friday's Guardian reports on the findings of the Muslim community working group set up by the Home Office to prevent the growth of extremism after the July terror attacks. This, remember, is the same working group who recommended scrapping holocaust memorial day and replacing it with genocide day.

The report, published by the Home Office said British foreign policy had been "a key contributory factor" in driving extremist groups, and perceptions of injustices inherent in western foreign policy were triggering "radical impulses" among British Muslims. Now there's a surprise. Not that the government plans to change their foreign policy, which begs the question: Why are we asking a bunch of extremists to advise us on the cause of Islamic extremism? Maybe in the same vein, the United States should appoint Louis Farrakhan to chair a commission of inquiry into the social chaos which followed Hurricane Katrina.