Why Britain will stay steady

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LONDON.

Question: What happens in politics when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? Answer: An innocent Brazilian is shot by nice London "Bobbies."

To explain the above exchange, the irresistible force is Muslim terrorism in Britain and the immovable force is democratic British public opinion. Two commonplaces of antiterrorist scholarship are (a) a terrorist movement is hard to defeat in proportion to its support among the population, and (b) terrorism cannot gain its objectives against the firm convictions of a majority in a democracy.

What therefore happens if terrorism is supported by a substantial minority of the population for causes strongly opposed by the majority? We may be about to find out from Britain after the second spate of attempted bombings.

Take, first, the terrorism of radical Islamists. It is conventional to say -- I have often advanced this point myself -- terrorism is supported by only a tiny percentage of British Muslims. This comforting statement, however, is undermined by the recent YouGov survey of British Muslims for the London Daily Telegraph. Among its findings:

(1) Six percent of British Muslims believe the bombings in London were justified -- and another 6 percent "don't know" if they were justified. Six percent seems a small number, but it represents 100,000 people.

(2) Ten percent of British Muslims feel "not at all loyal" to the country, and another 6 percent feel "not very loyal."

(3) Fifty-six percent of British Muslims "can understand" why the bombers behaved as they did.

(4) Thirty-one percent of British Muslims feel Western society is decadent and immoral and Muslims should seek to end it "by nonviolent means." One percent (or 16,000 people) believe it should be ended "if necessary by violence."

(5) Forty-one percent think most Muslims would be reluctant to tell the police about anything suspicious.