AN ENDURING THREAT: EUROPE’S ISLAMIST TERROR NETWORKS THEN AND NOW release of the Chilcot Report and debate which surrounded it highlighted the ongoing impact the invasion 1374 of Iraq has had on the debate in the UK, while the results of the limited intervention in Libya continue 1375 to be used as an example of why military action should be avoided at all costs. As such, it is vital that policy-makers seeking to challenge the threat posed by terrorist networks like those profiled in this report make a strong public case on the need to disrupt the activities of the terrorist groups which organise and train them. This should include credible assessments of the threat, detailing past attacks planned in such safe havens, and clear plans for the aftermath of any military activity – with the failure to provide this in the past alienating those who otherwise support the use of military action to end 1376 conflicts in which violent extremism thrives. It should also include publicising the successes achieved against terrorist groups by both Western forces and their allies within the regions in which these groups operate, showing that military action can drive terrorist groups back and outlining the benefits for those liberated from the rule of such groups. Finally, it should stress the importance of military action being coordinated with allies in the regions in which terrorist groups operate, while refusing to work alongside those regimes which are part of the problem, such as that of President Assad in Syria. Developing this case will be vital if future military action to remove terrorist safe havens is to be a serious option, and will be as important in challenging terrorist networks as the smaller-scale measures working to identify those at risk of radicalisation. ! ! 1374 Jones, O., ‘The war in Iraq was not a blunder or a mistake. It was a crime’, Guardian, 7 July 2016, available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/07/blair-chilcot-war-in-iraq-not-blunder-crime, last visited: 9 August 2016. 1375 ‘Everyone says the Libya intervention was a failure. They’re wrong’, Brookings, 12 April, 2016, available at: http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/markaz/posts/2016/04/12-libya-intervention-hamid, last visited: 9 August 2016. 1376 Cox, J., ‘With Regret, I Feel I Have No Other Option But to Abstain on Syria’, The Huffington Post, 2 December 2015, available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/jo-cox/syria-vote_b_8698242.html, last visited: 9 August 2016. ! ! 113 !