New Oxford vice-chancellor says US over-reacted to 9/11

Professor Louise Richardson says the US reacted the way it did due to inexperience in dealing with violent extremism

The incoming vice-chancellor of Oxford University has said that the US ‘over reacted’ to the 9/11 terrorist attack.

Professor Louise Richardson, a terrorism and security specialist who is currently vice-chancellor of University of St Andrews, is now facing criticism in the US for her comments.

While comparing the 9/11 terrorist attacks to the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ – a thirty-year long period of conflict that took the lives of more than 3,600 people and injured more than 50,000 -- Richardson said that the British proved to be more resilient in the face of terror.

She added that the US reacted the way they did because of inexperience in dealing with violent extremism.

However, the New York congressman Peter King described her comments as “totally out of line”. She was wrong “to compare 9/11 to Northern Ireland (where) 3000 people were killed in the entire 30-year struggle on both sides,” he added. “On 9/11, we lost that many totally innocent people on one side in one morning.”

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Jim Richards, a retired fire chief whose son, Jimmy, was killed, said the comments were a disgrace. “The IRA was bombing British soldiers. On September 11 we are talking about people who went to work,” he said. “This was an act by criminals who murdered 3,000 people. If she thinks 3,000 people aren’t worth it she has a lot of soul searching to do.”

On the other hand, Donna Marsh O’Connor, whose daughter, Vanessa Lang Langer, was killed in the Twin Towers, said: “They reacted badly and they reacted wrong. We became more childlike, more reactionary.”

Donald Goodrich, whose 33-year-old son, Peter, was on board the second aircraft that hit the World Trade Centre, said America’s overreaction was “the false linkage of 9/11 to Iraq”.

Prof Richardson suggested that education is the best remedy to terrorism. She said that while it doesn’t eradicate terrorism it does do away with a simplified black and white view of the world.

Professor Richardson revealed that her appointment at Oxford is due to be made official in June. She said that it is a sign of a positive change as women are taking up strong prominent roles in society.

The articles originally appeared on The Australian and Telegraph