This snippet is taken from an article in the economist at
http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3737145
"However, harsh anti-terror laws are no guarantee that terrorism will stop. Worse still, they risk doing more harm than good. This was the case with Britain’s old Prevention of Terrorism Act, which was used during the Northern Ireland conflict to detain large numbers of people, most of whom were not subsequently charged with a terrorism-related offence. The resentment that this caused among the province’s Catholic minority only served to sustain support for the IRA, not deter it. Similarly, long detentions without trial at Guantánamo and Belmarsh risk serving as recruiting-sergeants for the terror groups that the measures are aimed at curbing."
Are new laws like the patriot act and Britians new anti-terrorism policy doing more to exacerbate the terrorism problem than help it?
-edit.. damn spelling