Bush returns

THE furore over intelligence gathering is particularly toxic because it emanates from George W Bush's book promotion. Nearly two years after he left office, the former US president is still regarded as a global hate figure who polarises opinion because of the UK's involvement in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Of course, torture is abhorrent – but President Bush's critics forget that the world changed on 9/11 when al-Qaida launched its war against Western values. This threat has not evaporated. The July 7 suicide bombings orchestrated here in Yorkshire, the bloodbath in Mumbai and the recent attempt to blow up two cargo planes shows its determination to pursue this ideological crusade.

Many will concur with David Davis, the former Shadow Home Secretary, when he says that the use of techniques such as waterboarding undermines the West's case when discussing human rights with China – or trying to neutralise the threat confronting UK soldiers in Afghanistan.

Yet unconventional methods are often the only means of gaining vital intelligence to prevent the terrorist outrage at Heathrow Airport that President Bush highlighted. Just think of the public's outrage if hundreds of innocent people were killed because the hands of secret agents were effectively tied by moral do-gooders.

Increasingly, Britain finds itself relying upon snippets of information unearthed in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan – two countries with questionable records on human rights. This will only intensify as al-Qaida uses jihadist websites to fuel its hatred, as illustrated by the attempted murder of Labour MP Stephen Timms.

This is why the unstinting work of the intelligence community will always involve well-meaning principles being compromised. As the IRA adage of the past implies, they have to neutralise every planned outrage. The terrorists only have to succeed once.