MUMBAI, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, speaking Thursday at an Indian hotel attacked by terrorists, called the phrase "war on terror" misleading.
Miliband spoke at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, one of the major targets of a terrorist group who killed scores of people in November, CNN reported.
"The notion of a war on terror gave the impression of a unified, transnational enemy, embodied in the figure of Osama bin Laden and the organization of al-Qaida," Miliband said. "In fact, as India has long known, the forces of violent extremism remain diverse. Terrorism is a deadly tactic, not an institution or an ideology."
Miliband criticized U.S. policy. He said in Iraq, use of the phrase suggested a military response, battling and killing terrorists.
"The coalition there could not kill its way out of the problems of insurgency and civil strife," he said.
Miliband said the democracies had learned from the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo the importance of upholding "our commitments to human rights and civil liberties both at home and abroad."
