Slap,

Yes Bob is on target and you asked:
How many people in the government could even realize that?
Very few I would contend, it would be a rare politician who would admit this:
..they were most likely "radicalized" by their government..
Try this September 2005 article, based on talking to John Denham, a Labour minister who resigned over the Iraq War:http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/al...security.thtml

There are some civil servants who have advised government here, the most often cited example being the Foreign Office and Home Office advice in 2004 that foreign policy decisions could alienate young Muslims. We know that advice was rejected, yes by Tony Blair and his government.

As the "smoke" cleared from Northern Ireland more civil servants have talked, with regret, over decisions taken that were counter-productive; I am only aware of local politicians talking in the same terms, such as Geoffrey Donaldson:http://www.jeffreydonaldson.org/