The UK interned substantial numbers of enemy aliens in the two World Wars.The internment of people of Japanese descent in the USA is well known (if often exaggerated) Little is known, and is becoming less so, about the internment by the USA of people of European descent - none of whom were subsequently compensated. The USA put pressure Latin American countries to expel similar people, including Jews who were sent to the Third Reich. On the next page Joseph E Fallon, U K Defence Forum Research Associate, explains how this chapter of history is disappearing into a "memory hole".

The late American academician, and CIA consultant, Professor Chalmers Johnson wrote in 2001, "'Blowback' is a CIA term first used in March 1954 in a recently declassified report on the 1953 operation to overthrow the government of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran. It is a metaphor for the unintended consequences..."

The "unintended consequences" of the 1953 coup d'état to restore the Shah to power was the 1979 Iranian Revolution and transformation of Iran from Western ally to Western adversary, writes Joseph E. Fallon

"Blowback" as short hand for the unintended and unwanted consequences of a state's action may be applied to Beijing's ongoing policy toward the Uyghurs of Xinxiang. In its pursuit of political stability in Xinxiang, which is half the size of India, Beijing is undermining the political stability of the Chinese state. In enforcing "sinicization", as defined by Mandarin North China, under the mantra of "national unity", it is sowing seeds of division across China. In combating "terrorism", Beijing is becoming the "terrorist"; confirming the maxim of the American cartoon philosopher, Pogo: "We have met the enemy and he is us."