Today's terrrr stuff

[johnnyboy]

I am a bit confused by this whole new airport and airplane stuff, so I have been doing as much reading on it as I can.

Someone on the Globe and Mail website offered this interesting insight...

"I don't get it.

It takes many months of investigation to uncover this plot, and only after the plot is thwarted and 18 arrested, do they radically tighten up the carry-on baggage policy. Does that mean they had no idea during those months of the plot's objective?

If they did suspect that something was cooking during the investigation, would it not have been more prudent to start tightening the carry-on luggage policy during that time, and not AFTER the arrests?

One has to wonder about the UK government's motives."

My first thought was, when I heard it, that it smelled a bit like that hopelessly false "occupation" of Heathrow Airport in February 2003. This was obviously designed for getting us to support Tony and George's crusades against the Islamic fascists in Iraq with their evil WMD.

Far be it from me to propose a consipracy theory , but I wonder if the evidence they have for said plot and said bombers is a little bit fishy? I certainly hope it's stronger than the Forest Green (?) debacle a couple of months ago.

[rdobbie]

Here here.

Methinks there's certainly been a degree of sensationalism and exaggeration by HM government here. Who knows what we are to believe? This government told monstrous lies about Iraq, causing the slaughter of thousands of innocent people. I don't know how any intelligent, rational person can any longer believe a single word that comes out of the mouth of Blair or one of his cabinet ministers.

The beauty for the government is that under their wonderful new Terror laws they don't actually have to prove anything or find anyone guilty in a court of law. They can just say "These 25 Muslim men are guilty because we say so. End of story", and just lock them up and throw away the key. Which I have no doubt they will do.

The state needed a big PR victory after the disastrous events of Forest Gate and Jean Charles de Menezes, and today they got it. It just shows that however much truth there was in this "plot", people are very easily convinced.

[Bail]

P A N I C... Critical - an attack is expected imminently

Or maybe not.

[all new Phil]

The beauty for the government is that under their wonderful new Terror laws they don't actually have to prove anything or find anyone guilty in a court of law. They can just say "These 25 Muslim men are guilty because we say so. End of story", and just lock them up and throw away the key. Which I have no doubt they will do.

Yes, of course they can do that :roll:

For Christ's sake, don't believe every word George Galloway says.

[johnnyboy]

Yes, of course they can do that :roll:

For Christ's sake, don't believe every word George Galloway says.

They'd only lock them up for 3 years at Belmarsh in solitary on no charge! Key not quite thrown away.

Am I right in thinking that 4 of them have already been released and the house searches have, thus far, been less than fruitful?

[Not The Chef]

..

[johnnyboy]

I'm not sure about that.

I always used to worry about my mobile phone and/or SIM card getting wiped on the hand-luggage X-ray machine but nothing ever happened.

For the luggage X-ray, is it the same machine/technology, albeit slightly larger for the suitcases?

[Spencer For Hire]

Lucky that they've banned hand luggage eh? After all, no terrorist would ever consider putting a bomb in a suitcase.

[all new Phil]

Am I right in thinking that 4 of them have already been released and the house searches have, thus far, been less than fruitful?

Oh we get this every time something like this happens - just another excuse to criticise Blair and act as if it's all his fault.

When will some of you realise that there are literally thousands of people who would be more than happy to take their own life whilst killing as many innocent people as possible living IN THIS COUNTRY. Just what exactly do you expect to happen? Would you prefer the intelligence services ignored any lead they have until it's too late? We can't afford to pussyfoot around, YES the death of Jean Charles de Menezes and the shooting of the man in the raid recently were unfortunate, but they were nowhere near as unfortunate as the loss of thousands of innocent lives would have been if it had been ignored and later turned out to be the real thing.

For Christ's sake, get yourselves a sense of perspective on things.

Please respond.

[johnnyboy]

Oh we get this every time something like this happens - just another excuse to criticise Blair and act as if it's all his fault.

Oh, Phil, get off your high horse, fella.

We DO live in a country where we can criticise our leaders all we like.

When will some of you realise that there are literally thousands of people who would be more than happy to take their own life whilst killing as many innocent people as possible living IN THIS COUNTRY.

Why aren't these thousands doing it? These committed jihadists aren't that committed after all, it seems.

John Reid (the Home Secretary who had cannabis found in his house) reckons there are 1,200 in the UK ready to die for their "cause". The US State Department reckons there are between 40,000 and 60,000 in the world as a whole.

But very little happens. There are not bombs going off left, right and centre. Airplanes (despite yesterday) are not falling out of the sky. Nothing is happening, but we are expected to believe that, according to our beloved Bliar, we face "an existential threat to our way of life".

Where is the proof? Where is the evidence? Again, tumbleweeds from the Government.

There are hundreds of thousands of bad people in our country that threaten our way of life in every way imaginable, but we don't go overboard for every single little thing.

Just what exactly do you expect to happen? Would you prefer the intelligence services ignored any lead they have until it's too late? We can't afford to pussyfoot around, YES the death of Jean Charles de Menezes and the shooting of the man in the raid recently were unfortunate, but they were nowhere near as unfortunate as the loss of thousands of innocent lives would have been if it had been ignored and later turned out to be the real thing.

For Christ's sake, get yourselves a sense of perspective on things.

After the debacle of 9/11, the Iraq War, 7/7 and so on, the Intelligence Services apparently aren't up to much cop, it seems.

Of course, if they believed it was imminent, it was the right thing to do, but it probably won't be.

Perhaps if everyone calmed down and realised that a bunch of disgruntled Muslims, Chavs, Irish, Commies (insert made-up historical enemy against which we can all fight) can not bring down society, we might get a better perspective on things.

Please respond.

[tillyoshea]

I did like the end of today's Grauniad leader, which is, perhaps, appropriate here:

A public that has heard talk of WMD dossiers and seen tanks at Heathrow has become wary of what it is told. But doubters should remember the story of the boy who cried wolf. In the end, there was a wolf.