Monday, August 14, 2006

The latest UK `terror' plot

This week the British media have been full of the terror plot that `Dr' John Reid, UK Home Secretary, claims to have just foiled. The facts that we know for sure are very limited. The Independent set them out today:

1) 23 Muslims, aged between 17 and 35, are being questioned by police about an alleged plot to blow up airliners flying between the UK and USA. They come from Birmingham, High Wycombe and Walthamstow.

2) Pakistani police have arrested several men accused of being linked to the alleged plot.

3) Britain's official `threat level' was raised to critical early on Thursday morning.

4) John Reid is in control of the Government response via his chairing of the Cobra civil contingencies committee.

5) Stringent new security checks have proved extremely disruptive in UK airports.

I would add another fact that The Independent did not state.

6) The Government and police have form in hyping the terrorist threat for their own political ends.

Craig Murray, the former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, has given us his conclusions as to what is happening -

In all of this, the one thing of which I am certain is that the timing is
deeply political. This is more propaganda than plot. Of the over one thousand
British Muslims arrested under anti-terrorist legislation, only twelve per cent
are ever charged with anything. That is simply harrassment of Muslims on an
appalling scale. Of those charged, 80% are acquitted. Most of the very few -
just over two per cent of arrests - who are convicted, are not convicted of
anything to do terrorism, but of some minor offence the Police happened upon
while trawling through the wreck of the lives they had shattered.

I highly recommend reading the whole piece, which is very instructive. For now though, I will leave you with his concluding remarks -

Be sceptical. Be very, very sceptical.


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