Don't panic!
Airline terror plot disrupted: bothered
First of all, I feel sorry for all the daily papers, as this happened too late for their morning editions. A plot to blow up planes in flight from the UK to the US and commit "mass murder on an unimaginable scale" has been disrupted, so we are told. Scotland Yard say that the plan was to detonate explosive devices smuggled in hand luggage on to as many as 10 aircraft. Twenty-one people have been arrested. High security. Delays at all UK airports. Threat level to the UK has been raised by MI5 to "critical" (this means "an attack is expected imminently and indicates an extremely high level of threat to the UK").
So why do I not believe them?
I realise that it may all be true, but I hear news like this and I am immediately filled with cynicism. My brother, the policeman, will kill me for writing this, but whenever a terror plot is foiled and we, the public, are expected to be grateful, I can't help thinking, well, I could say that I foiled a terror plot this morning. How would you know if I hadn't? You've got a beleagured government, who, whether you support them or not, are definitely in need of a boost. And the foiling of dastardly plots makes everyone look good. It also makes us all terribly grateful.
Is this my problem, this terrible deep-seated cynicism? Or is it them? Life would be a lot simpler if you believed what you heard on the news.
But you've got John Reid, desperate to push through more draconian anti-terror measures but thwarted by critics whom he says, "don't get it", and now he can go on telly and tell us that had this airline attack gone ahead it would have caused a loss of life of "unprecedented scale". In other words: if you want us to protect you from frightening foreigners with exploding hand luggage, you've got to give up some more of your civil liberties. Sorry, but look what just nearly happened.
I feel sorry for anyone stuck at an airport. Tony Blair, in the Caribbean, and his ministers, elsewhere, are already on holiday so they'll be OK. (Oh, unless enough Labour rebels get Parliament recalled over Lebanon, which must be worrying a few of them.) Mr Blair paid tribute to the the police and the security services today, as he ought, since they are operating under appalling pressure, not just from government, but also from the media. But wrongful arrests get made under pressure. And people get shot. And it's as much the government's fault when this happens as the police themselves.
The PM's statement said, "There has been an enormous amount of co-operation with the US authorities which has been of great value and underlines the threat we face and our determination to counter it." Yeah, the US authorities who allowed September 11 to happen. Well done, those authorities. Terrorism didn't start on that particular day, by the way. There was some terrorism before it. I've checked.
Scotland Yard said, "We believe that the terrorists' aim was to smuggle explosives on to aeroplanes in hand luggage and to detonate these in flight. We also believe that the intended targets were flights from the United Kingdom to the United States of America." I will not comment or speculate on this until the suspects have been questioned, as what we learn in the next few days through the media will not be reliable. Remember Jean Charles de Menezes and all the guff that came out about that in the days after the shooting. Let's wait for people to be charged, and then see what we have been protected from.
Police have spoken to a "good number of community leaders to make them aware that a major operation was under way." We all know what this means.
Meanwhile, US air marshals are being sent to the UK to provide extra air security. Thanks. The US Department of Homeland Security, which continues to operate with one of the stupidest names in US history, increased the "threat level" applied to US-bound commercial flights originating in the UK to "red", the first time it has done this for flights coming in from another country. (In other words, they're only on red alert for certain flights. This is a very localised alert. Let's not get too excited.)
So, we have arrested 21 people and yet the threat remains. Airline passengers are not allowed to take any hand luggage on to any flights in the UK. Passports and wallets will be allowed to be carried on board in transparent plastic bags. These measures are in place "for a limited period only." So, in a couple of days, it'll be back to hand luggage. Why? Have they arrested the people or not? Why not ground all flights? Oh yes, too expensive.
Still, at least you can be sure that British people will be moaning about their flights being delayed, so some things will stay as normal during this most difficult time.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 5:00 PM
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20 Comments:
I view the current government with as much cynicism as the next man, but ultimately it’s the extremists who have handed them opportunities to build up/dumb down important developments like we are seeing today.
I think it’s dangerous to start labelling the police with a cynical “well we should be grateful” tag. It isn’t obviously visible to the everyday you and me but the threat to this country has recently been exercised (July 11th) and it’s the police who do work tirelessly preventing another attack...
Government keeps control of people by keeping them scared.
That's how it works.
So long as there is a bogeyman we'll stay in line.
Remember the lies we grew up with about the might of the Iron Curtain ?
They'll be telling us next that the tooth fairy isn't real.
Thanks for this, Stef. I fancied a debate. As I say, my brother's a policeman, and I have the utmost respect for him. What worries me is that they are under such unrealistic pressure to "get a result". I'm not anti-police. But the climate of fear is mostly down to the government. Fear is designed to keep us all in line. Extremists and fundamentalists are dangerous. But not all fundamentalists are terrorists, and I see fundamentalists of a different type in positions of real power. The terrorist threat to this country is caused by decisions made by our leaders on our behalf. Their lies over Iraq have been proven to be lies, and yet they persist, as if they know better than us. I hope the police have better intelligence than the last time they tried to foil a terrorist attack, in Forest Gate, that's all. My main beef is with the media, and the way the red alert etc. have been reported all day, as if we are under attack. We're not.
Totally agree that the media coverage is utterly ridiculous. They are culpable for building the climate of fear that we currently live in - and the conspiracy theorists amongst us might argue that at times they’re working in cahoots with the government - but I still think it’s paramount that right-thinking people understand that there is a threat and that it is because of terrorists that we are positioned where we are today.
It gets worse. I like Channel 4 News, but they are just as guilty of sensationalising this news story today, with emotional reporting based on very little fact as yet. I know they have airtime to fill, and it's today's big story, but do they really need to have the programme presented by Krishnan Guru-Murthy from Heathrow Airport where ... hmmm ... nothing has actually happened?
Feel you're a bit heavy on the cynicism in all this, Andrew although I agree that the media goes way over the top - a lifetime's material for Private Eye's "going live" column.
With tongue firmly, but partially, in cheek, can I refer the honourable gentleman to his recent review of "V for Vendetta" and the rather sniffy view he took of its clumsy portrayal of "media manipulation as a means of using controlled panic to blah" and those who would need such a message spoonfed to them. Life imitating art? Perhaps, I must go and check.
Anyway, keep up the good work.
PS Pirates of the Carribean - I think the beast is spelt Krakken - at least it was in the 50s when John Wyndham wrote a book about it.
Don't worry ... its got to 20:30 and they haven't shot anyone yet.
Sorry - being a smarty pants and hijacking the thread. "The Kraken Wakes" by John Wyndham. Not his best. First attack exciting, less so the second and third.
Returning to the thread, was it just me or was Natasha Kerplunkski putting on her best "gravitas" voice on tonight's news?
Anyway, a cheery thought is that tomorrow morning when BBC, Sky et al are still in full "breaking news" mode, gmtv will probably be headlining with an old lady who's suing the local quickmart after being hit on the head by a tinned meat and potato pie. Come to think on it, they've already done that one.
The investigations into this 'plot' will have been going on for some time. It's probable that the attacks were scheduled for some time in the near future. The ructions at airports right now seem to be a precaution to thwart a possible back up plot that may take place in the event of the conspirators being arrested.
Whether this is a real risk or a scare tactic by the government is open to question but i'm willing to take all this at face value until such a time as the whole thing is brought into the open.
The hysteria will officially begin when the Sun, Mirror and Daily Mail get a hold of the story tomorrow morning................
If the 24 peolpe arrested were on the passenger manifeston then, clearly there was a credible threat. If they were not on the passenger list I think some questionos need to be directed at the Government. Personally, in this case, I feel this was a credible threat but this boils down to our own Government not listening to us, the people!!. Stop US military aircrat using us as a stop off point!!. Listen to your voters!!! We don't want to be part of a country that supplies weapons to the "countries who are in war"!!.....
I'd just like to say I agree with all of you, which makes it rather difficult to join in this debate.
Thanks.
Definitely glad I'm not having to go on a ten hour transatlantic flight to visit my in-laws anytime soon.
I'd more than likely end up like William Shatner's character in "Nightmare At 20000ft" if all I had to entertain myself was "The Princess Diaries 12" or "{insert other 'chick flick' title here}"
Firstly, apologies if this entry doesn't make too much sense. I typed it and then lost it, so had to re-type it again!
Over the last few years I have become very cynical with the media and people in authority.
On Wednesday the story of the "bodies in the garden of a paedophile" was reported on the radio. What relevance did the paedophile have to this story when the bodies were there apparently years before the person lived there? Why did they mention this person at all when it had no relevance to the story? Only one report mentioned that the bodies were there years before the person lived there.
Why do people believe the media so much when they prove themselves that they spin the story however they choose, if it makes it sound more interesting?
What annoyed me with the reports on the big news story on Thursday was how they reported that the security level had been raised to Critical. They then emphasised that that meant an attack was imminent and they emphasised the word imminent even more. What's wrong with just saying it has been raised to Critical - the highest security level? I read the facts on the Home Office website and that is what they said, they didn't mention an attack being imminent. They did not sensationalise it and there was no scaremongering.
Sometimes I get tired with being cynical, so I try naivety to make a change - Would the government really go to all this trouble to keep us running scared and to show us they are doing something? It's not just worrying the public, but causing money problems to the businesses at the airports and the flight companies themselves. Would they really do this?
If it turns out that the people being questioned were really plotting to blow up some planes and the police/government hadn't reacted to it, they would get blasted for not doing something. Now they are getting blasted for doing something or over-reacting. Can they win either way?
I know this is somewhat tasteless under the circumstances, but hearing all the news readers saying "like 9/11, on an unimaginable scale" kept reminding me of Team America's "it'll be 9/11 times 100", "what, you mean..." "yes, 91100!"
I think the bbc website is a bit stuck for news, though (is that where you got your picture?) It had "the terror alert in pictures", which was basically lots of people standing around in various airports looking slightly pissed off.
All this just proves that theres nothing as boring and disappointing as the truth
I had no idea who Andrew Collins was, I found the link on Timesonline (sorry).
What a treat to find a blog where the contributors have retained a sense of humour.
I have been reading comments on a Graudian blog and it consists of nothing but racist abuse from both ends of the spectrum. Very depressing.
As for being cynical about this latest wheeze from Tony et.al. all I can say is; Cynicism rocks...........
Anyone would think there's an election due!
Did anyone see the headline on one of the tabloids, I think it was The Daily Mirror? Apparently "the message from the whole of Britain is UP YOURS". What the fuck? No, I didn't think that at all. That is something I might think regarding the oposition at a football match if I was in a very vindictive mood! There was a picture of a small girl with a T-Shirt saying "Am I Bothered?". Yes, you bloody well should be!
Gordon P
The scariest of these web things that allows for people to make comments is the "Have Your Say" section of the BBC website. Pick any topic vagely connected to race/religion/immigration and be depressed. Be very depressed.
Apparantly 9/11 times 100 is 81.8181 recurring.
Sitting on an Easyjet flight from Barcelona last night (over the wing for the extra leg-room) I was struck by the thought (as I often am) "do these doors work all the time?". Perhaps they don't. It would be a lot easier than trying to smuggle high explosive onto a plane, wouldn't it?
Also, wouldn't this transparent-looks-like-water explosive be very expensive? When have real, actual terrorists used anything expensive? They did 9/11 with quite powerful scissors.
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