Posted on 11/30/2005 12:33:47 AM PST by Stoat
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By RICHARD WHITEA SUSPECTED terrorist plot to stage a Christmas murder blitz in Britain was smashed yesterday by police and MI5. A 28-year-old Asian man was snared as he allegedly tried to buy a rocket launcher near the M25 South Mimms services. It is feared he planned to blast a holiday flight at a major UK airport. The British-born Muslim was kept under surveillance for weeks by Met chief Sir Ian Blairs anti-terror cops and MI5 agents. The suspect, believed to have been in contact with al-Qaeda sympathisers, was ordered to hit the ground by Scotland Yards elite CO19 firearms unit.
No shots were fired as he was arrested by anti-terrorist branch officers. It is thought he was carrying thousands of pounds in cash. In a coordinated operation, anti-terror detectives then swooped on two addresses in Waltham Forest and Newham, East London. The suspect was being questioned last night at Londons high security Paddington Green police station. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: A man was arrested in a joint operation in connection with an inquiry into the suspected attempted procurement of weapons linked to terrorism. |
"1. Wear heavy and bulky overcoats on a warm day with wires hanging out of the pockets
2. Fail to stop when law enforcement officers order you to.
3. Run into a popular terror target when you've been ordered to stop."
Not one of these is true.
1. He wasn't wearing a bulky overcoat, and it wasn't a warm day. Nor were wires hanging out of his pockets.
2. He wasn't ordered to stop by law enforcement officers.
3. He didn't run into the station: he walked in. He didn't jump the barrier: he used his railcard. He even stopped and picked up a Metro newspaper on his way to the platform.
Look, we have to understand and admit when we mess up, and this was a SNAFU of ridiculous proportions. We blew the head off of the wrong guy, and he did nothing to provoke it. The circumstances weren't of his making, and muddying the waters with falsehoods about what he did that day serves no good purpose.
CO19 is actually SO19.
I have mostly English heritage and someday I'd like to take my wife and kids over there on vacation. I don't feel obligated to go to the usual tourist spots. I'm an American conservative and a big Bush supporter; I don't feel inclined to say anything about this to people on my trip, just giving you some background.
Can you recommend some places to go/things to do that might accomplish the following:
1. Avoid the "chattering classes" and/or people who might like to hone in on my accent and attempt to score points against me/my family about Bush/the Iraq war. I have found in the past that when in a foreign land, idiots and louts will have no hesitancy to try to insult you (even possibly in front of your children, however small), particularly if you're American (OK, maybe I just had a bad time in Germany once).
2. Meet some "regular people" that exemplify positive values you yourself might admire.
3. If it's a Sunday morning I would want to attend church; I'm a protestant. Should I just wander around until I see a church with people in it, or is there an alternative strategy? Also, when are service times? Most churches in my area begin the main service around 10:30. Also, I suppose I wouldn't be really interested in venturing into Muslim neighborhoods, though I have only a vague idea where those are.
Keep in mind that I'm dubious about driving/renting a car on my first family trip to the UK; I would probably freak out driving on the opposite side of the road, and I only have a New Jersey license in any case.
Also, you might find this odd, but I don't own a cell phone. Additionally, although I would plan to do a lot of internet-based research prior to my trip, I would assume that I would be "cut off" once I was landed in the country.
As an aside I have a personal interest in financial history and investment management - London and Edinburgh have a big role in this to my knowledge but I'm not aware of anything I could do on a vacation to drill into that.
It's a full plate of quesitons, just want to see if you can respond to any of them. In the final analysis, perhaps I should just shoot for a "package tour", but your comments might help me modify what the package would focus on/where it would go.
Seeing as you raised the issue, I looked it up because Ive been a little confused about what the difference between SO19 and CO19 is before. They are one and the same, but CO19 is technically correct. Looky:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SO19
I agree. I agree with the shoot to kill policy but Sods law would mean that the first time it happened a totally innocent man was the victim of a cock-up. Lets hope it doesnt happen again.
Excellent work! What a blessing. They have my thanks. And the thanks of so many of us here in the US and in Britain who do get how serious it is despite the Sheehans of the world.
I'm curious, they call the perp a '28 year old Asian man'. Is that just PC media talk for a Muslim of Pakistani or Indonesian descent? I see the MSM might just be the same in the UK as it is here.
Somebody please buy this man a bigger hat....
This is the best part .... they know who he's been talking to, and so they know who those people have been talking to, and so on.
I expect that this is merely one of many arrests.
Hi,
If I can suggest a couple of places you might want to start looking.
"If it's a Sunday morning I would want to attend church; I'm a protestant. Should I just wander around until I see a church with people in it, or is there an alternative strategy?"
Well, if you're going for Church of England, this looks pretty useful:
http://www.cofe.anglican.org/contact/findus/
It has links to different dioceses and contact details for them or for individual churches if you want to really plan ahead once you know where you will be.
"As an aside I have a personal interest in financial history and investment management - London and Edinburgh have a big role in this to my knowledge but I'm not aware of anything I could do on a vacation to drill into that."
Not sure if this is along the lines you wer thinking, but the Bank of England does have a museum in London. Never visited myself, so can't vouch for the quality. The Bank of Scotland has likewise in Edinburgh although the website says it is closed until September next year:
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/education/museum/visiting/index.htm
http://www.hbosplc.com/abouthbos/History/Museum.asp
"although I would plan to do a lot of internet-based research prior to my trip, I would assume that I would be "cut off" once I was landed in the country."
You'll be able to find internet cafes in any town of any size. Depending on where you're staying, a lot of hotels will also have internet facilities available.
"I suppose I wouldn't be really interested in venturing into Muslim neighborhoods, though I have only a vague idea where those are."
Where there are neighbourhoods as such, they're not in places where there is much likelihood of you ending up as a tourist.
28 year-old Asian man will be the description the police gave. Its the standard description over here for someone from south Asia but remember that can mean Indian too, and its not always easy to tell by sight whether someone is Indian or Pakistani. Anyway, the report says hes a Muslim later on.
"I'm curious, they call the perp a '28 year old Asian man'. Is that just PC media talk for a Muslim of Pakistani or Indonesian descent?"
'Asian' generally means Indian, Bangladeshi or Pakistani origin - ie. the bits we used to own. Not sure it's 'PC' as such, they are all in Asia! It's not really media talk either, it's general usage.
Unfortunately protecting aircraft as they come in for final decent, or right after takeoff, is extremely difficult, and the countermeasures installed on some aircraft fall short during these times in the flight cycle. And they know it.
Now, class: Was this Asian man a MUSLIM, or was he a Buddhist?
Or perhaps he was one of those damnable Amish.
I'd have a swollen head too, if I just foiled a Jihadist plot.
Muslim, as it says in the fourth sentence of the article.
See my tagline.
That's what I suspected. I'm not sure it's PC either, but it does seem as though the MSM is working carefully to not say he is a Muslim. Nothing untrue in calling him an Asian man, true enough, but it is a 'war' against a Muslim opponent and, if the perp is a Muslim, and I think he is, it might be helpful to let us know. The MSM may have carefully danced around a material bit of info.
Steady on there, chaps. I mean he's only a terrorist.
This happens at routine traffic stops in this country.
The fact that The Sun thought it necesary to include this sentence at all, tells me that the British police must usually be extraordinarily polite and deferential when asking people for their bona fides.
The report does say hes Muslim. As Canard said, if youre looking out for the PC media, the Sun aint your target.
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