Posted on 11/09/2006 4:09:51 PM PST by MadIvan
At least 1600 young British Muslims are under surveillance for plotting terrorist violence against Britain, according to the head of MI5.
Eliza Manningham Buller delivered a stark assessment of the threat facing the country from 200 terror networks stretching from the UK to Pakistan, including 30 "Priority 1" plots.
In August Home Secretary John Reid claimed to know of 24 "major conspiracies", suggesting the dangers posed by organised terrorists is growing.
Delivering the Government's latest assessment of the terror threat, the Director General of the Security Service revealed that her agency's caseload has increased by 80 per cent since January.
She said: "That threat is serious is growing and will, I believe, be with us for a generation. It is a sustained campaign, not a series of isolated incidents. It aims to wear down our will to resist."
Her assessment comes just days before Tony Blair unveils the legislative programme for his final Parliamentary session as Labour leader and Prime Minister.
Wednesday's Queen's Speech is widely expected to be dominated by a raft of new security measures. Many will see Dame Eliza's speech as part of a co-ordinated Government publicity offensive to build up the case for new anti-terror legislation.
In remarks to academics this week that were released last night, she described how young Muslims are being radicalised and turned into potential suicide bombers.
"More and more people are moving from passive sympathy towards active terrorism through being radicalised or indoctrinated by friends, families, in organised training events here and overseas," she said.
"Young teenagers are being groomed to be suicide bombers." She said she was alarmed by the "scale and speed" of the radicalisation, which is said to have intensified since last year's July suicide bombings in London.
She said: "It is the youth who are being actively targeted, groomed, radicalised and set on a path that frighteningly quickly could end in their involvement in mass murder of their fellow citizens, or their early death in a suicide attack or on a foreign battlefield.
"Killing oneself and others in response is an attractive option for some citizens of this country and others around the world."
Dame Eliza revealed that despite an intense recruitment drive, just six per cent of MI5's staff are from ethnic minorities, compared to eight per cent for the Metropolitan Police. However, of the 400 new recruits this year, 14 per cent are non-white.
Her address followed this week's conviction of Dhiren Barot, the al-Qa'eda terrorist sentenced to 40 years for planning ambitious bomb attacks on London.
Dame Eliza predicted that terrorists would become more sophisticated in their methods. "Today we see the use of home-made improvised explosive devices. Tomorrow's threat may, and I suggest will, include the use of chemical, bacteriological agents, radioactive materials and even nuclear technology."
She added: "My officers and the police are working to contend with some 200 groupings or networks, totalling over 1600 identified individuals (and there will be many we don't know) who are actively engaged in plotting or facilitating terrorist acts here and overseas."
Some of the networks were directly linked to al-Qa'eda in Pakistan, which used the Pakistani community in Britain to recruit and promote terrorists.
Since the 7 July bombings, five further major conspiracies in the UK had been thwarted, the director general added.
Out of the 200 or so groups being watched by MI5, a smaller subset are of the highest priority because its feared that they are plotting actual attacks.
"We are aware of numerous plots to kill people and to damage our economy. What do I mean by numerous? Five? Ten? "No, nearer 30 that we currently know of," she said.
MI5 has increased in size by nearly 50% since 9/11 and now stands at roughly 2,800 staff. "I wish life were like Spooks (the TV series) where everything is, a, knowable, and, b, soluble by six people," she explained.
"We cannot focus on everything so we have to decide on a daily basis with the police and others where to focus our energies, whom to follow, whose telephone lines need listening to, which seized media needs to go to the top of the analytic pile.
"Because of the sheer scale of what we face - my service has seen an 80% increase in casework since January - the task is daunting.
"We shan't always make the right choices. And we recognise we shall have scarce sympathy if we are unable to prevent one of our targets committing an atrocity."
Dame Eliza was speaking yesterday morning to a small audience from the Mile End Group, an academic seminar group at the History department of Queen Mary, University of London.
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Ivan that alot
Does that tell anybody anything Islam is not religion of peace
The Democrats in America aren't in charge of protecting our country so long as Bush is still in office. The worst they could do is cut off funding for some protection and put it in a bill that the President had to sign for other reasons.
I think the odds of that happening are slim.
What will the Democrats in America do?
New "Terror Tax" to hit top 5% of households?
They can do a little more than cut off funding. That in and of itself is enough however.
Wow. God bless Tony Blair. This is disturbing news.
There is no way on this planet that any force of men can watch 1600 people well enough to stop their conspiracy.
It's long past time to begin imprisoning or deporting senior muslim clerics of known radical persuasion, that is, the guys who plant the seeds of murderous hatred in young muslims and then water those seeds with sermons and speeches. And if their current supporters complain, do the same with them.
1600 because of limited staffing is what I'm hearing. Maybe many more that they miss. What will Dems in America do? What has Bush done but tell us that Islam is a ROP and that it was hijacked by radicals? Where are the marches, editorials, condemnation from the Muslim community over their religion being hijacked? Have you seen one?
What will the Democrats in America do? They'll make sure that no one taps their (terrorists) phones.
First - we should clarify that the Democrat party of today, is controlled by the draft dodging, pot smoking, free love, acid heads of the 60's... These are not "your grandfather's Democrats"..
When rational Americans see the faces and names that head all the important committee positions in Congress, they will have a collective projectile vomit..
Once that is a given, one can fully expect a repeat of the "Peace with Honor" mantra to come out of the Democrat controlled Congress...
Just as it did in Korea, Vietnam and Somalia.
In plain American English, that is "cut and run", "retreat" or "surrender" to the defeated or defeatable enemy...
I'm waiting to hear how the Democrats justify the loss of blood and treasure when they attempt to say the "problem is best solved by withdrawal"....
If we "cut and run" again, American parents should do ANYTHING possible to prevent their children being treated like expendable, disposable "little green army men" toys -- used in wars with no intent or strategy to WIN.
Perhaps we should also examine the justification for production or maintenance of our weapons of mass destruction -- since we obviously will never justify using them again...
Semper Fi
That's what the public voted for. The GOP ran ads warning about this specific problem, and the public voted RAT anyway.
Liberals in America will invite the terrorists to the White House for virgin cocktails and dinner. After dinner the Liberals will cry, whine, beg, and wring their hands and then raise the white flag and give over our country. Meanwhile, our ancestors are turning in their graves since last Tuesday.
What are Muslim immigration numbers to Britain? Is your government still adding to the problem (as is our U.S. government)?
The Dem position on terrorism recon:
When we get a specific threat, we should first of all relax and not worry. Because however many people are plotting to harm us and no matter how bad the intended harm might be ... there are probably hundreds of thousands of people who aren't plotting to harm us and just haven't informed us of yet of their intention not to harm us.
Perfectly logical.
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