Posted on 09/03/2003 7:23:43 AM PDT by SLB
A terror attack by suicide bombers on a target in London is now almost inevitable, Britain's most senior police off icer warned today.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens said the threat of a major attack had taken a "quantum leap" forward since the bombs in Saudi Arabia and Morocco earlier this year.
He emphasised there was still no specific intelligence of an imminent atrocity, but said it was only a matter of time.
Sir John, who has previously warned of the possibility of London being targeted by Islamic terrorists, issued the strongest warning yet of a possible suicide bombing. He said he would not hesitate to put troops on the capital's streets if he thought it necessary,
"The suicide threat is there and we have to take account of that," Sir John warned in the run-up to the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the US.
He revealed that police had evidence that al Qaeda was now recruiting in Britain and that there was a real threat of chemical and biological attacks being launched at any time.
"We are at the highest level of alert, I think, that we have ever been," he told Reuters news agency.
Since the US terror attacks, Britain has been considered a prime target as Washington's main ally.
There has never been a suicide bomb attack in Britain but Sir John said the threat increased greatly after a series of deadly attacks this year on targets stretching from Saudi Arabia to Morocco and Russia.
In another worrying development in May, two Britons took part in a suicide bombing in Israel that marked the first of its kind by foreigners sympathetic to the Palestinian uprising.
"That quantum leap is all about people prepared to give their lives for their causes," Sir John said.
"The Prime Minister says an attack's inevitable and I think that's probably right.
"When it happens, we have to have everything in place."
In May, large concrete blocks were erected around Parliament to protect it from car bombers and, in February, tanks were deployed around Heathrow airport after intelligence pointed to a threatened missile attack.
The warning also comes days before emergency services are to have preparations for a terror strike tested in a simulated chemical attack on Bank station this weekend.
Sir John said anti-terror officers were working up to three times harder than during the height of the 30-year campaign waged by the IRA.
He said the attacks on US and British troops in Iraq had not had any effect in Britain, but he said it was his job to prevent "overspill" into London's minority communities.
Anti-terror police have arrested more than 300 people since the September 11 attacks, while traces of deadly ricin poison had been found in a flat in Wood Green.
Sir John said there was evidence that al Qaeda had already forged links with other terror groups to facilitate new campaigns, recruiting "foot soldiers" to die for the cause.
"Everywhere is a recruiting ground," he said. "That's the lesson we've learnt - how sophisticated they are."
He said new ways of thinking and the introduction of identity cards were essential to combat extremists.
"We need a lot more work to understand the religious fundamentalists. What does that mean? Why are they created? What motivates them?" he said.
"They are totally dedicated to their cause - it's quite chilling isn't it?"
They aren't hard to understand. Their "religion" dictates that they try to take over the world and convert it to Islam. They believe they deserve to be at the top of the heap even though they do NOTHING socially, spiritually, politically or through invention to warrant their being there. They are skilled at destruction, never construction. They are evil. And they want to kill Westerners and Jews. Simple really.
<Prairie
It's quite killing, too.
Imagine Churchill saying we need to "understand" the Nazis.
We'll succeed once we understand that advocates of violence against us need killing. Including, most especially, those calling themselves imans and mullahs.
We've come a long way from the days of Churchill, sadly...
Exactly. Another thread on FR today is understanding Jihad. I said that no one tried to understand Nazi's desire to exterminate Jews and neither should be try to understand Muslim extremists who are malignant narcissists. If one doesn't think the way the extremists do, they are expendable.
Newsweek also said the US could get hit any day with bio/chem on our local NBC news, but no article on the net about it, I wonder if it is only in print? I heard this 2 days ago and they said Osama told the guy we captured awhile back and they are planning massive casualities this way here.
Stay Safe !
Martial law?
We'll succeed once we understand that advocates of violence against us need killing. Including, most especially, those calling themselves imans and mullahs.
Those practicing this fanatical brand of Islam cannot be reasoned with. They either need to change their ideology or die. This an excellent link on Islam's Fantasy Ideology.
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