Posted on 08/10/2006 3:00:54 AM PDT by HAL9000
Police statement on airline bombing plot
LONDON (Reuters) - Following is the full text of a statement issued by London Deputy Commissioner, Paul Stephenson on Thursday morning:
"We are confident that we have disrupted a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction and commit mass murder.
The Commissioner has been fully briefed and he is at New Scotland Yard today. He and I want to pay tribute to officers from the Met's Anti-Terrorist Branch and the security services for the work they have undertaken to disrupt these activities.
We believe that the terrorists' aim was to smuggle explosives onto airplanes in hand luggage and to detonate these in flight.
We also believe that the intended targets were flights from the UK to the USA.
Overnight we have arrested 21 people. The majority of those arrests have been in London but we have also made arrests in Thames Valley and Birmingham. We are currently searching a number of addresses.
We are grateful to our colleagues in other force areas for their support.
As the operation got under way we spoke to community leaders to make them aware that a major anti-terrorist operation was taking place but without giving specific details about locations. This extensive dialogue will continue throughout the operation.
We would like to reassure the public that this operation was carried out with public safety upper most in our minds. This is a major operation, which will inevitably be lengthy and complex. The UK is now at the highest possible level of alert.
We will consider the threat in its wider sense and take whatever action is necessary to protect people in London and throughout the country.
Measures have already been put in place to restrict hand luggage taken onto aircraft. This will inevitably cause significant delay and we ask people to remain calm, patient and vigilant at this very difficult time.
Put simply this was a plot to commit mass murder on an unimaginable scale."
Bingo, and frankly I can't think of much worse than tasting my kelp conditioner, but I'd rather sip that than empty it and buy another $16 bottle later.
If I a) had to give up my leather purse and b) could not take my cell phone, I wouldn't get on the !#$%^ plane.
Worse yet, I heard (but can't confirm) no books or magazines.
I'm sure no needlepoint would be allowed.
I'm looking, but the page is jammed - this is one they gave out here in Hou on TV - haven't been able to get in yet:
http://www.fly2houston.com/iahTravelAdvisory
No kidding! They think TATP smells bad - what about seaweed? LOL
Ann Coulter put it the best I've heard so far. At a forum, she recites a lengthy list of attacks by terrorists over the past 25 years citing after each attack that the perpetrators were male, middle easterners. Upon finishing, she asks the question; At what point does male, middle easterners stops being a "profile" and starts becoming a description of the suspects?
Considering what has gone down since my postings last night, I'm starting to think that the Feebs are all over these guys. We were all working on what I believe was deliberately sketchy info. Very possibly, the Feebs were trying to get in front of what may have been about to show up in the press.
We don't have to know everything they, the FBI etc. are doing. Just so long as they are doing the right thing.
It is kind of funny, but I'm so tired of letting Jihadists define how live our lives. I say we just kill them instead of our law enforcement locking us all down.
"passengers are now prohibited from transporting all liquids past Transportation Security Administration check points, with the exception of baby formula and properly labeled medications."
Good job, PV! Are you in Houston? I'm in San Antonio, where two of the 9/11 terrorists trained as pilots and lived about a mile from my home. They're probably on they're way here...
Were they battery-operated hair dryers? TATP, for one, is extremely sensitive to heat.
Or maybe they were just the gun-shaped dryers.
Come to think of it, I have a little curling iron I carry in my purse that works on butane refills like a cigarette lighter. Hmmmm.
Yeah, we had some at Ellington Field, too. In fact, bin Laden's family owns/owned the little airport right by it.
I agree. I posted a comment on this topic after giving it much thought. I suggested that perhaps the FBI knows exactly what they're doing and did not want the photos, for example, distributed to the media for a very good reason. Perhaps not wanting to tip their hand, so to speak, and to give these men a false sense of security.
And they say foreign entities don't own any of America. I was born and raised in Houston. Stay safe.
Maybe needlepoint, but certainly not knitting or rug hooking!
I'd say you and I are about *even* in the safety or non-safety department, lol!
Unless we learn Spock's mind meld technique, I'd say it's pretty impossible to track people without microchips.
Just realized I called you PV, sorry, his post was before you posted the link...what's on the news now?
The DU sewer has become the mainstream for the current leadership of the demonrat party. You're going to have to strengthen your stomach for the coming political season if you wish to stay abreast of what democrats are saying/claiming, because it will get aired at DU and Daily KOS first, to shmooz their base don'tchaknow.
"It is kind of funny, but I'm so tired of letting Jihadists define how live our lives."
I know exactly what you mean. Why we cater to these people, to avoid upsetting them or offending them is beyond me, especially in the light of the fact that these are the people who have stated goals of destroying this country and everything we stand for!
Arrgh. I'm still trying to find a delineation of the verboten electronics. Many of the news stories aren't even mentioning electronics at all.
The National Guard and sniffing dogs have been deployed by Arnie in CA at LAX. Major snarls in MIA. Little Rock and Sky Harbor experiencing no delays.
Most just say this:
-- No liquids or gels of any kind will be permitted in carry-on baggage. Items must be in checked baggage. This includes all beverages, shampoo, suntan lotion, creams, tooth paste, hair gel, and other items of similar consistency.
-- Exceptions are baby formula, breast milk or juice if a baby or small child is traveling; prescription medicine with a name that matches the passengers ticket and boarding pass; and insulin and essential other non-prescription medicines
-- Beverages purchased in terminal areas within security checkpoints must be consumed or discarded before boarding because they will not be permitted onboard the aircraft.
-- Passengers traveling from the U.K. to the U.S. will be subject to a more extensive screening process.
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