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<font size=3><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.counterpunch.org/<br><br>
</a></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4>August 14,
2006<br><br>
</font><h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5><b>London
Fog<br><br>
<br>
</i></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5 color="#990000">
Doubts Hang Over Terror
Plot</b></font></h1><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=5>By
CHRISTOPHER REED<br><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=4><i>London.<br><br>
</i></font><font face="Verdana" size=6 color="#990000">J</font>
<font face="Verdana" size=2>ust weeks ago a task force of British police,
some armed and others in chemical protection uniforms, raided an East
London working home and arrested two brothers -- shooting one. It was
part of an alleged "terrorist plot" to use the deadly substance
ricin on an unsuspecting citizenry. It was also a fiasco, with no
terrorist plot, no ricin, and no crime, except the shooting of an
innocent man.<br><br>
Yet now the public is asked to give grateful thanks to these same law
enforcement officers who have, in the words of politicians and officials
from both sides of the Atlantic, foiled another "terrorist
plot". This one, based mainly in the similar London suburb of
Walthamstow, would have caused "mass murder on an unimaginable
scale" in "Britain's 9-11" at a time of "the most
severe threat since the end of the second world war." Worse than
Hitler!<br><br>
We await the release of more facts about the 21 (or 23, or 24) young men
and one (or two) young women who intended to blow up in mid-air nine (or
10 or 12) transatlantic airplanes "soon" or in the "next
few days" or just "imminently". The two-score young Muslim
Brits allegedly were preparing liquid explosives disguised as soft
drinks, but actually nitroglycerin (or nitormethane, or triacetone
triperoxide). However, one of these was so unstable it was likely to fail
(as it did in another plot) or smelled so pungent a patrol dog would
sniff it at half a mile, or was "almost impossible" to mix on
an airplane.<br><br>
Then we were told the British police had been tracking this plot for a
"year" or "several months" but decided to pounce on
the alleged perps last Wednesday because of "information" from
a "source" in Pakistan. Why then? A good question, especially
as we were also told none of the intended terrorist travellers had yet
purchased an airline ticket. Odd...for at this time of year in Britain
transatlantic tickets are not immediately available -- unless these were
going to be First Class terrorists, perhaps comparing their last-minute
arrangements over drinks in the VIP lounge?<br><br>
But we must not be flippant about what president Bush called the
"Islamic fascist" threat, which included, according to the
Sunday Times of London, the Al-Quaida terrorist group leader in Britain,
who was (allegedly) among those arrested. There have of course since 9-11
been terrorist attacks in several countries that killed hundreds of
people of a dozen or more nationalities.<br><br>
Yet it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the authorities, from
police to secret service agencies, the military, civilian security
forces, and politicians including national leaders and those of cabinet
rank, behave in these times in such a way as to erode any confidence or
trust not only in their efficiency, but their good faith. It is almost as
if they were encouraging the conspiracy theorists.<br><br>
Indeed, the Arab press immediately expressed suspicions of official
motives and explanations. Their media are poorly reported in Britain and
America, so here is a summary offered by an Arab journalist colleague
from the Al Quds al Arabi newspaper in London (from the Arabic):<br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>(The latest terror plot) "is mostly intentionally exaggerated
news. The aim is to serve the political goals of the Blair-Bush duo in
their war against what they call 'Islamic terror'.<br><br>
<dd>"UK government spokespeople claimed in the past that they
unveiled terror cells and Blair has been using the policy of frightening
his people every time he is faced with a political campaign against his
policies of supporting the genocide of Arab and Muslim people. He and his
accomplice Bush, desperately want to shift world attention from their
fascist policies of conducting daily massacre against Arab and Muslim
people in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon.<br><br>
<dd>"If it was a real terror plot as claimed by UK police, then
Blair is responsible for putting his people in the danger zone because he
runs with his accomplice Bush a fascist terror war against the children
of Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, thus creating the best environment for
extremists.<br><br>
<dd>"If the UK police have been following up this plot for months,
as was announced, why did they wait for such a long time to announce it
-- until just when the majority of British public opinion was standing
against Blair-Bush support of the Israeli aggression against Lebanon? We
doubt the UK police claims because we know very well that faking such
plots is a very easy practice by the USA and UK governments, who also
faked the plot that Iraqi had arms of mass destruction.<br><br>
<dd>"If these claims prove correct, we denounce those involved, who
should be punished severely. But the real responsibility is on
Bush-Blair, the axis of fascism and evil, who are targeting Arab and
Islamic countries in their new crusade ... "<br><br>
</dl>Nothing here claimed as fact is inaccurate. The opinions are a
curious reversal of what Bush and Blair say about Muslim extremists (note
the "evil axis"), but turned upon them. The allegation of
fakery is posed -- not stated as fact -- but such a notion, held by many,
earns little or no space in British-US media. Not even if you replace the
word "fakery" with, for instance, "gross
exaggeration." So this media presentation is no worse than what is
offered by the English-language mainstream press; it could be argued that
at least it also presents an alternative view.<br><br>
Actually the "Blair-Bush duo" has been on vacation during the
alleged plot disclosure. Blair's stand-in, the minister for home affairs,
John Reid, spoke in London in a manner that the Arab newspaper would find
familiar. He said police had caught the "main players" in the
plot, without using the word "alleged" and thus possibly
jeopardizing any trial by "prejudging" the evidence in
Britain's far stricter rules of criminal justice proceedings. He also
dismissed with contempt the charge that Britain's recent foreign
incursions into Muslim nations had exacerbated extremist hatred of its
policies.<br><br>
More suspiciously, he suddenly changed his mid-week schedule to deliver
an extraordinary speech, on Wednesday itself. Instead of an address about
immigration and the justice system, he switched to "protecting the
public" from "fascists with unconstrained capability"
because of their "access to modern chemical, biological, and other
means of mass destruction." He could have been talking about the new
case -- but the arrests did not happen for another 12 hours. No official
explanation was offered for the changed speech but "something
changed" a ministry spokesman admitted, without saying
what.<br><br>
Reid is responsible for the police forces of Britain, and under his
jurisdiction were the disgraceful events of two months ago in the
neighborhood of Forest Gate, East London. The two brothers arrested were
later released and no charges were brought. The police who shot and
wounded one have been exonerated. Also exonerated is the police officer
who shot and killed an innocent Brazilian immigrant aged 27 on a subway
train after an earlier "terrorist" raid in London last year.
The man's parents are being forced to seek justice over their son's death
through a private legal action. Meanwhile, the police officer in charge
of the death raid has put in for her promotion, which is under
"consideration."<br><br>
The record gets worse. It is an established and much criticized fact in
the US and elsewhere that the most suspicious kind of tips on alleged
crimes come from a committed "informant" who clearly has reason
to gain from the information. In the Forest Gate case the tip was from an
informant, as it was in Wednesday's arrests. Overall, the Guardian of
London reported recently, of the 701 people arrested under Britain's
Terrorism Act since the September 11 2001 attacks, half have been
released without charge and only 17 convicted. Only three of those cases
relate to allegations of Islamist extremism. The US conviction record
over 9-11 is even worse.<br><br>
Add to this a lawyers' consensus that conspiracy charges are the hardest
to prove and the riskiest to bring, with their strong potential for
misuse. The reason is simple: Conspiring means mostly talking
("planning" police would call it) and that can mean something
serious and intentional, or speculative and without possible completion.
Yet in London's new case, conspiracy is likely to be the main grounds for
any prosecution (although already one person has been released).<br><br>
Not only the Arab papers but anyone with a cynical eye on politics in
London and Washington cannot fail to notice how convenient was the timing
of this raid. The bloody fiasco of Israeli aggression in Lebanon was
removed from the headlines just as they became the worst. And, as Al Quds
noted, mounting British protest and parliamentary threats of an official
inquiry, were swept away for the rest of the week.<br><br>
Britain's Tony Blair has also, like George W. Bush, already exploited
fear of terrorism to pass repressive new legislation severely threatening
or curtailing traditional personal and civic freedoms. He is currently
seeking to extend to 90 days the period -- already lengthened once to 28
days -- during which terrorist suspects can be detained. Blair was
prevented from doing that by his parliament, but now perhaps the mood
might change...<br><br>
A few Muslim journalists in London have been permittted to voice some
concern over Britain's racial politics. One in the Sunday Times, Navid
Akhtar, who investigated young Muslims' attitudes for a British
television channel. He countered Reid's claim that terrorist attacks
prior to 9-11 invalidated the charge of British foreign policy as an
aggravation of Islamic anger.<br><br>
He pointed out that most of those arrested seemed to be "fully
integrated" into British society. Two were even converts. Most were
also in their young to mid-twenties, so that "they have been caught
up in the war on terror for much of their adult lives. They have seen
their fellow Muslims being killed in wars conducted by their own
government and they feel responsible....and live in a dual
reality."<br><br>
As a consequence, "a number of disillusioned youngsters feel more
attached to the global community via the internet than they do to their
immediate community on the ground."<br><br>
This makes immediate nonsense of Reid's argument about British-American
foreign policy. Yet the divisions of society come not from just that.
They are spurred by the repellent enthusiasm with which the forces of
"homeland security" pursue their dubious trade -- appearing
almost to rejoice in the mayhem they believe is leveled against
them.<br><br>
Policemen in Britain usually avoid rhetoric and go to lengths to be dull
even about the most spectacular crimes. They "detain" someone
who "may help us in our inquiries" as they say about an arrest
in a horrific ax murder. Their bold claims and extravagant talk in this
case are grounds alone upon which to be deeply suspicious of the official
version and the motives of those promoting it.<br><br>
Christopher Reed</b> usually reports from Japan but is in England on a
visit. He can be contacted at
<a href="mailto:christopherreed@earthlink.net">
christopherreed@earthlink.net</a><br><br>
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