This entry was posted on
Thursday, April 26th, 2007 at
11:20 am and is filed
under The War on Stupid.
BBC – ‘No guarantee’ in terrorism fight: The government “cannot guarantee 100% success” in its fight against terrorism, the home secretary says. John Reid said he could only promise “100% commitment” from police, security services and the Home Office as it shifts its focus to security.
I can offer Reid a certainty… he can be absolutely sure that cynical manipulation of the terrorist threat will only exacerbate the problem:
Independent – Anti-terrorism leaks blamed on spin doctors: Tony Blair is resisting demands for a full inquiry into accusations that lives have been put at risk by leaks from Whitehall about police anti-terrorism operations. Peter Clarke, deputy assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner, provoked uproar when he denounced “misguided individuals who betray confidences” about raids on suspected al-Qa’ida sympathisers. Mr Clarke, the country’s most senior anti-terrorist police chief, suggested that those responsible were trying to “squeeze out some short-term presentational advantage” by giving secret information.
When Jo Moore watched desperate people leaping to their deaths from burning towers, her first thought was about burying bad news about councillors’ expenses.
When the police wanted to make a case for crippling Brian Haw’s ongoing protest, they made the absurd claim that terrorists could hide bombs in his encampment.
Major anti-terror operations appear to have been botched not once but twice by those seeking political advantage and there has not been an investigation into either affair.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
It erodes public trust, it creates operational difficulties, and it even creates more terrorists… especially when you use terrorism as a pretext for invasion of another country (more), immediately releasing small arms and explosives before swiftly moving on to produce excellent recruitment material for every trigger-happy dipshit in an already-unstable region.
Oh, and don’t think for a second that getting rid of Blair or even bringing the Tories in will mean an end to it….
Bloggerheads – The New Conservatives: Parallels and Realities: The Conservatives are quite adept at riding upon the level of distrust borne from what has happened in Iraq (and many other callous manipulations of the ‘war’ on terror) without acknowledging their often willing role… And this is what makes Paul Staines so very, very useful to the Conservatives; with what is widely perceived as a ‘take them all down’ attack in a time of unprecedented distrust and distance, ‘Guido’ can pick off individual targets and/or ensure that money this, peerage that or cocktail sausage in the other is what officially brings about their downfall… and not Iraq, torture or the manipulation of fear to further a political agenda. I’m sure you can guess why this would be a desirable development for them.
UPDATE – That Home Office reform plan in full.
