We still havent found what we are looking for

Four days have passed since 250 police descended on a house in East London. So far they have managed to achieve little else other than bump up their overtime payments, shoot someone in front of their mum because he had a beard and do a passable impression of a heavily armed version of the Marx Brothers.

And above all they still haven’t found that explosive chemical vest the TV and newspapers were encouraging us all to wet our pants over.

In the words of Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman…

‘We still haven't found what we're looking for’

It’s a pity he didn’t say them to music. He could have had hit there.

Assistant Commissioner Bono of the Yard

A couple of posts back, on Saturday morning, I explained in scientific terms why I very much doubted such a garment existed. I recall saying something like

It sounds like bollocks

A slightly wordier post in The Register blog fleshes out this diagnosis a little.

Our police are now midway through dismantling somebody’s house on the suspicion that the demonic vest has been miniaturised and hidden behind a wall somewhere.

In the highly unlikely event that this isn’t the case and they actually find bugger all, Assistant Commissioner Hayman has already set Operation CYA in motion…

‘We were left with no choice but to act upon that intelligence’

He is of course totally correct.

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I make no bones of the fact that I am personally suspicious about what really happened on 7/7, 9/11, in Bali or Madrid.

I suspect that the truth about those atrocities is a lot murkier than we’re being told. I also accept that this is a minority point of view.

I would point out though that ‘False Flag’ terrorism has taken place in the past and therefore there is no logical reason to discount the possibility in the present or future – a little light reading on subjects such as the Bologna Massacre, Lockerbie, Omagh, Operation Northwoods and the Lavon Affair, for starters, might prove illuminating.

But, like I said, I accept that this is a minority point of view.

So, for argument's sake, I’ll put that belief to one side.

There’s still the question of just what kind of people are these domestic Islamic terrorists we keep hearing about day after day.

We are told that they are highly motivated, highly organised, well-funded individuals, organised in deep cover sleeper cells, with access to incredible weapons technology including chemical, biological and potentially even nuclear material.

So where’s the bloody proof?

The only terrorists our police are managing to come up with, and occasionally shoot, are innocent people and a few lunatics.

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The absolutely Number One easiest way to perpetuate a myth or to exaggerate a threat is to start setting up agencies and associated careers based on the existence of that threat. From ritual child abuse through to domestic terrorism, once a group of people starts making a living out of dealing with a perceived threat they will put all their energies into confirming the reality of that threat.

There’s no necessity for malice on anyone’s part. You could come up with evidence for unicorns if you looked hard enough and uncritically enough.

If you set up organisations to find evidence of organised terrorism they will certainly come up with something, however lame.

Thoughts of a little proactive entrapment might even float around on occasion.

And it follows that if those agencies come up with something that is slightly less lame than usual they will grab the opportunity to use all that butch protective equipment and weaponry that’s sitting around gathering dust.

And let’s not forget the legions of risk and security consultants, CCTV manufacturers and all the rest doing rather nicely thank you very much.

The War on Terror is good for careers and business.

The Not War on Terror doesn’t make a profit for anyone.

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You can argue the real reasons for the declaration of the War on Terror till the cows come home. You may believe that it is the result of

• A ploy to distract people from other issues and failings?
• A cynical power grab?
• A Jesus complex on the part of certain heads of state?
• A sincere belief that it is justified?
• All of the above?

My contention is that, whatever the motive, once you start the ball rolling it will never stop. The paradigm has been established. The senior policemen who ordered the raid last week had no choice but to act on their intelligence. It’s their job to believe in what they are doing.

And off they went chasing unicorns.

And this is a global phenomenon. The Canadian police are currently engaged in their own version of a similar farce.

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To date, we in the UK have not had a thorough public investigation into 7/7. Our government has wilfully denied us that. We need that investigation to help us establish whether we are dealing with

• a handful of unconnected lunatics scattered around the country, or
• that large movement of fanatics we keep being told about, unsupported so far by anything resembling proof, or
  
• something else

The entire purpose of terrorism is to provoke an over the top response from your target group. A response completely out of proportion to the terrorists' real capabilities. I’d say that’s happening, Big Time. And if you contrast the current outbreak of lunacy with how our country responded to IRA terrorism over 25 years you’ve got to ask yourself what are our leaders are playing at.

The even bigger question is this - now that the ball is rolling what, if anything, will ever stop it?