Terra! Terra! Terra!

16 years ago
Terra! Terra! Terra!

The alleged U.K. terror plot has been investigated for months by British intelligence, and the idea that the airliner attacks were planned for today seems to be nothing more than political fabrication and media hysteria.

Tony Blair and George W. Bush even planned the terror freakout in a series of phone calls that began last Friday and continued through the weekend. Blair and Bush put the finishing touches on their diabolical operation in a phone call early Wednesday, the Associated Press revealed today.

That's right: While millions of travelers are going through absolute hell today because of the sudden terror "news," it was last week when the U.S. president and U.K. prime minister began their cold calculations on how to get the maximum political benefit from the months-old investigation.

Wait, Aren't You Scared?

And now these guys. As the initial "OH SWEET MOTHER OF GOD THEY CAN BLOW US UP WITH SNAPPLE BOTTLES!!" hysteria subsides, we discover that these guys had been under surveillance, completely penetrated, by no less than three major intelligence agencies. That they were planning on cell phones, and some of them openly travelled to Pakistan (way to keep the cover, Reilly, Ace of Spies). Hell, Chertoff knew about this two weeks ago, and the only reason that some people can scream this headline:

"The London Bombers were within DAYS of trying a dry run!!!"

-- was because MI-5, MI-6, and Scotland Yard let them get that close, so they could suck in the largest number of contacts (again, very spiffy police work). The fact that these wingnuts could have been rolled up, at will, at any time, seems to have competely escaped the media buzz.

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25 Responses:

  1. jonabbey says:
    16 years ago at 1:16 pm

    Thank you for pointing that out, it has indeed been far too little emphasized.
  2. carus_erus says:
    16 years ago at 1:22 pm

    I'm just waiting for someone to write up detailed plans for liquid or plastic explosives wrapped in condoms and smuggled into airplanes in a hijacker's rectum.

    They don't actually have to insert anything, even during the planning stages, just create detailed enough plans that it becomes a serious threat.

    Considering American sensibilities, this will probably devastate airline flight forever.
    • jwz says:
      16 years ago at 1:29 pm

      It does seem weird that Cheney and company seem to be doing everything they can to destroy the airline industry. Given that they are oil men, you'd think they wouldn't want to be sabotaging one of their biggest customers.
      • mackys says:
        16 years ago at 2:02 pm

        If you can't fly any more... how are you going to go visit your relatives?

        You're going to drive.

        Oh... oh, I see...
        • pdx6 says:
          16 years ago at 2:10 pm

          You could take the train instead, but that system has been left to decay. You'll be 12 hours late, but at least you won't have "dump your liquids" before boarding.

          Of course, international travel is still fucked, who wants to take a boat?
          • carus_erus says:
            16 years ago at 2:23 pm

            There's no reason that the "dump your liquids" wont apply to trains, subways, or busses in the future FearWorld.

            What's stupid is that if these liquid bands really are required, they should have been implemented five years ago. Anyone with half a brain could think of this stuff. If it's really a problem, we should we implementing countermeasures proactively, not just reacting to the latest plan the Wahabi think tanks have come up with.

            You're either doing something to counter suicidal manaics, in the words of Carlin, you're making white people feel safe.
            • effbot says:
              16 years ago at 12:16 am

              "Anyone with half a brain could think of this stuff."

              Especially *after* liquid explosives were used back in 1987 (google for "flight 858") and later, by people related to Al-Qaeda, in 1995 (google for "bojinka" and "flight 434")...
        • bdu says:
          16 years ago at 2:11 pm

          And can't get overseas at all to experience other cultures, get less myopic about the world, things that would make you less likely to vote for an R.
      • dr_memory says:
        16 years ago at 3:37 pm

        Airlines are still unionized. Some of them are even worker-owned. They'll continue to get the shaft until neither of those facts apply any more.
        • antifuchs says:
          16 years ago at 3:07 am

          Hm, I thought for a moment you meant un-ionized, not union-ized, and that it had something to do with assembling rectal explosives. argh.
    • cdavies says:
      16 years ago at 2:49 pm

      Hah, I got that beat. Terrorists are planning to smuggle nitroglycerin on board planes inside their bladders.

      "Under new TSA rules, you must take a piss in front of security personnel, and then taste it."
      • gytterberg says:
        16 years ago at 5:07 pm

        Furthermore, all travelers must piss into a single TSA approved secure bucket at the checkpoint.
      • grumpy_sysadmin says:
        16 years ago at 2:03 am

        Why would tasting nitroglycerin be a greater deterrant than tasting human urine straight?
  3. mackys says:
    16 years ago at 2:02 pm

    The NeoCons are surely gearing up for their "September Surprise" to deliver more votes to the Repubs in the upcoming congressional elections. They've been very quiet in the last few months, and it's made me suspicious.

    Expect to see more hysteria inducing bullcrap in the coming weeks. Rove is a master of both fear tactics and distraction tactics. You can bet they'll be using both. "Terrah!" is a great fear tactic, and it also works a little bit as distraction.
    • moonwick says:
      16 years ago at 12:21 pm

      It's lunatics like you that give the left a bad name, and ultimately just give conservatives more credibility and votes.
  4. ultranurd says:
    16 years ago at 2:35 pm

    Pretty soon, this will be our airport experience:

    http://www.infinitematrix.net/stories/shorts/in_the_flesh.html
  5. fgmr says:
    16 years ago at 2:51 pm

    A discussion of the chemistry allegedly involved.
  6. dr_memory says:
    16 years ago at 2:56 pm

    Now now, I'm sure it's a total coincidence that the first major terror alert since, um, the end of the 2004 elections just happened to occur immediately after the 2006 primaries.

    Gonna be a fun 4 months.
  7. dasht_brk says:
    16 years ago at 3:28 pm

    I am shocked. Shocked!, I say. The very notion that, having detected a plot, our spooks would actually hesitate before dragging the boys downtown? Doing that in order to net the most fish? Why, that would require intelligence!

    -t
  8. lars_larsen says:
    16 years ago at 10:53 pm

  9. peristaltor says:
    16 years ago at 11:32 pm

    . . . could it be document.getElementById('content').clientHeight) document.body.classList.add ('short_content'); }); //-->