A small price for life

According to intelligence which the British gathered with assistance from international police forces the plan was to detonate liquid explosives in up to ten planes.

The explosives were to be smuggled hidden in drinks, electronic devices and other common objects. These passengers whose flights were cancelled had to find other means to get to their destination from London.

The people at Heathrow on August 10 who were able to get their flight (several were cancelled) had their bottles of water taken away. Mothers were asked to taste their babies milk before the milk was allowed on flights and passengers had to repack their luggage so only certain permitted items could be taken on board in clear, plastic bags.

All must endure the inconvenience of longer waits, more stringent checks, because some so-called British-based terrorists with alleged al-Qaeda links were targeting American aircraft flying across the Atlantic to New York, Washington and California. Arising from this, any passenger “acting up” can cause your flight to be diverted off course such as the London to Washington DC flight which was diverted to Boston last Wednesday because a 60-year-old female passenger caused a “disturbance”.

The US Transportation Security Administration announced the banning of liquids or gels of any kind on flights.

Listed as exceptions are baby formula, breast milk, or juice if a baby or small child is travelling. Also exempt are medicines, insulin and other essential non-prescription medication. To date, more than 20 suspects have been detained in England.

According to the US Department of Homeland Security website, while there is no indication of plotting within the US, “we believe the arrests of extremists engaged in substantial plot to destroy multiple passenger aircraft flying from the UK to US have significantly diminished the threat.” Yet it is freedom that is under threat.

Fifty-two people died and 700 were injured in London in a coordinated attack on the transport system there in July last year. Three explosions took place on the underground track and one on a double decker bus. This plot was linked to four suicide bombers who were British Muslims.

The attack happened despite regular raids of perceived terrorist suspects which had been taking place in the years following the September 11 attack in the US. People were held for questioning but not all were charged.

In these times of terrorist threats innocence is proven after suspicion of guilt. Innocent people have been detained on suspicion of terrorist activity such as 46-year-old Omar Mohammed, a Jordanian man whose home in Middlesborough was raided in 2002. He lived with his wife and three children.

The police asked if there were “any Arabs living in the house.”

He was arrested and interrogated about importing suicide jackets, grenades, machine guns, rockets.

Mohammed was accused of hiding these things in England to ship them to Hamas and Hezbollah.

Mohammed told the police that these groups would have their own suicide vests. The scribbling done by his daughter on a piece of junk mail was interpreted as Arabic code and tools in a bag were bomb making equipment.

Anti-terrorism legislation passed in the UK and US allow for people to be detained without charge. The British have become a target because of their stance on certain issues and strong alliance with the US, who has collected enemies and opponents through the years. Following the September 11 attack—nine-times out of ten any plot against the US/UK has an al-Qaeda link including the latest threat.

I am not a total believer in the veracity of the intelligence information gathered and presented to the public. The war in Iraq has made skeptics of many of us and with good cause.

We get an edited version of information without mention of sensitive intelligence like how the US and UK contributed to the Osama and Saddam with whom they entered into an alliance to further their own economic/political agenda. Now we the people pay the price.

The so-called terrorists did not blow up any planes but they have managed to cause the clamp down on our freedom just to carry a bottle of water aboard a flight.

A consequence of the new restrictions has been a sharp drop in sales at duty free shops, several people have lost their luggage. All these are a small price to pay for life, right? This time it was liquid explosive, what next?