Rule Britannia! Brits foil 9/11-style plot

[Thomas Veil]

Check this out:


LONDON (AP) - British security services thwarted planned Sept. 11-style terror attacks on Heathrow Airport and skyscrapers in Canary Wharf, a financial district of London, according to two media reports.

But the stories, which cited unidentified sources, did not say when or where the plots were uncovered, or how close they came to being carried out.

The plans to crash planes into the two targets were among four or five attacks planned by terrorists linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, ITV News said Monday night and the Daily Mail newspaper reported in its Tuesday editions.
Look at the building pictured in the story. Can't you just envision the horror all over again? :eek:

Nevertheless...way to go, Brits! Glad you were able to avert the tragedy we suffered.

Link (http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/storymain.jsp?number=1)

[edesignuk]

Look at the building pictured in the story. Can't you just envision the horror all over again? :eek:That's One Canada Sqaure in Canary Wharf, I'm sitting at my desk on the 41st floor now :eek:

...side note, our Olympic bid team are on the 50th (the top floor).


edit: btw, that pic is well out of date, there are now 3 big targets, and a lot of slightly smaller ones.

http://www.fantasyjackpalance.com/fjp/photos/london/0203/002/016-canary-wharf-01.jpg

[tristan]

That's amazing to me when you find something on a laptop in Pakistan and you can make an arrest 10,000 miles away. That's the way you fight the war on terror - not driving unarmored humvees in Iraq waiting for the next car bomb to get you.

[skunk]

That's amazing to me when you find something on a laptop in Pakistan and you can make an arrest 10,000 miles away. That's the way you fight the war on terror - not driving unarmored humvees in Iraq waiting for the next car bomb to get you.
It was great - until the White House blew his cover and screwed the whole operation. Good Job, guys!

[Xtremehkr]

I thought that invading Iraq was going to stop all of this stuff.

Good job to the Brits though, and MI5? (right :confused: )

[edesignuk]

I thought that invading Iraq was going to stop all of this stuff.

Good job to the Brits though, and MI5? (right :confused: )
MI6 probably, they are international, MI5 is national (I think it's that way round!).

edit: maybe not, article mentions MI5.

[skunk]

Ssssh!! That's Classified... :cool:

[Xtremehkr]

What does Scotland Yard cover?

[edesignuk]

What does Scotland Yard cover?Good question...:p

[skunk]

Good question...:p
About 36 inches.

[skunk]

What does Scotland Yard cover?
Criminal investigation. MI5 is Military Intelligence.

[Xtremehkr]

Scotland Yard/MI5 = FBI

MI6 = CIA

Except the MI6 hasn't been crippled yet. Got it.

[amnesiac1984]

Except the MI6 hasn't been crippled yet. Got it.

Well I don't know about that, but I don't THINK it has been turned into an international Drug running operation yet! :p

[Xtremehkr]

Well I don't know about that, but I don't THINK it has been turned into an international Drug running operation yet! :p

No purges yet?

[zimv20]

link (http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=587261)


Peter Hain, the Leader of the Commons, has denied media reports that the security services foiled a plot by al-Qa'ida to fly planes into the skyscrapers at London's Canary Wharf.

The reports by the Daily Mail and ITV News came on the eve of the Queen's Speech on Tuesday and were seen as an attempt by the Government to justify the "safety and security" measures dominating its legislative programme.

In a pre-recorded interview for Channel 4's Morgan & Platell programme tonight, Mr Hain said: "If there was a specific threat to Canary Wharf or anywhere else, we would have said so ... That leak, if it was a leak, did not come from a government minister or as far as I know a government source."

Asked if there have been any specific threats against Britain since the 11 September terror attacks, he said: "I don't know of a specific threat. But what I do know is that the intelligence services ... have constant intelligence on al-Qa'ida-type cells in Britain."

Counter-terrorist officials have made checks to discover whether details of a plot had been uncovered during investigations or upcoming court cases. A source said yesterday there was no material to back up the media reports and he believed they were wrong. MPs suspect the two news organisations were briefed by a senior official or minister. The reports have fuelled claims that the Government is trying to create a "climate of fear" to justify draconian measures such as identity cards.

Mr Hain also denied a BBC report that there was a specific threat to the House of Commons this month. "I would have expected as Leader of the House to have known about a specific threat and I certainly wasn't informed," he said.

He stood by his claim that Britain would be "safer" under Labour even though it led to accusations that he was "playing politics" with terrorism. He said: "I believe that Britain will be safer under Labour, just as I believe Britain will be more prosperous under Labour, that there'll be more schools under Labour, more hospitals under Labour." He added : "We have enormously increased, in fact doubled, the spending on the security services and counter-terrorism measures, and are recruiting a thousand more MI5 staff, to make sure we have a strong preventative strategy and that is another reason why I believe we will be safer under Labour."

[skunk]

He stood by his claim that Britain would be "safer" under Labour even though it led to accusations that he was "playing politics" with terrorism. He said: "I believe that Britain will be safer under Labour, just as I believe Britain will be more prosperous under Labour, that there'll be more schools under Labour, more hospitals under Labour." He added : "We have enormously increased, in fact doubled, the spending on the security services and counter-terrorism measures, and are recruiting a thousand more MI5 staff, to make sure we have a strong preventative strategy and that is another reason why I believe we will be safer under Labour."
I wonder where they learned that line...