Hmm this is a little worrying.

1450 police/army personnel have arrived at heathrow this morning with tanks and all sorts to patrol the airport due to suspicions of an al-qaida attack at the end of the muslim holiday Eed in a few days.

Well, its better than not being prepared

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

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I can't really see how a load of tanks actually are preventative?

If I'm a suicide bomber, I can drive up to the airport, walk in like every other passenger and nuke a terminal before one of those tanks could start it's engine.

Here's the artical on BBC on this...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2747677.stm

Philip
------------------
Limecat is not pleased.

I heard about that on the radio on my way to work this morning. The USA is on "orange status" (second most critical) for terrorist alerts. I believe that the concern is related to the Muslim Meca pilgrimage that is taking place this week as a possible opportunity for attacks.
========================================
Buh Bye!

Cheers,
Me

Part of security is the psychological aspect, both for the potential terrorist and for the public you're trying to protect. A tank is a big "we're here" sign.

I don't think anybody will bother "nuking" an airport. They'd much rather have it detonate over central London (for maximum damage and casualties)...if they ever got their hands on such a weapon it would be a terrible day.

With the weapons they do have, they want to make as big an impact as possible. Using a shoulder fired missile to take down a plane load of people is unfortunately a lot of bang for the buck.

Keep your head down,

If the terrorists were bothered about the psychological aspect I don't think they would have carried weapons through an airport, hijacked several planes and ploughed them into three buildings.



That is contradictory.

There was no such security in place when those events took place. Terrorist have to consider the security environment when they undertake their operations. They do want to succeed after all.

Visible security has both a deterrent effect as well as a public relations effect.

>>
There was no such security in place when those events took place.
<<

It is an airport. Everyone knows airports have higher security.

Security in domestic US airports prior to 9-11 was nothing like what Europe has had in place for several decades now. We simply didn't have a history of violent hijackings and there wasn't a need for the expense, or so they gambled. I've flown domestically and internationally literally all my life, the difference between the two systems prior to 9/11 was like night and day.

That light security environment was sadly ripe for exploitation.

Also keep in mind that a terrorist group need not breech the airport grounds itself, just be within a short radius of the active runway to employ a SA-7 or one of its many knock-offs.

Increased security at Heathrow and Gatwick will hopefully cause the terrorists to change their plans.

This is a sad day.

I really ditest the fact that I now live in a country where armed troops patrol the streets. It's a sick image. This is nowhere to bring up children.

- wil

There were a couple of mentions about the boxcutters the hijackers used for 9-11. It does not appear they brought them through security, but that they were already on the plane. There was a 5th plane that had mechanical troubles and the flight was cancelled. Several of the terrorists were agitated over missing the flight and dissappeared when security was called. After the crashes, this plane was searched and the boxcutters found.
--
Rob

SW Montana's Online Community
Modular Model Railroading

Are you sure it was 6 months

Erm, yeah

Sept 11th
Oct 11th
Nov 11th
Dec 11th
Jan 11th
Feb 11th

Doesn't that count 6 to you?

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

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You have two more guesses ;)

Hey, never said my math was good :) 5? lol

Andy (mod)
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Oh dear. One left.

I'm not playing any more LMAO!

Andy (mod)
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Maybe this will refresh your memory. Obviously it was only a minor event so I can forgive you completely forgetting the date.

http://search.yahoo.com/...?p=september+11+2001

OMG...total freak out! I thought we were in 2002 still...

Andy (mod)
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Gosh, it's a good thing you weren't around in the 1940's. Somehow I suspect the children will get through it just fine, as long as there isn't some mega-terror event that wipes them out.

What is sick is that the levels of security are needed, not the security itself.

I saw a report saying that a "dirty bomb" hitting the centre of London would cause deserted streets for years.

A little scary :(

The good thing, if there can be such a thing, about a "dirty" bomb, is that the radiological material should only be spread by the radius of the conventional explosive effect (excluding some minor pick up by winds or unknowing persons/vehicles).

Explode the device on the ground (say in a vehicle) and in a densly constructed area, the effects will be considerably limited. So you figure they'd want to target wide open areas in London with lots of tourist and day traffic...but then you figure those are probably monitored fairly heavily.

It would be nasty, but I suspect a full scale clean-up operation might have some pretty good results. With that kind of bomb, we really are talking about "terror"-ism, and controlling the population afterwards could be a challenge.

My .02 cents,

Like I said before, keep your head down over there.

I'm hoping I'm safe here in Manchester :(

Good job my sister is in NZ too for a few weeks although it will be a bit jittery when she gets home as she lives near the centre of London.

I'm off to London tomorrow with my dad, to help setup a computer network. I hope nothing happens

Andy (mod)
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Well you have to be smart about your surroundings, i.e., have situational awareness. But after a while it comes down to healthy cynicism

Cold War babies, like me, still remember the old "duck and cover" drills, and the "how to survive a nuclear war" films we were shown in grade school. Like that would have done much good!

After I went into the service and took NBC (Nuclear-Biological-Chemical) warfare classes - I pretty much decided I didn't want to be around for any of that mess.

I have my hurricane survival kit, which is very much a reality here, and am not too worried about anything more serious than that. If it happens, it happens. I'll crank up my stereo, go BBQ on the grill, and watch the sunset.

Yes it is a good thing indeed. I was on the phone to my grandmother earilier and she was so upset seeing all these tanks on the news on our own soil, it just brought back one too many painful memories.

I find it distressing that we have voted in such a dictative control freak as our leader. He scares the hell out of me, way more than Bin Laden and Bush put together. I can only wish for an election tomorrow for the UK public to vote out the monster we helped to create.

- wil

Hi Andy

Both my sister and my mother are living and working in central London at the moment. Doesn't really scare me, though. I mean, if it's going to happen -- it's going to happen. I don't think being in London, Manchester, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow or anywhere else will help you.

I wish this whole Euro thing would get a move along, so I could travel to Finland or Sweden and work freely over there and live freely over there without fear of an evil dictator acting as our prime minister.

- wil

Speaking of dirty bombs...there has been threats of these exploding in the USA as well in the near future.

This stuff really sucks...they are heightening security at the Denver International Airport (as well as probably most other airports in the USA)...and I have to pick up a family member today at the airport...going to park away from the airport and take a shuttle bus in...they are checking cars three times around the airport...don't want to deal with the hassles.
========================================
Buh Bye!

Cheers,
Me

Wil,

The tanks were already on British soil. Now they've just moved out of their bases and into populated areas. They're not there to oppress you.

Why would you say that the PM is a dictative control freak for attempting to protect the population he was elected to serve?

Because as a direct results of *his* actions and *his* position in support (think: puppet) the "president" of the United States that we are in a position where we must defend ourselves.

Those tanks would still be in their barracks if Blair would only listen to the majority of those who elected him in. Democracy? Yeah, right.

- wil

The UK was a target before 9-11-01. You're not under threat because you're an ally, you're under threat because you're a western democracy.

From this side of the pond, we applaud Mr. Blair's leadership and certainly don't see him as any sort of puppet.

If you think hiding your head in the sand against the threats this world brings is a viable option then more power to you....but at least there are others willing to protect you.

I support the Prime Minister.

There will always be people who don't and those who do, but at the end of the day he's never going to be able to please everyone.

I guarantee if he did sweet FA and then we were attacked by terrorists then his ass would be grass.

I think being seen to take action is a better decision than doing nothing, especially due the the very real threat.

I'm there. (Margarita in hand). Drive over to Austin & I'll marinade some rib-eye's.

They were saying to duct tape your windows & doors and have 3 days supply of food & water on hand. If anything happens I don't think 3 days will be enough.

{{||}}
..\ /
...\/
~~~~~ Boom!

You know I sat down and reviewed my basic disaster kit and looked at what it would take to setup a clean room, etc.

Decided it was too big a pain in the butt to do the entire house (too many windows). You'd want access to a bathroom, area to prepare food, and an area to sleep.

So now how many feet of plastic am I looking at? A lot still. Hell, if I'm going to do that, why not have some sort of positive air pressure system. Crap, how am I going to refill the generator if we lose power and not risk exposure?

Screw all that, I'm just going to BBQ and get a good night's sleep!

Yes. And "it" will always be a target as long as it supports left wing extremist views such as Bush's. I know you applaud Blair. He's the only one in Europe to stand up for you, and good luck with it.

- wil

The leaders of Spain, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Denmark all signed a letter supporting the fight against terrorism and the despot in Iraq. Others have come out since with their own letters.

16 of the 19 NATO countries oppose the minority view of France, Germany, and Belgium.

With our without European support, the right thing will be done.

Heh some people need to do their research.

Heathrow and Luton (I think) airports were just shut after a terrorist scare

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

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I didn't hear about that. I knew two people were arrested. I'm going to peek at the news...

I can't see anything on the major news channels about any closures.

There is breaking news that someone was arrested at Gatwick with a hand grenade though.

Still nothing on it at the main news pages

I heard it twice on the radio....unless I'm going mad, and they were not even talking about it

Andy (mod)
andy@ultranerds.co.uk

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Ok it seems Heathrow is still open but the north terminal at Gatwick is closed.

Hmmm, Blair's position sort of sounds like a WWI or WWII thingy. Smart to nail the buggers before they nail you.

However I still don't like Bush's saber rattling.

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