By Simon Bucks, Associate Editor, Sky News (Online)
So M15 is in the dock for failing to stop the 7/7 bombers.
The end of the Crevice trial yesterday, which saw five British Asians jailed for planning to cause death and destruction with fertilizer bombs, should have been a good day for the Security Service.
Instead, they are facing new criticism for failing to follow up links between the Crevice plotters and two of the 7/7 bombers.
Is it fair? M15 argue they didn’t follow up the connections because the pair were never identified as being connected with the fertilizer bomb plot, and instead appeared to be petty fraudsters. Maybe: transcripts of conversations between the Crevice gang leader Omar Khyam and the 7/7 bomber Mohammed Sidique Khan records them discussing “operations” and visits to Pakistan training camps.
But there is another side to the argument. M15 remains a relatively small organisation. It cannot possibly put under surveillance everyone who comes into its sights. It is on record as saying that is dealing with more plots than ever, and they are more complex than ever. It has to prioritise. If the government gave M15 more cash to hire more agents, and put more people under surveillance, would that make us safer? And what would be the price?
The logical conclusion of that process is a Stasi style intelligence service, with agents in every street, neighbours spying on neighbours and everyone mistrusting each other.
The 7th July bombings were dreadful atrocities, and it is not surprising that the relatives of those who died want a public inquiry into exactly what happened. It was an especially black day for M15, but set against the successes the intelligence services have had in foiling terrorist plots, is the level of criticism levelled at them proportionate to their failings?
The poor polica and security forces, they just can not win. In this Politically Correct-gone mad country, they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. They should be given more powers and more support to do their jobs.People should stop whingeing and whining about rights etc and start looking at safety. If the Security Forces weren't hamstrung by red tape and "human rights" , they could have prevented these attacks by enforcing the law and detaining the suspects.
Horror of horrors, did I say something wrong?
Once you cross the line from normal society into criminality, you should lose your human rights and take the punishment and consequences that go with YOUR choice!
But our forces are powerless to enforce these things, so the criminals win again.
Posted by: Bill, Scotland 2 May 2007 11:21:53
The least that MI5 could have done was to report the "petty fraudsters" to the police. That way they would have been serving a prison term instead of killing people in London. I am dismayed by the very large number of incidences in which the authorities ignore criminal activity in the hope that thesmaller criminals will lead them to the bosses. That seldom seems to work and meanwhile the criminal activities continue unabated and under the eyes of those who are supposed to protect us.
Posted by: Victor, NW Kent 2 May 2007 08:59:03
Whilst paying respect to those whom lost their lives by way of such callous, demeaning and inhumane of acts, "Silence Must be Heard" insofar as this "Enigma". Although, whilst lessons will be learnt, it wasn’t MI5 that planted the idiotic bombers, who no doubt are burning in hell forever!
Posted by: Khalid 1 May 2007 18:34:25