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Politically Timed "Terror" Arrests - the Real Bob Quick Scandal

Craig Murray | 10.04.2009 21:28 | Analysis | Repression | Terror War

The mainstream media is in a flurry of excitement over the “Terror” arrests of students in the North West of England. Linked to this is the media feeding frenzy over the resignation of Bob Quick, Scotland Yard’s anti-terror chief. It is important to note that the Quick incident only brought forward the arrests by a few hours. Yet in all the acres of coverage in the newspapers, and all the hype on TV, nobody seems to have noticed the real story.

It was an accident that Bob Quick had his secret document on display as he was photographed entering Downing St.

But it was no accident that he was photographed entering Downing Street.

No 10 is a Tardis-like building which is far more impressive inside than out, and which seems impossibly large. Its secret is that it links straight through to No 11 and, more importantly, through to the huge Cabinet Office building that runs along Whitehall. The Cabinet Office is the central secretariat of the British government and in effect the office of the Prime Minister. The separation of the No 10 staff and the Cabinet Office staff is a polite fiction. The government’s major interdepartmental committees meet in the Cabinet Office, including the sexy Joint Intelligence Committee and its sub-committees. One of the fascinating things about the vast Cabinet Office building is that it incorporates parts of the original fabric of the Tudor Whitehall Palace.

In the first Iraq War I used to hand carry intelligence reports to No 10, and sometimes had to explain them personally to Mrs Thatcher. I never once took one in the front door. In fact I have only ever walked in the front door of No 10 when accompanying a foreign dignitary or attending a party. The front door is for people the government wants to be seen – hence the permanent stand of photographers which captured Bob Quick. People arriving to brief on secret matters go in through the back door, or more likely through the Cabinet Office.

So why did the government want us to see that Bob Quick was entering No 10? The only possible answer is that, had things gone more smoothly in the arrest of the “Terror suspects”, the government would have paraded the footage of Quick entering no 10 as evidence that it was really Glorious Gordon and Genius Jacqui who had directed the operation and saved the world - again.

It is very, very wrong – it violates the whole spirit of the constitution – for politicians to be involved in arresting people. If the police had real evidence that these people are terrorists, then of course they should have been arrested when the Police felt the right moment had come. That moment is when they have sufficient evidence, and are not putting the public at risk by undue delay. That is a technical decision requiring skill, expertise and experience in operational policing.

It is a matter of the criminal law. It is absolutely not the business of Jacqui Smith and Gordon Brown. But we know that under New Labour the politicians are deciding who should be arrested and when. We know that for sure because then Home Secretary John Reid said in terms that he decided when the arrests should be made in the farcical “Bigger than 9/11”, (though in the event non-existent), “Liquid airplane bomb plot” case.

If politicians are going to decide the timing of arrests, then they cannot be surprised or aggrieved if we suspect that the timing of arrests is political.

This was definitely the case in the “Liquid Bomb Plot”. I know for certain from my own sources that in that case the intelligence services believed they had been forced by politicians to act too soon. That was quite widely reported at the time.

The view that John Reid had acted too early appears proved by a complex series of verdicts brought in by the jury. Less than half of those arrested actually were brought to trial. The jury found that three of the accused did have an intention to commit terror, but had formed no definite plan and specifically cleared them of the charge of planning to down aeroplanes with explosives.

Why had Reid jumped the gun? Because the Americans asked him to. With Bob Quick’s predecessor, the disgraced Andy Hayman, giving an official Scotland Yard view that the “Liquid Bomb Plot” was “Bigger than 9/11” and involved plans to fly up to a dozen passenger jets simultaneously into different US cities, the resulting worldwide front page headlines were a Godsend for Bush in mid-term elections. They also enable the government to permanently ramp up the fear factor by the ludicrous toothpaste and shampoo searches that make flying so miserable.

In the liquid bomb plot do you remember the massive banner headlines – the full front page of every single tabloid in the UK -about the evil Muslim mother who planned to blow up herself and her baby along with the plane? There was no media reporting at all when she was cleared and released. The “Suspicious chemical” which police announced they had found in baby bottles was, errr, baby bottle sterilising solution.

The reasons why these “Terror raids” might be the subject of political timing could not be more obvious. Both Jacqui Smith and Gordon Brown were getting a well-deserved media pasting over the outrageous ripping off of the taxpayer for personal benefit through expense claims. The Metropolitan Police were under extreme criticism for their unprovoked killing of Ian Tomlinson.
So this morning, instead of the news headline being the disgraceful fact that the policeman who launched an unprovoked assault from behind on Ian Tomlinson has still not been arrested, the headline is that the police have saved us all from certain death.

Let me be plain. I am not saying that terrorism does not exist. I am not saying that those arrested are innocent. I do not know. I am saying that Brown and Smith’s involvement in operational police arrests, and the fact that less than 1% of those arrested under anti-terror legislation in the UK have ever been charged with anything connected to terrorism, gives me the right to be suspicious of what is undeniably, at the very least, politically very fortuitous timing.

It is also the arrest of alleged terrorists from Pakistan, at a time when the government is under both parliamentary and criminal investigation for participation in torture of terrorist suspects in Pakistan. The government has responded by arguing that intelligence from torture abroad is necessary to save lives in the UK. I have no doubt that we will find the government arguing that this “terror plot” justifies their case.
 http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2009/03/fco_finally_adm.html

Because of this suspicion, I will be setting a high test for evidence that these arrests really were needed at this time. The accusation is that a bombing campaign was ready for this Easter – ie now. If that is true, there must be explosives and detonators ready, or in the very final stages of preparation. We will see.

According to Sky News this morning, police searches so far have discovered photographs of leading buildings in Manchester taken by the students.

I studied Russian in St Petersburg. I have photographs I took of the Hermitage, of the Church on the Holy Blood, of the St Peter and Paul Fortress, of the bridges over the Neva, of the ornate underground stations. I studied Polish in Lublin. I have photographs of Lublin castle, of the main shopping street, of the Catholic University of Lublin...

I have, in fact, photographs of prominent buildings everywhere I ever studied. And photographis in bars and nightclubs.

Why do the police feel the need to feed out to the media the complete non-news of the non-evidence that they have discovered photographs of Manchester in Manchester? Why was it necessary for the Prime Minister to make a statement announcing the arrests? What does that do to the chances of a fair trial? Why was it never necessary to make a prime ministerial statement every time a suspected Irish terrorist – and remember they really did blow up the Arndale Centre in Manchester – was arrested?

There are many genuine and diligent people carrying out counter-terrorism work in the police and intelligence services, working the old-fashioned way with painstaking accumulation of evidence. They do save lives and they should be applauded and supported. They should be free from political interference and distanced from politicians.

They may have foiled a genuine plot here. If so they must be congratulated. The Home Secretary –who has not foiled any plots - should have been briefed after arrests were made, and there should be no room for suspicion that politicians had interfered.

That would have stuck to the cardinal rule of only telling people who actually have to know about an operation - and the rule of not carting around secret documents for no purpose.

The photo leak – which could indeed have jeopardised a security operation which may or may not prove to have been vital - was caused directly by the excessive and completely unnecessary involvement of the politicians in policing detail.

A police state is not a state where the police rule. It is a state where there is no distance between the politicians and police.

A police state is a state where a policeman can be caught on camera launching an unprovoked fatal assault from behind, yet not be arrested. A police state is a state where the police raid the parliamentary offices of opposition MPs. A police state is a state where it is the politicians who are making the decisions on who gets arrested and when.

Craig Murray
- Homepage: http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2009/04/politically_tim.html

Additions

Section 76

11.04.2009 12:08

Why has this photographer not been charged under section 76 of the anti terrorism act ?
If there ever was an instance of taking a picture of a police officer that may assist a terrorist is this not it?
Or maybe they where just trying to take the spotlight off the events of the previous week?

smoke screen


Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

I'm depressed

10.04.2009 22:51

The UK is a police state.

Tony Blair said so when he said "Police are actively involved in drafting legislation".

The question is whether people will be able to fight against this, given the support for the police state afforded by the mainstream media.

If the only information people get is police state propaganda, then I don't think the UK will be able to recover soon

Charles Darwin


British State Terrorism

10.04.2009 23:53

If the British government stopped committing atrocities against innocent people in other countries then there would be no need to worry about terrorists in the first place. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people have died since the so-called "Shock and Awe" attacks... do the British expect them and the Afghans to be our best friends?

These atrocities have been going on since the Crusades... and yet people are still confused about why people in other countries might resent this?

I think the Muslims have been very restrained in the responses. There is no proof that Muslims carried out the 911 attacks... indeed it seems more and more to indicate that it was an INSIDE JOB ... traces of highly sophisticated thermite have been found in the dust and residue at ground zero. Thermite melts steel and is used in controlled demolitions.

The British and American people have been duped and the Arabs and Muslims have been used as the fall guys. The Arabs and Muslims have also been forced to live under oppressive regimes like Egypt under Mubarak and those in the Arab Peninsula [Al Hijaz] under the Saudi criminal clan, who have all been installed by western invaders and colonizers.

The British people have been living at the expense of others for too long... they have been living off imoral earnings and stolen property such as the oil and other minerals. This cannot go on any longer if they truly want to live in peace. Don't blame the victims of your crimes... blame yourselves for the inevitable consequences.

Anyone who came into my home and tried to steal my property or injure my family would be in for a very nasty surprise. Stop living like hypocrites and face the truth.

Little John


British and American State Terrorism

11.04.2009 00:14

The British government, the media and many of their brainwashed subjects run round accusing other people of being 'terrorists' but don't seem to be able to take the plank out of their own eyes!

The west has been attacking Muslim countries for over 800 years... and have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Afghans and Iraqis in just the past ten years. What did these people have to do with 911 or anything else?

Thermite traces have recently been found in the rubble of ground zero of New York... thermite is used for controlled demolitions, what does that tell you?

911 WAS AN INSIDE JOB!

Stope commiting crimes around the world and you will have no need to be so paranoid... only guilty people have anything to fear. If anyone tried to break into my house, steal property and injure my family they would be in for a very real shock!

If there were terrorist organisations operating in the UK, there would be explosions going off every week... it's all state propaganda and bullshit. They are merely trying to justify their crimes and use the fear of terrorism to establish a Police State. Then there will be some real terrorism... but not directed at innocent people but rather at those who are hoping to benefit from these crimes against humanity. So drop the hypocritical pose of self-pity and face up to reality.

Remember: "You get the goverment you deserve!"


Little John


The Tragic Police State

11.04.2009 11:55

The UK is not a Police State. That suggests there is some element of freedom for some people. It is one huge open prison.

The shift of policing from criminal to policy enforcement that began with Thatcher and continued under New Labour is culminating in a system of controls for the population. Not law enforcement but controls in an engineering sense.

The ubiquitous CCTV gets the biggest press but there is other control hardware available. The Gatso is, apparently, being used to raise money. yet, it also acts to actively manage traffic. It has taught drivers to slow down when they see a yellow box in the distance. The new Motorway Matrix Active Traffic Management System - which is costing billions to install - gives instructions to motorway drivers. Along the M6, it is already evident that these things are causing accidents as people look up to see what to do. The contracts for the National Identity Database has been awarded to CSC and IBM - despite not being finalised. While people, rightly, point to the Police and Policing as being out of control they miss the Prison Officer element of daily life.

Control Orders for either individuals or of areas (such as the Brian Haw SOCPA debacle) underline the nature of the change in street furniture. Once it was passive and simply stood around indicating that you "should not" do something. Now it is active and instructs that you "will not" do something. This is a fundamental shift that removes the process of justice from any consideration of unwanted acts. It is the kind of built environment that encourages practices such as kettling.

While many in the radical, left and green spaces of politics make a lot of commentary around the Police State they miss the progress from police to Prison State. Increasingly the only reason to have technology is to control the movement and activities of people. The same as is the norm in a prison.

Jeremy Bentham


Ed

12.04.2009 08:36

"If we look at Iraqi security forces and civilian casualties there is also a dramatic decline: 222.3/month so far in 2009, 895.8/month in 2008 and 1578.2/month in 2007." (Ed, Figures derived by the security forces in Iraq are utter bullshit, they always have been)

Ok lets do something really simple Bungle, lets do the adding game and add up all these, erm, numbers.

Lets start with, erm, 222.3 plus 895.8 is, erm, 1118.something. Erm, and 1118.something plus 1578.2 is 2696.something. Erm. But it doesn't erm, matter because in the adding game its all just numbers. These people are people and when you try to present them as numbers nobody cares because secretly they know they are people. Who cares if the numbers go down over a monthly basis. All we know is that people are dead and you killed them, by apologizing for terrorists.

So let me put a question to you and let me guess at what your answer may be.

What is the difference between 222 and 895.?

Answer: Eeeerrrrmmmmm!

"Yes, I know facts and figures are distressing to the leftist mind, which is dominated by emotion rather than reason and prone to outbursts of abuse when challenged by reality."

Hehe, thats funny. Thats really funny. "dominated by emotion", "prone to outbursts", "challenged by reality".

Who are we talking about here? Leftists (don't know any leftists, just people that your type have lost control over), or are we talking about the deluded apologist classes who spend far too much time on the internet trying to present the British people as retarded, backward and generally too selfish to care about the lives of the worlds innocent.

And by the way, I haven't abused you, your perception of abuse is self-abuse, and you should stop it immediately, it'll make you go blind!

Ed