Massive Air Terror Plot Foiled

Posted on August 10, 2006

There is chaos at British airports after police disrupted a plot to cause “mass murder on an unimaginable scale” by blowing up transatlantic airliners.

The explosives would have been smuggled aboard at least six airliners as hand luggage - and could have been missed during x-ray screening.

Speaking at Scotland Yard, Deputy Commissioner Paul Stephenson said he was confident the police had disrupted a plot “to cause mass murder on an unimaginable scale”.

He said 21 people arrested in London, Birmingham and the Thames Valley were still being held - the culmination of a covert counter-terrorist operation lasting several months.

Security raised to ‘critical’ The Home Secretary John Reid said the “main players” were in custody but cautioned against complacency.

“We are involved in a long, wide and deep struggle against very evil people,” he said.

Sky News’ Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said those arrested were mainly young, British-born Asian men.

Another senior Met officer, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, said the arrests followed “an unprecedented level of surveillance”.

A number of business premises and houses have been sealed off by the police, including one in High Wycombe.

Queues at Heathrow Sources in the United States have reported that three airlines targeted were United, American and Continental.

Security sources believe that liquid explosives would have been used which could have been mixed during the flight into a lethal concoction.

US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the conspiracy was sophisticated, well-advanced and well-planned and “suggestive of an al Qaeda plot”.

Oh, right, “young, British-born Asian men.” I suppose they respresent a “broad strata of society.”
Michelle Malkin has a killer rundown of the best coverage and commentary.

Pajamas Media has more.
Alexandra at All Things Beautiful is thinking what we’re all thinking:

I shall be eagerly waiting for the theories of the learned left who will immediately begin with their conspiracy theory mongering, ranging from the timing of the breaking news to the dismissal of this as having being no security threat at all. We will look closely as the day progress and the theories get hammered out to protect the ‘NSA wiretapping golden calf’ and the Patriot ‘non-issue’ Act over at the leftie blogs.Yawn.

…and they never fail. DU prowlers have confirmed Alexandra’s well-grounded prediction. Here they are reacting to a BBC story on the foiled plot (which the BBC, setting the tone and providing the inspiration, refers to as an ‘Airlines terror plot’ - dismissive ‘quotes’ in the original) From DU:

“Have to keep the Sheep Afraid.”

“‘plot’ ??? i’m dubious”

“The UK government mostly lie about these things. So i’ll wait and see what actually is going on. What does “foiled” mean anyway, obviously it hasnt been foiled as they have these restrictions in place. ”

“now with BP oil shut down..could Blair being holding back fuel for the british airlines..and US carriers..in preperation for a air strike on Iran?”

“It’s more to do with Blair trying to use the same tactics the neocons use on America: keep the populace in a permanent state of fear to drown out any critical thinking.”

“Tony Blair’s ass is on fire for being America’s dogtail - as they like to call it in the UK. Stories like this are sponsored by his government and are planned way ahead and are designed for times like this to distract people from what’s really going on and to try and cover his ass.”

“Help justify no real ceasefire or withdrawal in Lebanon”

“Why is this major disruption being discussed NOW. What else is going on? This sounds lke another Bush diversion tactic…Get the media to discuss terror, because there is something else that they don’t want us discussing. Bait & Switch technique.”

…and so it begins…

» Filed Under Border Control/Homeland Security, News, War On Terror