War On Terror

London, more than any other Western city in the world, has a problem with Islamist terrorism. (I say more than any other Western city, because people often forget the enormous threats faced by secular or moderate governments in Muslim countries--see Algeria, Tunisia, Indonesia, Morocco for examples).

London, of course, had four bombs explode on July 7, 2005, killing 52 people. Two weeks later a copycat incident was only foiled by the incompetence of the bombers as their bombs failed to detonate.

Since then the city has been a boilerplate for ethnic and security tensions, many with a severe racial tone. The police brought in a 'shoot first, shoot to kill' policy towards anyone suspected of being a suicide bomber, and within days had shot dead a Brazilian native--completely innocent--after mistaking him for a suspect in the July 21 attacks. Their own version of the Patriot Act was enacted, giving the police stronger powers to detain without charges anyone suspected of involvment with terrorist activities.

The reason you can't take liquids on a plane anymore is because of a plot to destroy 10 aircraft departing from London was broken up by British police in August 2006. On June 29th, 2007, two car bombs intended to blow up in downton London were discovered and disarmed thanks to alert citizens. The next day a Jeep laden with propane canisters plowed into the Glasgow airport and detonated, failing to kill anyone but making a hero out of the baggage handler who subdued the driver.



As I've mentioned before in this blog, the ease with which people can move across borders in Europe is a nightmare for security and immigration officials. London is an epicenter for refugees, asylum-seekers, and underground ethnic and nationalist gangs from all over the world. Some of the mosques in London are notorious for the open support of terrorist attacks against Western countries that are expressed within; this was the subject of a controversial BBC documentary last year.

When inside the London public transit you are bombarded with public service announcements. But between the "mind the gap" and service interruption bulletins, you are told to report any suspicious packages, avoid wearing bulky clothing, and to resist putting your hands in your pockets or taking things out of bags while on buses or subways.

And now this, a new set of posters released by the Metropolitan police.

At the bottom of the poster is a hotline number to call if you suspect somebody. The other two posters cover people who have multiple cell phones and houses with suspicious activities around them.

I understand that public tips are probably the police's best resource in tracking and uncovering possible plots, but this makes me a bit uncomfortable; it's too close to a police state for my liking. But where do you draw the line on such things?

People like to crow about the civil liberties problem in America, but honestly, European countries face a far bigger dilemma. France has massive suburbs of disgruntled Arab youths who will riot and burn cars at the slightest provocation; Denmark is busy protecting its cartoonists from assasination attempts; Holland has Syrian clerics warning it that the publication of a film is a declaration of war.* Americans' biggest worry is that Mexicans are living tax-free and taking away low wage jobs.

* By the way, get ready: a website has been launched for Geert Wilders anti-Koran movie, here.

I'll say it before, and I'll say it again: for better or worse, North Americans shouldn't ever forget how much simpler it makes our lives when you've got oceans between you and the rest of the world.