Ahh.. the terrorists have had limited success again..
There were 21 arrests make in Birmingham and London, men of Pakistani origin, according to reports, were planning on boarding trans-Atlantic flights leaving from Heathrow, and detonate bombs smuggled in in bottles of pop. Their targets were 9 flights to 5 major US cities.
This has brought Britain to the 'critical' state, the equivalent of the American 'red' alert, and travellers have been warned not to use Heathrow airport, with all long and short haul flights cancelled, and 20 flights have been cancelled from Gatwick.
The reports from the Cabinet Ministers, who've been following police raids throughout the night, is that this plot, had it gone through, would have caused a loss of life exceeding that of 911, and even though it appears no aircraft are going to blow up today, the level of paranoia in this country, at least for travellers, has risen exponentially.
And this is exactly what the terrorists wanted. It would have been nice, from their point of view, had they succeeded in carrying out their bombings, but the secondary target, the disruption of the infrastructure has indeed been achieved. Passengers who are still flying out, are being searched rigourously, slowing the boarding process, and delaying takeoffs. Those who do make it on the plane are given their wallets, and their passports, in clear plastic bags. No other carry-on luggage is allowed whatsoever.
No laptops, no Ipods, no Mobiles,nothing with electrical components will be allowed in the hands of passengers, and this is a situation which will become SOP. Even those with babies, who have brought bottles with formula along to feed them, must have that milk tasted before it goes into the passenger compartments.
We are being manipulated by a small group to amazing effect. One cannot lay the blame at the Islamic Community as a whole, for that certainly would be zenophobia at an extreme. But it is an issue which the Muslim Community must become actively involved in, for those being taught extremist views must try and proselytise, and certainly not all approached with the idea of joining a radical group comply. Those approached, and who reject this terrorism, are now in the unenviable position of turning informer, a label no one has ever happily had slapped upon them. But unless this becomes more of a concern to those who follow Islam, we are going to be suspicious of any Muslim's intent.
It's human nature, and again, this has to be chalked up as yet another partial success for the terrorists. When we become wary of any segment of society, we break down years of assimilation and cordial relations. The Terrorists desperately want Muslims in the West to feel singled out, for that in itself will push some towards extremist groups.
Nobody likes to be assumed to be the bad guy, when all they want is to continue with their normal lives. With Ismalic terrorists continuing their plots against innocents, the label is harder and harder to avoid, and is driving a wedge between one segment of British and American society, and in particular, Muslims.
This cannot be allowed.
Thus, the importance of destroying groups the likes of Hezbollah, Hammas, al Q'aida, and Taliban. Our comfortable existence is being kicked by what must be emphasised is a small group, relatively speaking.
We are being manipulated, and those pulling the strings know how to work puppets.