You know what I like? Jarring changes
of pace. So today is talking about the Woolwich murder day.
Now before we start, let me put this to
you: I am completely unqualified to talk with any certainly about
this subject. Like, at all. I'm a idiot with a tiny blog, with no
training or experience in security matters of counter-terrorism
insights, but at least I'm giving y'all a heads up to my
incompetence, unlike anybody else writing out opinion pieces in our
media.
Also that's a heads up that if you are qualified or simply much more sensible than me, which isn't hard, and I say something ridiculously stupid - there's a comment box down there for a reason. Educate me. Please.
Reading about it, I was most perplexed
that this terrible event has been quite firmly been labelled as a
terrorist attack. When discussing the suspects (more on that later)
they are labelled universally as 'terrorists.' The thing that bothers
me? Is this terrorism? Really? Well, fine, they did it to scare, to
create fear, terror if you will, then I guess that counts. But does
that mean me jumping out on people with a mask counts as terrorism?
Terrorism strikes me of large, horrific events, where the aim is to
create mass destruction and devastation randomly to the point that
the public is scared to continue their everyday lives, for the sake
of coercing people to follow your batshit insane ways. Wikipedia
states that terrorism is so politically linked that it's noted to
have over a thousand different definitions.
When looking at the footage, (that much
I could stomach to watch) it doesn't seem to be a scene of outright
mass panic. People casually stroll with shopping in the background,
and the eye is pulled to the brave woman, Ingrid Loyau-Kennet, who is
trying to assist the victim. It's a god awful murder. But perhaps
it's not terrorism. Besides, let's say we were to determine that this
isn't terrorism, that this is only a murder; how
demeaning would be to the suspects? How demeaning it would be to
their cause, when the public turns around and says, 'This is only a
murder.' It's not just demeaning. It's dis-empowering.
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| Pictures like this do more to stop terrorism then drone attacks, I'd bet. |
Instead, it's terrorist this, terrorist
that, and do you know why I continually use the would suspect?
Because strictly speaking, they are. Yes, fine, we have camera phone
footage of the crime in question, but don't we have innocent until
proven guilty? No, I'm not saying that they're innocent, not at all,
I'm saying that there is a process. A legal process. And whenever I
see the media banging on about them in no uncertain terms, I can't
help but think they're setting the eventual trail up for a mistrial.
Which would be the icing on the cake for trial by media, where they
take a completely unquestionably guilty party and make them
unconvictable. Whee.
Focus is switching now on our security
services, and how they didn't stop this. Clearly, some people say, we need the snooper's charter!
Yeah, recording everything we do online for a year, from email, web
sites visits and phone calls, and the police can look at that
whenever they please and no reason given or needed!
I see no way, no way at all, that could possibly be abused, ever.
Please see the last line, and
cross-reference it with this blog's title.
It's always the way when something
awful happens somebody leaps out the rotten woodwork with a rage
boner over human rights. If I didn't want to talk about that aspect
of it, I'd wryly note that's a staggering amount of data you've got
to try to make sense of, and we seem to do pretty well over the whole
'issuing warrants' thing. Besides, I can't blame the security
services for missing this one. You have three types of attack that
security deals with. The planners, who you circumvent by minimising
oversight, infiltration, observation, and James Bond style
shenanigans. The opportunists, who you circumvent by taking care of
the obvious, by presenting a strong face, by having protocols in
place. And then you have the nutters. You cannot plan for the
nutters. Because they are nutters.
I have no doubt if these two muppets
started buying up a fuck tonne of fertiliser and clock parts they'd
of been dawn raided. Creating a stash of guns and ammunition? Leapt
on as they travel home with groceries. Instead they grabbed a knife
from the drawer, walked outside, and stabbed to death a soldier. How.
How do you possibly predict that? How do you prevent it? A police
officer every twenty feet searching every member of public for
knives? That's achievable, in someone's pants-tightening fantasy
world. I don't see how knowing just how much time I spend watching my
pants-tightening fantasy videos helps stop nutters like that.
If I was someone qualified to talk
about this subject, I'd have answers and solutions. Instead I have a
an awful situation with awful media making things worse and awful
people drooling over aforementioned awful situation for their on
benefit. And I haven't even brought up the English Defence league,
and the increase in racially motivated attacks since this event.
Jesus we're getting grim. Let's
end it how I ended a previous depressing article: with cute cats.
Oh, tired cat. Make the pain stop.
It's like people want to be afraid. I suspect it's more likely to choke to death on your morning coffee than as a surprise victim in a distant war. We had the Breivik attack a couple of years back. That's the sort of thing I'd expect the government to avoid. A crazy person with a kitchen knife is just as likely to be my neighbour being tired of cat poop in her flowers.
ReplyDeleteI found the rage on the front page of David Cameron leaving to go back on holiday strangely misplaced, for once. It's about him heading off over 'the worst terrorist attack in Britain since 7/7'
ReplyDeleteYes. It strictly speaking, is the worst. Because it's the only one since. And it's a single, solitary murder. Terrible, but a single casualty. I don't like David Cameron, but you know what? He can go back on holiday. I don't think his presence is really necessary over a single murder. Besides it reinforces one of my points; by treating is realistically, it dis-empowers the event and cause.
And don't bring up coffee around our British media. They'd go on about it gives you cancer, and '42 WILL DIE DUE TO MURDEROUS COFFEE CHOKING.'
Moving to England this year with my British wife and our children. Suppose we should be very careful so it's not seen as a viking invasion.
ReplyDelete