Seagull over Canaryland
Well-known member
Over 60 killed in terrorist since 7/7/2005. But of course more are killed on UK roads in a typical month so I recognise that a sense of perspective is required. However I also have some knowledge of the background and the degree of known threat against the UK on a daily basis and concerns me that Police and other agencies will be adequately resourced to counter the terror threat.
Do also bear in mind the move towards rogue individuals / small groups who may not be on anyone's radar so unquantifiable in terms of real threat.
I agree that 'They' do a good job. That figure could easily have been around 3000 given the aircraft, tube, bus and other plots that failed in the same period. Most were averted by the authorities, but others were down to the incompetence of the terrorists. So yes, pretty good.
But I'm mindful that the perpetrators of the Woolwich attack were known to the Police and one of them seems to have been particularly prominent.
What is the saying: 'The terrorists only have to be successful once, whereas the security services have to be successful all of the time'. We enjoy a largely free and open society and can go about our daily business unhindered by the state, so will have to accept we cannot enjoy complete security. I think most people are happy with that but are disappointed when attacks appear preventable.
Quite apart from the horrible incident itself Woolwich was sadly a win/win for the terrorists as they also got to indulge in the social media coverage for several minutes until the armed Police arrived and then subsequently across the internet and newspaper coverage since. So they scored a media victory too, all which makes us look weak and gives encouragement to the bad guys. So I am pleased to hear that todays aircraft incident has ended safely and we showed some sort of determined response in case it was terrorism.
