terrorism

"The world is safer. It is a better place because of the death of Osama bin Laden," declared President Barack Obama, hours after U.S. forces killed the al-Qaida leader.

This is how we know it's safer...

[US] Metro officials are stepping up security measures after the announcement that Osama bin Laden has been killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan.

The National Naval Medical Center base in Bethesda is on a heightened level of security following the announcement Sunday evening that Osama bin Laden has been killed in a raid on his compound in Pakistan.

Robins Air Force Base is operating at a heightened security level in response to the death of Osama bin Laden.

FORT HOOD - As the nation reacts to news about Osama bin Laden's death, there are some fears of retaliation.

On Sunday, the president, along with the Defense Department, gave the order to raise the security level to "Bravo" on military posts across the country.

Some military branches have heightened their security level in Hawaii following Sunday’s announcement of Osama bin Laden’s death in Pakistan.

Israeli police have raised their security level in the country in the wake of the elimination of Osama Bin-Laden.

Extracts from Eliza Manningham-Buller's evidence to the Chilcot Enquiry

Director of MI5 2002-2007
All emphasis mine

The threat was containable:

EM-B: ... if I can refer to the letter from me as Deputy Director General from March 2002 ... we felt we had a pretty good intelligence picture of a threat from Iraq within the UK and to British interests, and you will see from that letter we thought it was very limited and containable.

... we regarded the threat the direct threat from Iraq as low. We did think -- and it comes in that letter -- that Saddam Hussein might resort to terrorism in the theatre if he thought his regime was toppled, but we did not believe he had the capability to do anything much in the UK. That turned out to be the right judgment. What the letter -- has been redacted from the letter, like I say, in general terms is that is partly as a result of action we took. But I don't think the threat in the UK was anything other than very limited.

Iraq increased the threat of terrorism:

SIR RODERIC LYNE: ... how significant in your view a factor was Iraq compared with other situations that were used by extremists, terrorists, to justify their actions?

BARONESS MANNINGHAM-BULLER: I think it is highly significant and the JIC assessments that I have reminded myself of say that. By 2003/2004 we were receiving an increasing number of leads to terrorist activity from within the UK and the -- our involvement in Iraq radicalised, for want of a better word, a whole generation of young people, some British citizens -- not a whole generation, a few among a generation -- who were -- saw our involvement in Iraq, on top of our involvement in Afghanistan, as being an attack on Islam. So although the media has suggested that in July 2005, the attacks on 7/7, that we were surprised these were British citizens, that is not the case because really there had been an increasing number of British-born individuals living and brought up in this country, some of them third generation, who were attracted to the ideology of Osama bin Laden and saw the west's activities in Iraq and Afghanistan as threatening their fellow religionists and the Muslim world.

So it undoubtedly increased the threat and by 2004 we were pretty well swamped -- that's possibly an exaggeration -- but we were very overburdened by intelligence on a broad scale that was pretty well more than we could cope with in terms of threats to plot --

Well - our new PM and new foreign secretary are both friends of Israel. They are hardly going to stop being friends because Israel has notched up one more international crime to add to its tally.

“I am proud not just to be a Conservative, but a Conservative Friend of Israel; and I am proud of the key role CFI plays within our Party”

David Cameron

"I'm a natural friend of Israel"

William Hague

Nick Cleggoman might possibly have offered a bit more hope, given his position here and here. But he too is a member of the government now. And that clearly changes things.

Anyway, I sent off some pointless letters to all three.

Dear David Cameron
I am writing to express my utter disgust at your failure to comment on the incident last night, in which up to 20 people may have been killed by the Israeli military. The top story on the Downing Street website, at 2.05, several hours after the event, has just been renewed: it is about government data
being opened up to the public. No statement, as far as I am aware, has been forthcoming from you as Prime Minister.

The UN Chief has called for a full investigation into the matter, so has the EU. France has condemned the attack, and Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey and Greece have summoned the Israeli ambassadors of their respective countries. Your Foreign Minister has at last issued a statement 'deploring the loss of life', and 'asking for more information'.

Why is he not calling for a formal investigation?

Why does the statement make no mention of the fact that the (flagged, foreign) ships were intercepted and boarded in the high seas, and that is in violation of international law?

Why has he not condemned the use of lethal force, clearly disproportionate, since the ships carrying the aid had been thoroughly searched by the Turkish authorities and found to contain no firearms?

Your silence on this matter is shameful. If Iran had killed up to 20 citizens carrying international aid to a community which had been under an illegal siege for almost 3 years, to the almost universal condemnation of the international community - would you have been
silent?

Yours

...