This afternoon's events in the House of Commons seem a long way event from proceedings here in Athens but I can't less them pass without comment.
The protest could easily be dismissed as a mere publicity stunt.
But in reality it shattered the foundations of the war on terror.
For the second time in a week, the very heart of the British establishment was breached not by terrorist masterminds but by activists wanting to draw attention to their cause.
Although thankfully both the Buckingham Palace Batman and the pro-hunting campaigners who stormed the floor of the Commons today were harmless. But they could just as easily have been suicide bombers or fanatics carrying chemical or biological weapons.
And so the millions of pounds spent on homeland security here in Britain and the billions spent by the United States have been shown up for what they are -- a laughable illusion that can be penetrated by an operative from Fathers 4 Justice, the Countryside Alliance or, perhaps one day soon, Al Qaeda.
The protest could easily be dismissed as a mere publicity stunt.
But in reality it shattered the foundations of the war on terror.
For the second time in a week, the very heart of the British establishment was breached not by terrorist masterminds but by activists wanting to draw attention to their cause.
Although thankfully both the Buckingham Palace Batman and the pro-hunting campaigners who stormed the floor of the Commons today were harmless. But they could just as easily have been suicide bombers or fanatics carrying chemical or biological weapons.
And so the millions of pounds spent on homeland security here in Britain and the billions spent by the United States have been shown up for what they are -- a laughable illusion that can be penetrated by an operative from Fathers 4 Justice, the Countryside Alliance or, perhaps one day soon, Al Qaeda.
posted by Stuart at 22:09
3 Comments:
"thankfully both the Buckingham Palace Batman and the pro-hunting campaigners who stormed the floor of the Commons today were harmless. But they could just as easily have been suicide bombers or fanatics carrying chemical or biological weapons."
Us contempary people tend to think the worst, don't we?
In another country across the Atlantic from Europe (turn left at Greenland), billions of dollars have been appropriated for Iraqi reconstruction and homeland security. Much of it has gone into the pockets of a certain company not without connections to the office of vice-president; some has gone into beefing up the police forces in places like Florida and NY (you know, those well-known Iraqi cities), much of it on surveillance equipment. Little of it has gone into securing the ports, airports, nuclear power stations and other obvious high-risk targets.
There is an obvious conclusion to be drawn from all this; incompetence is not it.
Except that in the case of Buckingham palace, the guy wasn't shot on the spot because he was wearing a batman costume (According to the BBC the police made a 'split second decision' as to whether he presented a threat - what a tough call that must have been...). And in the case of the Commons, they are said to have needed an insider (odds on it'll turn out to be Tory MP) to show them through the maze of corridors to get to the back entrance of the chamber. In both cases it could be argued that someone effectively 'permitted' the security breach because they knew they were dealing with harmless protesters. Hopefully this wouldn't be the case with an Al-Qaida operative... unless of course he or she dresses up as batman.
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