7/7 Is Just The Beginning
We've been covering alot of things out of Britain this week. As mentioned in previous comments, they seem to be under "an all out social assault."Intelligence chiefs in Britain are saying that Al-Qaida has successfully regrouped it's organization in Pakistan and the UK is it's new main target.
More worrying, officials say, is evidence of new techniques that would-be terrorists within the UK have adopted. The structure of individual al-Qaida-inspired groups is much more like the old Provisional IRA cells, with self-contained units comprising a lead organiser/planner, a quartermaster in charge of weapons and explosives acquisition and training, and several volunteers.
Officials describe these groups as "multi-tasking" - involved in fraud and fundraising and courier work as well as planning attacks. "There is a hierarchy within each cell with a very tightly run command and control," said one counter-terrorism source.
Many suspects appear to be aware they are under surveillance and have taken to having important conversations outside - in parks and other public spaces - similar to the tactics used by PIRA leaders during the Troubles.
Intelligence experts fear the UK is a target as never before, with extremists intent on carrying out a huge spectacular, on the scale of the US atrocities in 2001.
"They viewed 7/7 as just the beginning," said one senior source. "Al-Qaida sees the UK as a massive opportunity to cause loss of life and embarrassment to the authorities." A second source agreed: "Britain is sitting at the receiving end of an al-Qaida campaign."
Britain is an easier target, they have concluded, because of its traditional links with Pakistan which is visited by tens of thousands of people each year. Intelligence agencies have found it very difficult to penetrate the camps there.
The article goes on to talk about recruiting taking place in the UK and Pakistan. The best and most disturbing quote comes at the end:
They say there is a frightening number of young men willing to step up and replace those who have been arrested or gone to ground.
"It's like the old game of Space Invaders," said one senior counter-terrorism source. "When you clear one screen of potential attackers, another simply appears to take its place."
Heh! Space Invaders...No double meaning there...
Labels: al-Qaida, Britain, Pakistan, UK
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