Deployment of troops following Manchester bombing

Bl4ckGryph0n

Rubbish.

It is a good and valid point @Enki is making. The Tory government might well be putting troops on the streets for political reasons.

You jumped to a conclusion and should be ashamed for posting that because Enki made no reference whatsoever to the terrible killings.

The Dude

I disagree. I read it very differently.

Cocksure

You're making a fool of yourself Alan, you need to read Enki's post again.

The Dude

I'm not sure what other interpretation you can put on it. @Enki clearly believes the troop deployments were a political decision rather than one made on security grounds.

How can anyone try to make political capital out of this. It's an astonishing accusation to make that the government would play with our security for political gain. Kids died for fudges sake. More people could be at risk. The government needs to be free to act without morons trying to disparage their motives.

I'm going to drop out before I say anything that gets me banned.

tapzilla2k

To be fair to @Enki others are saying the same
Enough of Theresa May’s outrage. We need a tough response to terror | Simpon Jenkins

"As for sending in the army – terrorism’s propaganda coup – what good does that do? It supposedly releases the police, but to do what?"

"We might wonder if she stopped for a moment to ponder the wisdom of turning personal tragedy into such purposeful aggression, knowing it would be greeted with glee by terrorism’s supporters. A similar rush to rhetoric on May’s part led to a severe over-reaction to the Westminster deaths in March."

From the article. It's an interesting read.

Cocksure

It's a joke article full of so many contradictions it's not even worth reading.

IronGiant

They can't keep track of everyone in as great a detail as they'd probably wish. The security services and police have to make tough decisions on a day to day basis. There will be times when the security services either lose track of somebody or they simply don't know anything about them.


It's either an empty gesture to show "Things are under control" or they have specific intelligence about further threats. As it is, there may well be a bomb factory somewhere in the UK, that could have churned out multiple bombs by now. Getting hold of the materials to make bombs is not easy (given the various rules and regulations in terms of certain chemicals and who can purchase them), but it's not impossible. Either MI5 know about it, or they've been caught off guard.

As far as armed police go ? The numbers have been reduced by about 1300 since 2010 (the Met is facing further budget cuts along with other forces), there are legitimate questions to be asked of Theresa May, Cameron and Osborne about the wisdom of cutting police budgets at a time when there is a terrorist threat looming large over us. I have no problem with the Army being deployed onto the streets, they will do whatever jobs are asked of them. If the worst happens ? They will give the Police the back up they need to get an incident under control. If there were a Paris or Mumbai style attack ? I do expect even with the army deployed it would take several hours to end that kind of attack.

Though there is not a lot the Police or Army can do if somebody decides to blow themselves up in a shopping centre or a crowded street, as that's likely past the point when they can intervene to stop an attack. Oxford is probably extremely vulnerable to a terror attack, given it's a big tourist attraction and the fact you have thousands of people crammed into narrow streets on a daily basis. But the same probably goes for Cambridge and other big tourist hotspots. Though I'm sure the security services have probably laid plans out for what to do if such and such a place outside London is attacked. Or you'd hope they have.

London will always be the desirable target for Terrorists, but that does not mean they won't attack weaker parts of the country. I fear we've concentrated so much on London, we may have blindspots elsewhere. London does appear to be a focal point for hate preachers, but we shouldn't forget that the internet is probably one of the primary recruiting tools for IS through social media and the dark web.

IronGiant

Perhaps, perhaps not. Like everything it's a matter of opinion.

@Enki expressed an opinion like the guardian, he could have put it better no question, but it was just an opinion.

Agree or disagree, fine. But saying you should be ashamed of yourself goes to far. I would accept that on gc, but considering the posts about dropping a friend who is intolerant on another thread, that crosses the line.

Cliff

I wouldn't let it or Enki's post concern you. I doubt he meant it to be potentially insensitive.

domtheone

As you said in the Labour thread there's thinking it and there's saying it.  Probably time to move on, there's no point trying to work out how enki ticks.

Note: not intended as an insult.