In several announcements today the UK Government made it clear that the NBLB (just a bloodied mess) policy which had been covertly introduced by the previous Chief Constable of the Metropolitan Police Lord Stevens, as “Operation Kratos” would continue and if necessary be extended. What this policy involves is what the elite members of London's finest , SO19 , call the "the shot of excellence."
It's a single gunshot through the mouth that snaps the spinal cord and instantly kills a suspected suicide bomber. It is the essence of Operation Kratos, so-named for the Greek god of strength.
The guidelines also call for up to four more shots -- five in total and all to the head -- to immediately immobilize a suspected suicide bomber.
The rationale for this seemingly brutal approach is simple: a twitching, barely alive suicide bomber is still capable of detonating an explosion in the remaining moments of his life even if he has a body full of bullets.
Mr Blair (Prime Minister) said at 10 Downing Street today …
”…we also have to understand the police are doing their job in very very difficult circumstances and I think it is important that we give them every support and that we understand that had the circumstances been different and for example, this had turned out to be a terrorist and they had failed to take that action (i.e wasted the poor struggling bastard as he lay pinned down after 28 minutes of intense observation by “highly trained police”), they would have been criticised …..”
Foreign Minister Jack Straw defended the police involved in the shooting …
"These very brave officers, on behalf of the citizens of London, were pursuing somebody they had good reason to believe was involved in this terrorist outrage,"
he said… apparently they didn’t have good reason to dish out summary justice and execute him publicly. On BBC Radio Straw said,
"It is obviously deeply regrettable but what we have to appreciate is the very intense pressure under which the police officers have to work." Straw added, "We have to ensure that clear rules are operated but we also, tragically, have to ensure that the police do have effective discretion to deal with what could be terrorist suicide outrages about to take place. That's the dilemma."
Home Secretary Charles Clarke didn’t see any need for a change in policy,
"I don't think that means they are wrong to have a policy to deal with these appalling circumstances. I wish we didn't have to, I wish we didn't have suicide bombers but we do. And we have to find means of combating them."
He probably also wishes he didn’t have to interrupt his holiday plans and stay back in London whilst his family swans off to the sun.
Lord Stevens, previously Chief Constable of the Metropolitan PoliceLondon police commissioner, wrote in Sunday's News of the World (one of Rupe’s rags) that he had sent teams for training to Israel and other countries hit by suicide bombers. There, he said, he had learned that,
"There is only one sure way to stop a suicide bomber determined to fulfil his mission: destroy his brain instantly, utterly."
Sir Ian Blair current Chief Constable of the Met. was pressed in an interview on Rupe’s Sky News about whether a repeat of the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes was possible. He said:
"Well somebody else could be shot.
"Everything is done to make it right, but you know this is a terrifying set of circumstances for individuals to make decisions in.”
"I mean, the important point here is there's nothing gratuitous in what's going on, there's nothing, you know, cavalier here. There's no conspiracy to shoot people.”
"I am very aware that minority communities are talking about a shoot-to-kill policy. It is only a shoot-to-kill-in-order-to-protect policy. There is no point in shooting at someone's chest because that is where the bomb is likely to be.
"There is no point in shooting anywhere else if they fall down and detonate it. The only way to deal with this is to shoot to the head.”
"I think we are quite comfortable the policy is right but these are fantastically difficult times. We have to take this tragedy, deeply regret it and move on to the main investigation which is proceeding at an extraordinary pace."
For those who may be confused, Yes, this is the same man who, hours after the shooting of the inoccent, Jean Charles de Menezes , told the blatant , unequivocal, unambiguous lie, that the shooting was "directly linked to the ongoing and expanding anti-terrorist operation."
Peter Hain, the secretary for Northern Ireland, put it more bluntly in televised remarks on Sunday, offering a message to the police officers: "They have our full support." Government minister Peter Hain said the threat of suicide bombings had put police under "enormous pressure", but added that they were acting responsibly.
Mr Hain The Minister for Northern Ireland (not forgetting Wales) knows all about gun toting terrorists . Last week Craig McCausland, 20, was shot dead at the house he shared with his partner and two children in north Belfast.
Mr McCausland’s mother, Lorraine, was believed to have been beaten to death by members of the loyalist Ulster Defence Association in March 1987 near a drinking club. Craig’s death is said to result from a feud between Ulster Volunteer Force and the rival Loyalist Volunteer Force, which has already claimed two lives in the city.
Earlier this month 25-year-old Jameson Lockhart was gunned down as part of the feud as he worked on a building site in east Belfast.SSShhhhh…we musn’t mention the continuing violence, deaths, massive bank robberies, prostitution and protection rackets, drug dealing, VAT and Excise fraud that is a daily experience in Northern Ireland where the sanction is that the Northern Secretary Peter Hain could say last week, that he “was considering withholding the party’s Assembly allowance for another year following a report in May which indicated the UVF and Red Hand Commando remain involved in organised crime, violent and active.”
So, no 8 slugs in what little brains the Loyalist mad dogs have then.
Ken Livingstone, the London mayor and a longtime champion of civil liberties, and no stranger to the Terrorists in Westminster, defended the police officers involved in the execution of Jean Charles de Menezes, said in a statement released on Saturday night (23/7) that the terrorists, not the police, were to blame.. he said:
"The police acted to do what they believed necessary to protect the lives of the public. This tragedy has added another victim to the toll of deaths for which the terrorists bear responsibility,"
Mr Blair can even look across the House to find allies, as the waggons are circled around Westminster, "I'm proud we have a Prime Minister who knows what he's doing," David Cameron, a leading contender ofe the Conservative Party leadership, told Rupe’s Sky News TV on Sunday. He said this was not a time to play politics, adding, "We are all in this together."
Ann Cryer, a Labour member of the Commons Home Affairs committee told the Financial Times (to her eternal credit) that she was not “knocking” the police officer who killed Jean Charles de Menezes but…
“We mustn’t automatically go down the path of shoot-to-kill. We are taking on the mantle of terrorists if we do that. We are playing by their rules. We can’t lower ourselves to that standard.
“We have to uphold British justice . . . We still have the courts system . . . They [suspects] must be apprehended, prosecuted and where found guilty they must be punished. I would never support a shoot-to-kill policy.”
Calling for clarification of the police guidelines on shoot-to-kill, she sympathised with the officer put in the position of shooting Mr de Menezes in the belief that he was a suicide bomber. Ms Cryer was backed by other colleagues on the committee Gwyn Prosser, another Labour and Nick Harvey, a Liberal Democrat.
Tony Blair will meet U.K. opposition party leaders (26/7) to discuss plans for new anti-terrorism legislation after Parliament returns from its summer recess on Oct. 9. Conservative Party leader Michael Howard and Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy have both supported Blair in his response to the London terror attack.
``There is absolutely no doubt that these terrorists will use Iraq as a reason,'' Blair said. ``They used different justifications. The roots of this are deeper. Nothing can excuse or justify what they have done.''
Meanwhile the Met. will have along way to go to meet the achievements of the NYPD (New York’s finest – who maintain a presence in London, which has been beefed up since 7/7 see NYPD Website) in 199 when four NYPD officers shot at Amadou Diallo 41 times, hitting him fatally 19 times, while standing at the door of his house. They thought he was going for gun and was actually taking out his wallet. At the trial which was shifted to upstate Albany NY resulted in the officers being found innocent of any wrongdoing.
On June 4th 2000 in Atlanta, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band introduced a song "American Skin (41 Shots)". The lyrics do not explicitly mention Diallo, they refer to 41 shots, confusing a wallet with a gun, and suspects being shot for reasons of race. Shortly thereafter, the New York City Patrolmans Benefit Organisation called for a Boycott of Springsteen's concerts in the city.
Let’s hope Chumbawumba don’t decide to write a song.