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British Police Foil Alleged Mall Massacre Copycat Plot

An anonymous reader writes "The Washington Post reports, "British law enforcement agencies averted a plot to orchestrate a large-scale terror attack similar to the assault on Kenya's Westgate mall, an official said Monday. Police were questioning four men in their 20s on suspicion of terrorism after they were detained Sunday in pre-planned, intelligence-led raids. A British security official said the men were planning a shooting spree akin to the Westgate attack in Nairobi, in which at least 67 people died. ... in a series of statements, the force said the men were all British nationals between the ages of 25 and 29, with roots in Turkey, Pakistan, Algeria and Azerbaijan. ... the London police firearms unit took part in the arrests. British police rarely carry weapons and their involvement suggested concern that men might have been armed." — The Sydney Morning Herald has video. Prime Minister Cameron recently expressed concern regarding such a possibility."

11 of 292 comments (clear)

  1. Re:British police rarely carry weapons by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I suspect they would have a lot less problem with terrorists and ne'er-do-wells.

    Nope, there'd simply be a lot more people getting shot.

  2. Re:A religion of peace by gweihir · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There are no "religions of peace". What happened to them is that they got wiped out a few thousand years ago by the other religions. Religions are very much subject to evolution. (Which is hysterical, come to think of it.) Today, there are just some that use "peace" as camouflage, but all religion can safely be assumed to be dangerous if the sufferer is deeply infected ("fundamentalist" or "fanatic"). BTW, in this sense, political orientations can qualify as "religion".

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  3. Re:DOUBLEPLUS by intermodal · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It was barely a year ago where I easily dismissed my conspiracy-minded friends saying this stuff. today it makes more sense than any official story I've heard in months.

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    In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
  4. Re:DOUBLEPLUS by gweihir · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It will not. Terrorism is not a relevant threat to anything. It is a cheap way to scare people though. This stupid argument (scare them so they do not think clearly) has been used time and again. But it is only one thing: Manipulative. It has no connection to reality other than that. For real threats to your life, limb and well-being: Cars, cancer, heart disease, and governments that mess it up. In the US, add guns.

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  5. Re:British police rarely carry weapons by jabuzz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Really for most of my lifetime the terrorist problem in the United Kingdom was expatiated by the U.S.A. harbouring convicted terrorists and refusing to extradite them back to the U.K. while all the time allowing said terrorist groups to raise money. In that respect 9/11 was a huge boon because all of a sudden the U.S.A. realized that it could no longer support such terrorist activities.

  6. Re:DOUBLEPLUS by somersault · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yep, because the "the deadliest non-school shooting rampage in American history" didn't occur in Texas.

    Considering a lot of these guys commit suicide after they're done, what makes you think that their victims being armed or not is a particularly big concern?

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    which is totally what she said
  7. Re:DOUBLEPLUS by cold+fjord · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Since you keep making these claims, you must have some evidence. Can you present it? Or is this just a crank theory of yours?

    Were the 7/7 London attacks "fake" too? Including the 52 dead bodies?

    Are the convictions that the police are getting "fake" too?

    London terror bomb plot: the four terrorists

    Four men pleaded guilty to plotting a Christmas bomb attack on the London Stock Exchange and causing a 'Mumbai-style' atrocity.

    Fertiliser bomb plot: The story

    Five men have been convicted of plotting to build a bomb which police say could have killed hundreds of British people. The men were caught after police and MI5 launched a massive surveillance operation.

    Since you're Canadian, perhaps you could comment on this plot. Was it "fake" too?

    Canada jails Toronto truck bomb plotter Zakaria Amara

    One of the key figures in a conspiracy to set off three truck bombs in Canada has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Zakaria Amara, 24, pleaded guilty in October to co-leading the Islamist militant group dubbed the Toronto 18. The group's targets included the city's stock exchange and a military base.

    These sorts of attacks are consistent with the announced intention of terrorist groups around the world. I think you need to present some evidence rather than simply make proclamations.

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    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  8. Re:DOUBLEPLUS by nitehawk214 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Would I live in a police state? If the police were beholden to the people and there wasn't this mutual fear (police fear citizens, citizens fear police), then yes. Let people who are trained and know what they are doing (and the ramifications of their actions) enforce things. A society needs laws (and enforcement) to function, but on the other hand, the laws have to be made so they don't breed contempt (like the "war on drugs" crap.)

    That would not be a police state. That would be a state where the police serve the people and the people work with and assist the police. Neither of those are true in the United States.

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  9. Re:British police rarely carry weapons by bedroll · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Good call. We have hundreds of millions of guns here in the US and we have the lowest incarceration costs in the world... oh wait.

    Well at least we never have armed gunmen attack public forums... crap, that's not quite it either.

  10. Re:DOUBLEPLUS by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In the US, add guns.

    Guns, by themselves, are not a threat to your well-being.

    If you mean "criminals with guns", if you live outside of areas of chronic poverty where gang violence is common, and if you're neither a violent criminal nor and an associate of violent criminals, "criminals with guns" are not much of a threat to your well-being compared to "cars, cancer, heart disease, and governments that mess it up". No more so than in comparable nations.

    The problem is that, thanks to racism and economic injustice, we have more areas of chronic poverty where gang violence is common than comparable nations.

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  11. Re:DOUBLEPLUS by cold+fjord · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Here is a question for you. Why is it you and the "conspiracy-minded friends" you describe all find it plausible that the government is engaging in conspiracies, but apparently dismiss the possibility that there are terrorists engaging in conspiracies to commit murder and mayhem? It isn't like there isn't a history of plots, attacks, arrests, and convictions of actual and would be terrorists. Why do you, and they, dismiss that evidence? Are we heading down the road of everything being a "false flag".... the plague of Slashdot discussions for so many years in which nothing is what it is? Or is there some other reason? Is there any level of proof that would sway either you or them?

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    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell