All In The Name Of Counter-Terrorism

For some time now I've been suspicious of any politician who suggests new legislation is protecting the people of the UK from terrorism. It's such a provocative word and politicians use it to instill more fear into the people in order to keep them subdued.

The only terrorists evident from my tiny space is this country are the coalition. Upping the cost of fuel which in turn increases the cost of food, pleading faux sympathy with the high cost of utility bills and exposing our troops in an unwinnable war are a few of their tactics which could be labelled terrorism.

The latest shows the levels to which our representatives will go to curtail the freedoms of the people.

In 2006, Labour was forced to abandon similar plans in the face of fierce opposition from the Tories, Libdems and privacy groups yet only 6 years later the tide turns and the coalition is leading the country down precisely the same dictatorial route that I thought was solely NuLabour social engineering.  How wrong I was.

Only a year ago Nick Clegg promised to restore liberties stolen by Labour yet he's now supporting a proposal to enable intelligence officers the ability to identify who an individual or group is in contact with, how often and for how long and they would also be able to see which websites someone had visited.

In a statement, the Home Office said action was needed to "maintain the continued availability of communications data as technology changes".

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“Start Quote

The government will be able to get at it with no by or leave from anybody”

David DavisConservative MP and former shadow home secretary

"It is vital that police and security services are able to obtain communications data in certain circumstances to investigate serious crime and terrorism and to protect the public," a spokesman said.

"As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review we will legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows to ensure that the use of communications data is compatible with the government's approach to civil liberties."

Civil liberties?  They're all being slowly withdrawn in the name of terrorism.

Critics have suggested that the proposal would be 'expensive, intrusive and a nightmare to run legally'. Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty says ' it is a pretty drastic step in a democracy'.  Even John Redwood disapproves and has a theory that the idea started in the climate change department.

Maybe it's a job creation scheme.  The government will require thousands more staff at GCHQ to undertake the snooping. Just a thought.

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First Stop The Bribery

Approximately 500 political prisoners - many high profile Taliban fighters - escaped from Kandahar high security prison during Sunday night and early Monday morning. To date only 65 have been recaptured and two have been killed in a gun fight.

We are told these barefooted men crawled to freedom down a 1,000ft tunnel, which originated in a nearby safe house. Why would nearly 500 men leave their footwear behind?

Regardless of the escape details, it was a well planned project which could have only succeeded with 'inside' help.

Karzai's office called the breakout a 'disaster' ahead of the summer fighting months and as NATO and the US begin preparing for a gradual withdrawal.  The justice minister Habibullah Ghaleb, in a letter to Karzai, laid much of the blame for the mass breakout from Kandahar's Sarposa jail on failings by Afghan security forces and foreign troops.  I can find no evidence that the prison was staffed by foreign troops so Mr Ghaleb's letter would appear to be a 'nothing to do with me' missive.

General Ghulam Dastgir, the governor of the jail, said many of the prisoners still on the run had likely fled to safe havens in Pakistan.  That's the same Pakistan which recently received an extra £650m from David Cameron, courtesy of UK taxpayers, for 'educational' projects.

Whether these men are in Pakistan or the Afghan mountains matters little, the fact they are at large matters a great deal but our media are so engrossed with hyping up a wedding and giving up front page space to a fool who admits his legal actions were 'excessive', that most have ignored the seriousness of this incident.

We have lost 364 of our military in the war against the Taliban and poured £billions of taxpayers' money into the Afghan government's coffers in an attempt to change their corrupt culture.  Is it any wonder their government is in chaos when we're guilty of such bribery?

With around 400 insurgents now roaming free and with little hope of their recapture, our troops are more at risk than ever, yet our politicians are reluctant to make any statement about the severity of the situation.

This security breach comes just months before the start of a transfer of responsibilities from foreign to Afghan forces. The coalition should insist the transfers should be speeded up and also make arrangements for our troops' withdrawal to be accelerated. If David Cameron had any backbone he would halt the flow of cash to Karzai's government.

Update:  Thanks to my eagle-eyed reader JRB, recent reports say an Afghan military officer opened fire on foreign troops today after an argument at Kabul airport.  The Taliban are claiming responsibility.

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"I Do? Golly What Do I Do? Gosh...

Eddie Mair interviewing Francis Maude about the Big Society.  No further explanation necessary.

thanks to Tris

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