Clarino

A man has been shot and killed at Stockwell underground station. He is suspected of being involved in yesterdays abortive attacks. Seems like he was trying to have another go at it.

BBC News

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"...you have the perfect C Major chord, with blazing trumpets and inaudible strings." - Daniel Barenboim.

Mikey

Good to hear the Bobbies are taking matters into their own hands.

Manny Laureano

I'm angry at what's being done but I stop short at the "kill'em all" policy.

I would advocate a greater ability for law enforcement to be able to act on ANYTHING suspicious. The more terrorists get taken away, the more the peaceful but chicken ones will likely feel they can speak up. As soon as that happens you're going to see a rapid decrease in this problem. The ball, as it has been, is still very much in the court of the non-terrorist muslim.

Apparently, in NYC, they're going to be very aggressive about checking bags on the subways but they're "officially" not profiling racially. With any luck, NYC police officers are a lot smarter than that. I'm going to be in NYC next month. I'm always taken for Arab by other Arabs. I wish I had a nickel for every "Where you are from?" that I get, mostly from Egyptians. From Iranians I know, they tell me I look more Egyptian than any other middle-easterner. I'm going as a tourist with any number of bags and things and doing a lot of traveling on the subways. I'll be getting looks as will a lot of Puerto Ricans and you know what? Good. I want the officers to check my stuff. It'll make me feel more secure and I'll tell them so when they're done.

ML

Clarino

That's exactly the attitude I like to see. Manny, you are an example to hold up to the world. I have seen several young muslims get irate in the past few days as poliece stop and question them, but I always find myself wanting to say to them; "if you are as innocent as you claim, you should have no problem speaking to the police", but I know it would do more harm than good.

Last week I traveled on the tube network twice (the first time two tays after the 7/7 bombs) with a large wheeled suitcase. I would have had no problem opening it for the police and allowing them to look through its contents, even though I was in a hurry to catch a train. Personally, it would have made me feel very secure to know they were being so thorough. Well, I'm white and very pale at that, so no problems for me. My only concern is that there's someone who's just as pale as me out there who converted and became fanatical and could slip through the net.

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"...you have the perfect C Major chord, with blazing trumpets and inaudible strings." - Daniel Barenboim.

Manny Laureano

You know, that's been a concern of mine for you folks. What I mean is, do you think Al Qaeda would be in dialogue with some left over Sinn Fein/IRA types? That would really be a bad situation made worse. Any talk of that? I'm sure Scotland Yard has thought of it but I just wondered if folks are talking about it.

ML

Clarino

There's been no speculation in the news about it, but I personally don't believe AlQ would be interested in working with Roman Catholic terrorists. Their objectives are just too different. I see what you mean though, usually terrorists are just loonies who want to kill people. AlQ seem to be different, they want to rid the world of all non-muslims, so working with the dissident IRA factions would be pointless to them.

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"...you have the perfect C Major chord, with blazing trumpets and inaudible strings." - Daniel Barenboim.

BigBadWolf

I agree, I can't see the Catholics and Muslims working together.

Manny Laureano

No, I get you. Here's the "but", however:

there seems to be a mantra among terrorists that goes "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". See, I feel the worst of the IRA are no more Catholic than Al Qaeda is muslim. Like you say, a bunch of friggin' loonies that don't care who they hurt.

But (again) there's something else I haven't been considering in our dialogue, Clarino. The people doing these attacks are not the elite professional part of Al Qaeda. It may be they've reached the bottom of the barrel within their operations in London. They are botching their handiwork and it would take the elite to establish a tie to another terrorist organization. So, I'm hoping upon reflection that your assessment is right, Clarino.

ML

gzent

Such common sense from a musician - how refreshing!

Like you I don't understand how law inforcement can be effective WITHOUT profiling. If the most heinous crimes are committed by people with purple stars on their foreheads then wouldn't it make sense to keep an eye out for people with purple stars?

Yes, its not fair that people who share physical traits with these wackos are being forced to give up some privacy, but the world is not fair and eliminating profiling is just plain stupid.

Greg

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Manny Laureano

Brits,

I've been reading, with great interest, the case involving the Brazilian that was chased into the tube by London police and shot to death.

Are there any further reports about why this guy ran from the police?

What was the weather like that day? Cool enough to wear a thickly padded coat on the tube (are they air conditioned?)?

I sincerely hope this incident doesn't put the police off pursuing suspicious activity with vigor. This sort of thing happens with frequency here, in the States, and invariably it is exacerbated by the suspect running from the police, making a stupid move instead of just freezing the way you or I would if commanded by the police. There have been many cases where it was a question of mental illness.

I keep checking the news online but there seems to be a stasis and not much to report from the officers involved.

I'm sorry for the officers. They're on a heightened state of alert, there eyes and ears must be constant roving for ANY suspicious activity, they have a profile of behavior to watch for such as the wearing of padded clothing on tubes... I don't know why an innocent man would prompt a chase by indentifiable police officers. I doubt it's London PD policy to gang up on people and shoot them to death on a whim.

The pressure is going to be immense now and second guessing yourself is a sure way to get yourself and others killed. That's the idea behind terrorism in the strictest sense: to inflict great anxiety and fear on a poulation with acts of a deadly nature. The b@stards have done that. G-d, what if this guy was completely innocent and just exercised collosally bad judgement? As I stated before, if a police officer approached me, things being the way they are today, my hands would be up in the air faster than lightning if requested.

If you Brits hear anything that's credible about this, I, for one, would sure like to know what's going on.

ML