'Serious' Heathrow Exercises Continue

Britain's Home Secretary, David Blunkett, was invited to speak to the House of Commons this week, after he instituted extraordinary and highly-visible security measures at Heathrow Airport.

What he, and others outside the lofty halls, said was chilling.

The Minister said there was a heightened threat of possible attack on air traffic, and figured Heathrow would be a logical target, that the populace should be "alert, not alarmed," and decided that this measure (and others) were appropriate, given what he thought MI5 thought they knew.

At Heathrow alone, some 450 soldiers, and 1700 extra police were patrolling this week; it wasn't exactly a "stealth" operation. Extra security was heavily-deployed along the approach flight paths. Late reports from London indicate that the secretive police agency had reason to believe that a shoulder-launched missile attack on a landing airliner was a very real, imminent threat.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens said, "We're not in the business of scaring people or doing things without reason," when asked if the show were perhaps designed to stampede people into supporting the coming war in Iraq.

Wednesday, Labour chairman Mr John Reid said, "This is about a threat of the nature that massacred thousands of people in New York." After a War of the Worlds-style panic nearly erupted, he said that his pronouncement had been "misinterpreted." Just what amount of 'interpretation' was required to result in the near-panic, was not explained.

So, by mid-week, the public got wind of the minister's plan to perhaps close Heathrow; the ensuing clamor prompted Commons to action.

Interestingly, the day after Blunkett had gone back to work after addressing the MPs, a fellow was apprehended getting off a flight from Venezuela, with a hand grenade -- at Gatwick!

Just in case it can do some good, there has been a Nimrod advanced command and control, surveillance, and asset-coordination plane in the air over London, nearly all week.

FMI: (Nimrod) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2558557.stm