Terror threat “more real than ever”

This week six men appeared in a British court accused of terror offences, three of whom are believed to have been planning a suicide attack [Guardian / Telegraph / BBC / PA]. Meanwhile in the United States an American has been charged with plotting to fly remote controlled planes packed with explosives into the Pentagon and the Capitol building in Washington [BBC / Telegraph / San Francisco Chronicle].

The plots reveal that that the threat of terrorism remains real. But while authorities are still focused in thwarting potential terror attacks, the public is becoming increasingly complacent and less vigilant. The breaking up of both terror plots was reported but failed to make the front pages it might have done only a few years ago.

And there is even a sense of complacency displayed by the courts as is was revealed this week that at least eleven foreign-born terrorists who should have been deported from Britain after finishing prison terms are still walking the streets [Telegraph / Daily Mail].

There are some who maintain the terror threat is exaggerated. Conspiracy theorists continue to assert that the US were complicit in the 9/11 attacks, a view that even some of America's enemies have aired. During a recent UN meeting in New York the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad caused consternation as he accused the United States of killing Osama bin Laden in order to help cover up the 9/11 attacks which he claims were a "big fabrication".

The US has criticised Ahmadinejad and dismissed such theories. But this week al-Qaeda joined America in warning Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against spreading September 11th conspiracy theories. "The Iranian government has professed on the tongue of its president Ahmadinejad that it does not believe that al-Qaeda was behind 9/11 but rather, the US government," an article in a recent copy of  Inspire, a magazine run by Al Qaeda's branch in Yemen, said. "So we may ask the question: why would Iran ascribe to such a ridiculous belief that stands in the face of all logic and evidence?"

Such assertions would indicate that al-Qaeda are still serious and committed in their war against the west. It would be a mistake for the west to become complacent in the light of recent events and threats [Telegraph / Daily Mail / Guardian / Globe & Mail].

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