Well, I don't know the details of the case, so I have no evidence one way or another about the decision to time the arrests. Politics may have entered into it, that doesn't make the arrests bad or unjustified, at least in itself.
If the threat was not immediate and the guys were under surveillance, then it might make sense to surveill some more and see if you can get more bad guys. Of course it's also standard to bust a flock of bad guys and try to get someone to crack and roll over on the others by a offering the first to talk a deal. That's a typical exercise of prosecutorial discretion and a judgment call.
Obviously I agree that no one should be arrested with probable cause or the English equivalent. But if there is probable cause to believe that these individuals were conspiring to commit terrorist crimes, it's a really good thing they were arrested before they got a chance to actually do it. Don't you agree?
--- jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net wrote:
> Just because they were planning to blow up planes
> doesn't make their arrest at any time before this
> happens a
> good thing. If there is good reason to imagine that
> with continued surveillance over the short term
> additional
> suspects appeared likely to be uncovered. Or if
> evidence against the know suspects is shaky for a
> few of them
> then yes, arresting them prematurely for silly
> reasons related to PR rather than law enforcement is
> a bad thing.
>
> Do you disagree with this for some reason? Do you
> have evidence the Brits wanted to continue
> surveillance not
> because they thought it necessary but because they
> were incompetent or bored?
>
> John Thornton
>
>
> On 13 Aug 2006 at 13:11, andie nachgeborenen wrote:
>
> If it's true they were going to blow up planes, is
> it
> a bad thing they were arrested?
>
>
> > --- Carl Remick <carlremick at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > [Blair & Co., loyal stooges that they are, seem
> > primed to continue to report
> > hair-raising terrorist schemes on a regular basis
> > between now and US
> > election day. The elections are 12 weeks away,
> so
> > according to the story
> > below, the UK has enough plots in the pipeline to
> > horrify the public twice a
> > week between now and Nov. 7.]
> >
> > Carl
>
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