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Terrorists certainly have made it more dangerous to travel to England. But, now there is another danger: police given orders to shoot to kill anyone who they think might be a terrorist. The killing of an innocent Brazilian man is extremely disturbing. All he did was to do something completely normal on a subway system: running to catch a train.
Tony Blair, a rather wimpy man, is rushing to outdo the macho talk of another wimpy man, George W. Bush. In the process, civil liberties and basic safety have been severely compromised. I am unwilling to let terrorists dictate where I travel, but I also am unwilling to be killed because of insane orders of the government of the travel destination. I’m not willing to take a stray bullet because Tony Blair has lost it.
Even if the policy was limited to those who really are terrorists fleeing from the police, it needs to be reconsidered. Dead terrorists provide no information about other terrorists.
Meanwhile, I’m not traveling to England until this policy is revoked.
Psycho Woman Throws Knives At Children
13 years ago
Hi, actually I would like to dissent from your take on events. The Brazilian man shot dead had left a house already under watch by police as documents connected to it had been recovered from the last blasts. He was also dressed unseasonably - a fleece - raising fears of concealed weapons. The police followed him to the tube station then confronted him and attempted to detain him. Whereupon he actually jumped ticket barriers to escape and rushed onto the tube. Given these circs, the police obviously felt that they could be dealing with a bomber who was already on a tube train, and reacted accordingly. It's terrible that they killed an innocent man but given the information and situation I cannot condemn the police for their behaviour. We have the benefit of hindsight, they didn't.
Since I live on this side of the pond I will say this, "I do not consent to being searched." and walk away (of course, the R is only a block away and will get me to where I need to be in the AM etc. 4+ million riders a day and they think a couple searches are going to catch and/or throw terrorists off their center? Well, a terrorist will simply not consent and go bomb the same R that I went to. Most people around here will argue that it makes them feel better. Yeah -THAT is worth the destruction of civil liberties. Searching people doesn't actually accomplish anything except make people feel better. I object to this idiocy. I object to it all. This Godless Liberal Homo likes your site name...
It is obvious that the Brazilian man was merely running to catch a train. The rest is obvious fiction developed by the police to cover their tracks.
Young men often wear unseasonable clothes (e.g. the really hot stocking hats that are fashionable these days).