Missiles stationed on residential roof for Olympics

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Stuart

I think part of the reasoning behind doing all this so publicly is that it does send a message to the terrorists that the olympics are secured.

Of course it is. However the terrorists know that you can't make a place 100% secure unless you exclude people and vehicles.

---------- Post added at 09:20 ---------- Previous post was at 09:17 ----------

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

About a mile away from the Olympic Stadium area, there is a massive estate called Canary Wharf, it has massive tower office blocks which can quite easily take all this crap.

Why put thousands of residents at risk by placing the missiles and troops there, and now the terrorist know where there are placed, good planning.

I willb glad when the whole thing is over with.

How are they putting 1000's of people at risk??

This isn't conventional war were you destroy air defences first

[Pierre]

I would be quite happy for the Ministry of Defence to install a SAM installation on my roof.

Rather on my house than anyone elses.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

About a mile away from the Olympic Stadium area, there is a massive estate called Canary Wharf, it has massive tower office blocks which can quite easily take all this crap.

Why put thousands of residents at risk by placing the missiles and troops there, and now the terrorist know where there are placed, good planning.

I willb glad when the whole thing is over with.

I suspect that, thanks to 9/11, Canary Wharf already has adequate defences. Olympics or not, it is considered a target for terrorism.

I already know that if you stop your car for any length of time anywhere around Canary Wharf, you will get a police car pull up behind you.

[Taf]

Originally Posted by jempalmer

Where are terrorists going to get hold of drones? Quite difficult to steal I would have thought

Just ask the Iranians for the one they got off the USA?

[Arthurgray50@blu]

Why are people thinking l am complaining - l am not.

IF, these plans are supposed to be secret, then why place leaflets through a tower block flats, It has been known before that terrorist do use flats, council or private.

I know the area very well, and they are many places in that area that could be used quite well without using HUMANS as targets. As the first place terrorist would hit would be where the missiles were stored.

[jempalmer]

Originally Posted by Taf

Just ask the Iranians for the one they got off the USA?

I doubt it's for sale and they could be prosecuted for receiving stolen goods

[Derek]

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

Why are people thinking l am complaining - l am not.

Sorry Arthur, must be force of habit.

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

IF, these plans are supposed to be secret, then why place leaflets through a tower block flats, It has been known before that terrorist do use flats, council or private.

These plans are not secret. It's kinda hard to convince everyone a SAM battery is just a funky new mobile phone mast. There will however be one or two very secret defences against all manner of threats.

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

I know the area very well, and they are many places in that area that could be used quite well without using HUMANS as targets. As the first place terrorist would hit would be where the missiles were stored.

I would suspect that there might be armed guards near them and your average wannabe Jihadi with a TATP waistcoat wouldn't just be able to wander up to them.

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

Why are people thinking l am complaining - l am not.

IF, these plans are supposed to be secret, then why place leaflets through a tower block flats, It has been known before that terrorist do use flats, council or private.

I know the area very well, and they are many places in that area that could be used quite well without using HUMANS as targets. As the first place terrorist would hit would be where the missiles were stored.

Terrorists tend to go for human targets in order to get maximum press exposure. They don't tend to go for AA missile systems. So they are more liklely to use the sports venues as targets, and not the flats.

These flats would probably be the most secure flats in the UK if used for this purpose.

Who said it was supposed to be top secret???

[RizzyKing]

Storm in a teacup which seems to be becoming the new national passtime for the UK. Having a missile system installed for a few weeks with the subsequent guards around makes it the perfect time to sell your flat hows that for a security feature. Seriously though it is something the government cannot win at if they do this and many other operations they are classed by some as "over-reacting" and others it will be a good old case of nimbyism perfectly good to do it as long as it is nowhere near them. If they didn't do all this and something happened same said people would be calling for heads because not enough was done. Sometimes the british public give me one hell of a headache thank all that exists i am not a politician that has to deal with it daily.

Infact thinking about it now being a politician and having to deal with it daily makes the actions of some politicians almost understandable.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

Why are people thinking l am complaining - l am not.

When you include phrases such as I'll be glad when it's over, people tend to assume you are probably complaining, especially after suggesting that the missiles be moved elsewhere.

IF, these plans are supposed to be secret, then why place leaflets through a tower block flats, It has been known before that terrorist do use flats, council or private.

Thanks to extensive experience with the IRA, our security services are probably amongst the most experienced people on the planet when dealing with terrorists. I suspect they'll have worked out whether this is safe or not..

I know the area very well, and they are many places in that area that could be used quite well without using HUMANS as targets. As the first place terrorist would hit would be where the missiles were stored.

Do you know the needs of a SAM battery though? I don't, but they will have access to people who do, and there's probably a good reason they've picked high ground. Greenwich park is another area apparently earmarked for a missile site, and parts of the park are quite high.

As for terrorists hitting the area where the batteries are, I don't think they would. They would probably have one chance at doing it. Terrorists go for maximum publicity. They are also (in a lot of cases) not frightened of death. On the contrary, they may welcome the chance to Martyr themselves, as long as they get maximum publicity.

Now, what's going to get them the maximum publicity? Hitting a residential block, or a park, both of which would be very well protected, and probably only affect at most a couple of thousand people, with no one watching. Contrast that with an Olympic venue, which is likely to have up to 80,000 people in it, and another couple of billion watching on TV (or the Internet) or listening on the radio (or the Internet).

You want proof? Remember 9/11. If the terrorists had just wanted massive loss of life, they could have hit any of a number of buildings even in just New York. Instead they hit two of arguably the best known buildings in the world.

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Stuart

When you include phrases such as I'll be glad when it's over, people tend to assume your are probably complaining, especially after suggesting that the missiles be moved elsewhere.



Thanks to extensive experience with the IRA, our security services are probably amongst the most experienced people on the planet when dealing with terrorists. I suspect they'll have worked out whether this is safe or not..



Do you know the needs of a SAM battery though? I don't, but they will have access to people who do, and there's probably a good reason they've picked high ground. Greenwich park is another area apparently earmarked for a missile site, and parts of the park are quite high.

As for terrorists hitting the area where the batteries are, I don't think they would. They would probably have one chance at doing it. Terrorists go for maximum publicity. They are also (in a lot of cases) not frightened of death. On the contrary, they may welcome the chance to Martyr themselves, as long as they get maximum publicity.

Now, what's going to get them the maximum publicity? Hitting a residential block, or a park, both of which would be very well protected, and probably only affect at most a couple of thousand people, with no one watching. Contrast that with an Olympic venue, which is likely to have up to 80,000 people in it, and another couple of billion watching on TV (or the Internet) or listening on the radio (or the Internet).

You want proof? Remember 9/11. If the terrorists had just wanted massive loss of life, they could have hit any of a number of buildings even in just New York. Instead they hit two of arguably the best known buildings in the world.

I couldn't agree more. There are enough olympic venues for them to target long before they even consider a block of flats. In fact they would be more likely to hit our transport system, as it can't be 100% defended.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

I couldn't agree more. There are enough olympic venues for them to target long before they even consider a block of flats. In fact they would be more likely to hit our transport system, as it can't be 100% defended.

Absolutely. Just imagine an attack on the queue at Heathrow passport control

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by danielf

Absolutely. Just imagine an attack on the queue at Heathrow passport control

I was thinking more about an attack on our transport infrastructure, which is far more difficult to protect.

[danielf]

Originally Posted by Tim Deegan

I was thinking more about an attack on our transport infrastructure, which is far more difficult to protect.

I wasn't serious

[richard s]

I am on holiday out of Little Britain when the Olympics is on thankfully.