Comments on: The soldier beheading plot – guilty

By: marvin

marvin — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 17:51:20 +0000

Salma has written dozens of articles about Girls in Birmingham who go missing from the School register.

Would they happen to be only Muslim girls, by any chance? No need to answer that.

By: Random Guy

Random Guy — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:22:38 +0000

What is the point of this post?

Is anyone surprised by the judgement? Or the fact that such a thing was being planned?

By: tim

tim — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 09:07:25 +0000

Given the comparitive risks of a Muslim teenager being snatched by the state,and one being forced by their parents into marriage, I’m sure as a community representative, Salma has written dozens of articles about Girls in Birmingham who go missing from the School register.

By: Sunny

Sunny — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 06:02:02 +0000

Maybe she will come to see a bit of sense, learn a lesson, work out who has been lying to her, what role they want her to play, and why.

Probably not, though.

No, probably not.

By: soru

soru — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:07:13 +0000

if you look at the number of ppl arrested on terrorist offences compared to those who are actually charged with terrorist offences, the ratio is low

The main reason for that is that it takes one to two years to bring such charges. It’s like if an airport starts up at 6 AM, then at 8 AM a rival firm says ‘don’t go by plane, 46 have taken off, and only 8 landed – does that sound like a good ratio to you’?

But no – its all about Salma Yaqoob.

Well, she is just a representative of the many people in the modern media/politics fringe who get their daily wages paid by stoking group hatred, just another shock jock who would be ignored if they didn’t meet their quota of incitement.

Maybe she will come to see a bit of sense, learn a lesson, work out who has been lying to her, what role they want her to play, and why.

Probably not, though.

By: Bert Preast

Bert Preast — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:46:56 +0000

Also like to point out that this will irritate soldiers quite a lot. The worst nightmare is being captured in Iraq or Afghanistan and starring in your very own snuff video, now we know that nightmare can also happen when you get home for leave. In the one place you’re supposed to be able to relax a little. Not at all good.

By: Bert Preast

Bert Preast — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:43:17 +0000

Sofia wrote – “David..I take your point about what she said, however, if you look at the number of ppl arrested on terrorist offences compared to those who are actually charged with terrorist offences, the ratio is low..therefore you could say that many of the reports of arrests we see on the tv do not always follow up with imprisonment on those charges.”

Quite correct. For example, the failed London bombers of 21 July were charged under the explosives act and with attempted murder. Ditto anyone found messing with explosives, it’s much easier to get a conviction under the 120 year old explosives act as there’s much more precedent.

However, the media report usually correctly that they’re arrested on suspicion of terrorism. Then the people who don’t believe/want to believe in terrorists come out with such misleading statistics as comparing numbers of arrested terrorists with numbers actually charged under the terrorism acts.

By: tim

tim — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:04:30 +0000

Well the guy had stockpiled equipment to send to Pakistan and Afghanistan,so his horizons and links stretched past Droitwich, I guess.

By: septicisle

septicisle — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:55:41 +0000

I’m rather more interested whether due to the guilty pleas today if we’re going to learn just how far this plot had actually gone along. You’ll probably remember that the day after the raids the newspapers were already claiming it was the work of “al-Qaida” and even that soldiers were being used as bait, which it was later revealed was complete rubbish. I might well be proved wrong, but this again seems like another autonomous cell influenced by but not having any actual material links with anything approaching “al-Qaida”.

By: El Cid

El Cid — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:26:03 +0000

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3176455.ece

By: Boyo

Boyo — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:11:46 +0000

Kosovo is a fair point. I was there (and in another of Blair’s “good” wars, Sierra Leone).

He may have gifted the Islamists a cause, but it is their cynicism – not his anti-Islamism – that is behind the identification of Iraq being a “war against Islam”.

Blair may have been niave, but he never set out to go to war against Islam any more than his intervention in Sierra Leone was a “war against Africans”.

If anything he was a soldier for radical Islam if you judge him by the results on the ground and all those poor women who have been reduced a form of virtual slavery since the war.

By: Refresh

Refresh — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:08:12 +0000

Oh bloody hell!

‘As in Kosovo I suppose?’

What?

Look here we are with a blog which highlights a successful prosecution of people with murderous intent, and what does DavidT do? Steers it to Salma Yaqoob, and not too cleverly either.

DavidT could have talked about relief at getting a successful prosecution (and presumably within the 28 day time limit); he could have argued that better inteligence would do more to improve our security; or he could even say that we need to empower all citizens to feel safe and be vigilant. But no – its all about Salma Yaqoob.

Get a grip David.

By: tim

tim — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:32:21 +0000

And of course,remember Salma was involved in the Abu Hamzas son business, two years before 9/11.
So I suspect her agenda was at least vaguely formed.(although she idiotically claimed she was not politicised until after)

By: tim

tim — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 19:29:02 +0000

As in Kosovo I suppose?

I thought a while back that Salma may mature and leave some of her Islamist instincts behind.
It now seems doubtful.

By: Refresh

Refresh — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:41:13 +0000

‘Salma like to see all Muslims under attack.
She does that on purpose.’

Or perhaps she is voicing what a lot of people think – muslim and non-muslim alike. Thanks to Blunderer Blair.

By: Refresh

Refresh — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:39:06 +0000

Tim,

My apologies – just realised what you meant:

‘I have already said in my first comment. I am afraid if you need it verbatim then you will have to find it yourself.’

No, I don’t know what the comment was and I would not know what forum.

By: tim

tim — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:38:15 +0000

You’re not making a lot of sense I’m afraid.

the division is between JihadistsandIslamists, and everyone else (which includes the huge majority of Muslims)
Salma like to see all Muslims under attack.
She does that on purpose.

By: Refresh

Refresh — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:28:52 +0000

Tim,

‘Are you claiming HP is the same as a Jihadist Forum arranging terrorist acts?’

No you know I didn’t. My point is simple, there are people who are happy to cause division.

With regards ‘What on earth was his comment?’:

I have already said in my first comment. I am afraid if you need it verbatim then you will have to find it yourself.

By: tim

tim — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:10:51 +0000

What on earth was his comment?

And I don’t understand your second paragraph.
Are you claiming HP is the same as a Jihadist Forum arranging terrorist acts?

By: Refresh

Refresh — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 18:05:15 +0000

Tim,
It was a video of a conference where Shami and Salma were sharing a platform.

‘it would seem from previous cases that Jihadist forums are often used to plan terrorist events and inspire hatred of non believers.’

Indeed it would. And we have the equivalent of those forum and newspapers returning the favour. Try HP who go one better and try to construct an intellectual rationale for it. They even put together a manifesto to back it up, with books, pamphlets and novels.

But in the end, my hope is people will see through it all. Just as they did the Iraq war.

Lets hope the damage and havoc wreaked along the way isn’t irreparable.