Well, probably not… but what would you do with the “bomb suspect” picked up today by British authorities? One thing is certain: with other possible terror bombers roaming England, this is going to be one lengthy interrogation . Let’s hope they’ve got the right man and that he will sing (and not just for his supper). Kudos to the police for getting this done with a taser gun. They are a billion times more humane than the terrorists. [I wonder if this will shut up their critics for ten minutes.-ed. Maybe five.]
You and your editor are both optimists.
Remember back when London bobbies didn’t even carry guns? It wasn’t even so long ago, but those days are long gone, and rightly so. But I would imagine the ultra-humane use of the taser is both a throwback to that sort of attitude, as well as (and perhaps this is the overriding part) a way to make certain that the suspect is captured alive and able to talk. After all, talking is of the utmost importance.
It is both sobering and in line with recent developments that these men are not Arabs. It is also not a surprise any more to learn that they are not recent immigrants, but have there from early childhood. The pot ain’t melting, it’s boiling.
They could lock him up in Belfast. They used to be pretty good at asking questions there…
The Iraqi police seem to have considerable persuasive powers. Give them a crack at it.
Separately, in an undercover operation, the Iraqi police detained four men whose kidnapping cell had abducted the 28-year-old wife of a Mosul journalist. This group was known to behead their victims, holding the world vicariously hostage with their crude cinemtography. …. And now those same kidnappers were nabbed by a police force that has little difficulty extracting information from people. I heard one American captain at the police station say that the kidnappers were ?singing like birds.? That night, the Iraqi police shared information about a gigantic weapons cache, and hours later they joined elements of Deuce Four in a raid on that target.
http://michaelyon.blogspot.com/2005/07/devils-foyer.html
My understanding is that the shoot to kill policy is still in effect if the police believe there is a good chance you are getting ready to blow yourself up.
I got the impression they wanted this man alive.
I hear that the British are very unhappy that the tax payers were paying for the apartment this whole thing might have been planned in.
I think people are getting pretty fed up.