The trouble, Gentlemen, is that we are fast approaching a state where even contributing to this thread could be deemed "evidence of terrorist sympathies". A simple check of your IP address follows, then a quiet word to your employer, the cancellation of your passport for "security reasons" and there you are, washed up. Thoughtcrime.
The problem is - who will watch the watchers? Once a security service reaches the stage where peoples careers depend on a continuing caseload of threats to the State, they will be tempted to manufacture them if their supply declines. Since much of their work can, and must, remain secret, it is easy to claim the existence of "secret evidence" of intent when fitting someone up. It takes very bright, hard working and hard nosed Judges and Civil servants to keep the security services in the fetters our forfathers applied to them.
Unfortunately it appears that those fetters are now broken. Security is now an "Industry" that will not retreat. The threat is now "Islam" and if we can't find a few terrorists to keep the public scared, we will poke and prod the Muslims till they react.
So what have we had? A shoe bomber? An underwear bomber? A lot of low IQ idiots in Britian, America and Australia whose efforts at terrorism are almost comical? Has a
professional airline pilot ever committed a terrorist act? I don't think so. The only exception in the West is the backpack attack on Londons tube system.
To put that another way; does anyone remember the IRA? The bombing outside Harrods? The hotel in Brighton? The mortar attack on Ten Downing Street? Now THAT was a terrorist organisation! those were a terrorists terrorists! Yet compare our response to IRA terrorism to Islamic terrorism. Did we get our panties in knots and suspend ancient freedoms over the IRA? Did we run around denying jobs to anyone with an Irish name who was a Catholic?
Folks there are at least Two groups who profit from this paranoia; the security industry and various countries who want to demonise Muslims of various varieties for political purposes.
The cause of freedom is not helped by unquestioning believers like are friend Notso Fantastic:
The nutters are still out there. They come from branches of one religion, and they set fire to their shoes and underpants inflight, have an unholy fascination with death, murder, destruction of non-believers. We've seen they can come from any background at any time, but with one thing in common.
And of course Pinkaroo who tries to overturn the presumption of innocence:
Just because you have not been told what is known by the Service does not make them wrong.