By DOUG SAUNDERS
Thursday, August 18, 2005
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
London — Britain's terrorist-hunting strategy drew fierce criticism yesterday after it emerged that police mistook an innocent Brazilian electrician for a threatening terrorist because he was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong appearance.
The family of Jean Charles de Menezes, the 27-year-old immigrant who died in a London subway train after police fired several bullets point-blank into his head on July 22, demanded murder charges be laid against the officers.
And a growing number of officials were calling for an end to the "shoot-to-kill" policy, even as police were talking of the success of their anti-terrorism campaign yesterday and Italy announced it will deport one of the would-be bombers from the failed July 21 attacks. With the deportation of Hamdi Isaac, Scotland Yard will have all four suspects in custody.
But deep shadows were cast over the police after a leaked investigation report revealed they had identified Mr. de Menezes as a would-be bomber without looking at his face because their intelligence officer was busy urinating; that he had not run from them or jumped any barricades; that he was not wearing a bulky jacket; and that police had given him no indication he was being pursued. He had also been physically restrained in the train by one officer without resistance when a second fired seven shots into his head and one into his shoulder.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050818.wxlondon18/BNStory/International/
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on August 21, 2005]
Note: http://www.theglobeandm...
Shoot-To-Kill Error Causes Uproar
Posted on Friday, August 19 at 12:20 by 4CanadaContributed By
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All our formerly "free" societies are turning into police states. Why? Is there a groundswell of popular opinion where the people in any of these countries are demanding to have their freedoms taken away? No. This is an initiative of the governments, not the people. Again, why? We all know these governments couldn't care less about the citizens. The US sends them off to die in an oil war, The UK is doing the same, and now risks shooting its own citizens to "protect" them. In playing "catch up", Canada is now doing its best to be hated as an imperialist lackey power (in Haiti for example, and now with a redneck general in Afghanistan). I guess Martin is feeling guilty that we haven't been attacked yet, but I see he's trying to "correct" the situation. I see he's aslso trying to pass a phone & internet surveillance bill to subject us all to unregulated surveillance. (I wonder if we're changing the name of CSIS to KGB.)
What happened? Why is the government systematically removing our liberties? Easy. They're consolidating power and control to prevent (or put down) a future uprising. It is they who live in fear, not us. It isn't the terrorists they fear; it's us! They know the citizens won't stand for much more in the way of lies and abuses of power by our "elected" governments who really serve a small ruling elite.
Considering what they are doing to us, they have every reason to live in fear. I hope they have nightmares. I hope they can't sleep. One day there will be a reckoning and they will be removed from power. I hope it's soon; I hope it's not violent. But soon or not, violent or not, the day is coming when the citizens will govern themselves in a real democracy. Until that day arrives, we can no longer say we live in a free country...."Your Papers Please!"
Sorry, I had to stop to pull my hair out!
And I'm sorry for yelling but, IF THERE ARE EVEN 10 TERRORISTS CROSSING THE BORDER EACH YEAR WHO IS THE MAJORITY HERE? The majority of people are not terrorists (yet), so why would we all have to be matrixed as a solution for such a small number of possilbe threats? We are nuts to accept that. We are nuts to accept cameras on every corner and in every public building for the exact same reason. We are not criminals so why accept that? The more dim would have us believe that "I have nothing to hide so why do I care?" Yet turn it around and look at it in a democratic way. If you do not have anything to hide why have cameras showing that you have nothing to hide? CRAZY!
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"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." Friedrich Nietzsche
As always, the killing & bombing is about money, it always was; people be damned. When are we gonna smarten up and look past the mainstream propaganda and sham elections that serve to "justify" oppressive legislation? When are we going to see that our enemies aren't thousands of miles away; they are right here, ruining our lives a little at a time.