US and Britain step up security measures
Armed guards, not men in tights, for England; more pat-down searches at US airports.
Two Russian planes destroyed by passengers carrying explosives on board and a trio of egregious security breaches in the House of Parliament and Buckingham Palace have caused both the United States and Britain to announce stepped-up measures to prevent terrorist attacks.In the US, the antiterror focus will result in more
stringent airport screening procedures, reports the
Miami Herald.
The new measures come less than a month after two Russian aircraft exploded nearly simultaneously. Explosive residue was found on the wreckage at each of the crash sites. In England, "
farcical" breaches of parliamentary security this week produced calls for a single, professional director of security and a complete overhaul of how the House of Commons is protected, reports the
Guardian. Security lapses that allowed five pro-fox hunting protesters to storm parliament on Monday, and an undercover newspaper reporter smuggling in bomb-making devices, resulted in House members demanding that:
Armed policemen be posted at the six doors leading to the Commons chamber, instead of unarmed badge messengers in tights. For the US, the new security precautions come in the heat of presidential elections in November, where terrorists may try to shape the outcome of the election as they did by bombing passenger trains in Madrid prior to Spanish national elections. Last week's car bombing outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, prior to both Australian and Indonesian national elections,
can be seen in a similar vein writes columnist John Hughes in
The Christian Science Monitor. While in England, the new measures seek to deal with the blow dealt to the Palace of Westminster's "
reputation for security," reports
The Times of London.
Changes in US airport security are straightforward administrative procedures and have been in effect in Israel for years, reports the
Associated Press. They will
go into effect on Monday of next week.
• All airline passengers must take off jackets before passing through metal detectors. • More travelers will be subjected to pat-down searches and checks for explosives. • Bags checked onto planes in the US must pass through machines that can detect various kinds of explosives. But since neither the walk-through metal detectors that passengers use on the way to gates nor the X-ray machines for carry-on bags can detect plastic explosives, screeners will have more discretion to conduct pat-down searches and check carryon bags for bombs. • Every passenger selected for secondary screening after passing through metal detectors will have their carry-on items subjected to checks by explosives trace detectors. British security, on the other hand, will be much more focused on the efforts of Al Qaeda to specifically attack parliament and Members of Parliament reports
The Times of London Citing Peter Hain, the Leader of the Commons, the
Times reports on Friday that "Al Qaeda terrorists in Britain have been
focusing on Parliament in their efforts to cause fear and disruption." The "extremely disturbing" news was given to Mr. Hain by MI5, [MI5 refers to the British Security Service(BSS; it is closer to the FBI in nature.] says the
Times. The ease with which both a protester, dressed in a Batman costume scaled the front wall of Buckingham Palace on Monday and remained for more than five hours on a ledge near the balcony where the royal family appears on ceremonial occasions, and five pro-fox hunting demonstrators could "invade" Westminister, raised the level of "anxiety" about the "security of politicians and the Royal Family," reports the
Times. But the real blow to British security lapses was dealt Thursday evening. Anthony France, an undercover reporter for the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper,
The Sun, announced that he had been working as a waiter in the Palace of Westminister, serving prominent politicians for 10 days. Mr. France "gave
bogus references and that, after a day or two, was told that he no longer needed to pass his bag through an X-ray scanner as he arrived for work," reports the
Times. Not only was France able to disguise his identity and become a waiter, but he was able to
assemble a fake bomb using batteries, wires, and clay, and enter parliament, reports the
Guardian.
The Sun came up with the sensational idea of smuggling bomb-making equipment into the Houses of Parliament when it saw how easily the hunt protesters had breached security, it emerged today. Executives on the paper, who had been investigating lax security in parliament for months, could not believe their luck when foxhunting militants penetrated the Commons' chamber on Wednesday, putting security at the top of the news agenda. They had planned to keep their undercover reporter working as a waiter in the House of Commons until November but on Wednesday decided to cash in their chips, but not before upping the ante by getting the journalist to pose as a potential terrorist. Repercussions from the
Sun's scoop were immediate, indicated the
Guardian:
Ministers were ...considering a ban on demonstrations in Parliament Square and the introduction of armed police to guard the doors of the House of Commons in the wake of the most flagrant breach of parliamentary security in living memory.
Also...
•
Warning Al Qaeda targeting Commons (
Scotsman)
•
How did the Sun reporter do it? (
BBC)
• Feedback appreciated. E-mail
Jim Bencivenga
.
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