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The fighter jets screamed over our gaff this morning, and unlike the norm, when they have a roll around over the north sea and come back, they shot off south and haven't been seen since.
Apparently there is some sort of practice session on, in preparation for a possible missile attack.
They are quite capable of shooting down a missile, but the worrying word is "down". I.e. the bits and bobs of debris have to fall somewhere.
Kicks and scrums and ruck and roll.....Is all my brain and body need!
Kinoulton wrote:
They are quite capable of shooting down a missile, but the worrying word is "down". I.e. the bits and bobs of debris have to fall somewhere.
And this has been the glaringly obvious point made by the local residents. So glaringly obvious that it will be ignored by the powers that be.
Leave any missiles to hit their intended target & potentially kill tens of thousands of civillians?
I am a local resident living approx 1.5 miles from one of the planned missile locations) and personally don't have a problem with it.
I'd rather have the deterrent there & not need to use it than not have it and suffer the consequences of not having been prepared for such terrorist attacks.
I am more annoyed about the introduction of dedicated VIP/athlete "Games Lanes" and the restricted access on certain roads around my house than I am about the positioning of SAMs on high rise buildings near where I live.
Kinoulton wrote:.... but the worrying word is "down". I.e. the bits and bobs of debris have to fall somewhere.
Given the 'beauty' of the area if it wasn't for the fact there are people involved this debris would merely constitute urban redevelopment.
One a more serious note the likely targets would be light planes and helicopters and the mere presence of such defences is a deterrent. A small Cessna light plane or Bell JetRanger helicopter crashing in the relatively open spaces round Stratford is likely to do far less damage than any targeted attack they would make. If you're talking hijacked airliners or aerial targets of similar size, however, then all bets are off anyway.
For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name,
He marks - not that you won or lost - but how you played the Game."
They will not be the first Games to have missiles on stand-by. There were some under the sea in the Saronic Gulf for the Athens Games for example. Sad, but it has to be done.
DickyP wrote:
Given the 'beauty' of the area if it wasn't for the fact there are people involved this debris would merely constitute urban redevelopment.
HEY!!! It's not that bad!
CJ wrote:They will not be the first Games to have missiles on stand-by. There were some under the sea in the Saronic Gulf for the Athens Games for example. Sad, but it has to be done.
Because of the terrorist attack that never happened?
The deterrent argument drives me mad - it's pretty fallacious. Because there hasn't been a need for these missiles previously, it must be the missiles that are keeping the bad guys away.
As far as I'm concerned, this paranoia is chronic terrorism and good for nobody.
Skin_and_Muscle wrote: ... The deterrent argument drives me mad - it's pretty fallacious. ...
It's not fallacious - just unprovable - a very different matter. It's something you can only judge in retrospect, and not always then. I would content that deterrence worked during the cold war: ie, we never had a 'hot' war, but I can't prove it was down to deterrence.
Skin_and_Muscle wrote:As far as I'm concerned, this paranoia is chronic terrorism and good for nobody.
Reminds me of:
"Remember - just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you." This may originate as a joke but it's nevertheless true.
Anyway I'm looking forward to the Olympics as I have my tickets - for a cruise in Alaska.
For when the One Great Scorer comes to write against your name,
He marks - not that you won or lost - but how you played the Game."
This reminds me of the comments post 2,000 when everyone was smirking: "Well what was all that computer bug nonsense? Nothing happened."
Yes nothing happened because millions of people across the World worked damned hard to cure it.
It's the same with terrorist attacks. The reason there are fewer of them is precisely because countries have got much better at nipping them in the bud.
To ignore the obvious threat of a missile attack would be insane.
Kicks and scrums and ruck and roll.....Is all my brain and body need!
Kinoulton wrote:This reminds me of the comments post 2,000 when everyone was smirking: "Well what was all that computer bug nonsense? Nothing happened."
Yes nothing happened because millions of people across the World worked damned hard to cure it.
It's the same with terrorist attacks. The reason there are fewer of them is precisely because countries have got much better at nipping them in the bud.
To ignore the obvious threat of a missile attack would be insane.
I'm not disagreeing that work is done by intelligence services to prevent attacks but I don't understand how surface to air missiles as a deterrent can be pointed to as an example of the good work done in preventing atrocities.
CJ wrote:They will not be the first Games to have missiles on stand-by. There were some under the sea in the Saronic Gulf for the Athens Games for example. Sad, but it has to be done.
Because of the terrorist attack that never happened?
The deterrent argument drives me mad - it's pretty fallacious. Because there hasn't been a need for these missiles previously, it must be the missiles that are keeping the bad guys away.
As far as I'm concerned, this paranoia is chronic terrorism and good for nobody.
That's right. The terrorists have never used aircraft for an attack and even if they had would be unlikely to make a repeat attempt unless it had been successful.
Failure to prepare any counter to an attempt at a terrorist outrage is surely gross negligence for such a major event and one scenario has got to be to consider previous actions.
Also, who know what intelligence they may be working on?
I am neither clever enough to understand nor stupid enough to play this game
h's dad wrote:That's right. The terrorists have never used aircraft for an attack and even if they had would be unlikely to make a repeat attempt unless it had been successful.
That's true, but I was thinking in the context of the Athens games. At the time of 9/11, I'm not sure surface to air missiles were touted as a serious option. You could argue that this atrocity was brought about by a slip in investigation or the political and economic backdrop/tensions at the time but I doubt this would have been avoided if the US threatened to have missiles at the ready.
h's dad wrote:Also, who know what intelligence they may be working on?
'Obviously not much if this is what they have to resort to' is probably the crudest (and inaccurate, but I hope you get what I mean...) way of making my point in response to this question.
Skin_and_Muscle wrote:
I'm not disagreeing that work is done by intelligence services to prevent attacks but I don't understand how surface to air missiles as a deterrent can be pointed to as an example of the good work done in preventing atrocities.
The missiles are there as a precaution and it is sensible to do this. They are not deterrents, the sort of people that carry out terror attacks hardly care if they survive. Surely it is better to look paranoid then be unprepared.
Somebody I know extremely well is an army captain involved in the Olympic security.
As always there is an intense monitoring of "chatter" across the world. I.e. phone calls, texts, emails, chat rooms and this is how they find out when someone is planning to kill tens of thousands of people.
No one is going to scramble jets just because they fancy it. When information suggests that there might be danger, then it will be specific and the fighter planes will be deployed with one clear mission.
It will be messy, be sure of that, but the alternative is just to allow a massive missile to hit a stadium full of people.
Kicks and scrums and ruck and roll.....Is all my brain and body need!
