| These are the 1600 they know of; you can guess as to how many more are outside the surveillance network right now. |
Delivering the Government's latest assessment of the terror threat, the Director General of the Security Service revealed that her agency's caseload has increased by 80 per cent since January. She said: "That threat is serious is growing and will, I believe, be with us for a generation. It is a sustained campaign, not a series of isolated incidents. It aims to wear down our will to resist."
| She's beginning to see the top of the iceberg. Does she see the bottom? |
In remarks to academics this week that were released last night, she described how young Muslims are being radicalised and turned into potential suicide bombers. "More and more people are moving from passive sympathy towards active terrorism through being radicalised or indoctrinated by friends, families, in organised training events here and overseas," she said. "Young teenagers are being groomed to be suicide bombers."
| They're controlled by their families, their prospects in Brit society are dim, they're unwilling to integrate themselves, and they live on the government dole. Nope, no surprise there. |
"Killing oneself and others in response is an attractive option for some citizens of this country and others around the world."
| It's sold on the basis of their religion. Wonder if Eliza sees that? And if she does, whether she's willing to say so publicly? |
She added: "My officers and the police are working to contend with some 200 groupings or networks, totalling over 1600 identified individuals (and there will be many we don't know) who are actively engaged in plotting or facilitating terrorist acts here and overseas."
Some of the networks were directly linked to al-Qa'eda in Pakistan, which used the Pakistani community in Britain to recruit and promote terrorists. Out of the 200 or so groups being watched by MI5, a smaller subset are of the highest priority because its feared that they are plotting actual attacks. "We are aware of numerous plots to kill people and to damage our economy. What do I mean by numerous? Five? Ten? "No, nearer 30 that we currently know of," she said.
MI5 has increased in size by nearly 50% since 9/11 and now stands at roughly 2,800 staff. "I wish life were like Spooks (the TV series) where everything is, a, knowable, and, b, soluble by six people," she explained. "We cannot focus on everything so we have to decide on a daily basis with the police and others where to focus our energies, whom to follow, whose telephone lines need listening to, which seized media needs to go to the top of the analytic pile.
"Because of the sheer scale of what we face - my service has seen an 80% increase in casework since January - the task is daunting.
"We shan't always make the right choices. And we recognise we shall have scarce sympathy if we are unable to prevent one of our targets committing an atrocity."
| No, the same Guardian columnists that laugh off all these concerns will demand you be hanged if you fail. |