30 Years of Terror

According to the current head of MI5 Britain faces a huge problem-

Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller outlined the terrifying prospect as she told how her agents are tracking 1,600 fanatics from 200 al-Qaeda cells.

In a rare briefing, the spy chief warned of a sustained campaign of indiscriminate terrorism lasting 30 YEARS.

And she said: “It aims to wear down our will to resist. All of us, whatever our ethnicity and faith, are the targets of terrorists.”

In a nightmare vision, Dame Eliza also told of the “daunting” menace facing Britain, in which:

THIRTY active terrorist plots are under investigation by the security services.

MANY more have yet to be uncovered.

SIX major attacks have been foiled in the last six years.

FANATICS are poised to use biological, radioactive or even nuclear weapons.

RECRUITMENT to terror cells of young Muslims — some still schoolkids — is exploding, with many groomed to be suicide bombers, and

MI5 is struggling to cope with a staggering 80 per cent increase in casework since January, leaving its 2,800 spooks at full stretch and potentially unable to “stop the next attack”.

Dame Eliza said: “The threat is serious, growing and will, I believe, be with us for a generation.

“Today we see the use of home-made improvised explosive devices. Tomorrow’s threat may — and I suggest WILL — include the use of chemicals, bacteriological agents, radioactive materials and even nuclear technology.”

All of which means that my eldest daughter will be older than I am now when all this is over- if it ever does end. That's the world my children are growing up in.

Dan Simmons' Century War is sounding more and more accurate in its description of the future.

“Your enemy is he who will give his life to kill you,” said the Time Traveler. “Your enemies are they that wish you and your children and your grandchildren dead and who are willing to sacrifice themselves, or support those fanatics who will sacrifice themselves, to see you and your institutions destroyed. You haven’t figured that out yet – the majority of you fat, sleeping, smug, infinitely stupid Americans and Europeans.”

He stood and set the Scotch glass back in its place on my sideboard. “How, we wonder in my time,” he said softly, “can you ignore the better part of a billion people who say aloud that they are willing to kill your children . . . or condone and celebrate the killing of them? And ignore them as they act on what they say? We do not understand you.”

I wonder, will enough people- with enough influence- wake up in time to stop it? Somehow, with the anti-war Democrats in power, with Rumsfeld's sacrifice and the failure to secure an appointment for the highly effective Bolton at the UN, I don't think enough people have managed to keep their eyes open since September 11, 2001. I dread to think what the next "wake up call" might be.